I once had a task that sounded really simple. I had a list of names and a list of months like the below:

I needed every name paired with every month. Like this:

Easy enough, right? Except doing it manually is one of those things that sounds quick and then just... isn't. Especially if you have 12 months and a whole bunch of names. And what if someone adds a name in the middle? Yeah, you don't want to do it manually. It will be an ongoing headache.

Power Query does it in a few clicks. No copy-paste. No manual updates. Add a name or a month to either list and just hit refresh. It handles the rest.

That's the thing about Power Query. Most people think of it as a cleaning tool. Fix messy headers, remove blank rows, reformat dates. And yes, it's great at all of that.

But it's also a combination builder, a merge tool, a file stacker, a deduplicator. It's one of those tools where the more problems you bring to it, the more it surprises you.

👉 Here's how to set up the repeating combination in Power Query​

Coming Tuesday: Power Query Challenge Pack

Earlier this year I asked what you most wanted from us. Power Query practice and challenges was the number one requested resource. A place to challenge yourself with real problems (these are based on data issues our corporate members are running into) and to improve your skills.

Tutorials are useful. But the real learning happens when you sit with a problem and have to figure it out yourself. So we built something for exactly that. More details on Tuesday.

🤓 Geeky News

🖥️ Windows taskbar finally goes wherever you want it

For over 30 years, Windows let you move the taskbar anywhere. Then Windows 11 arrived in 2021 and took that away. People were not happy.

Microsoft has been listening. Starting now, Windows Insiders in the Experimental channel can move the taskbar to the top, bottom, left, or right. You can also make it smaller - useful on laptops where every pixel of screen space counts.

There's more. The Start menu is getting section-level toggles so you can show or hide Pinned, Recommended, and All apps independently. And you can now hide your name and profile picture in Start - handy when sharing your screen in a meeting.

Still rolling out to Insiders first. But it's coming.

🗂️ Google Drive will now tidy itself up

Google just made Organize My Files generally available. Gemini looks at your existing folder structure and suggests where each file should go. It also proposes new folders for files that don't fit anywhere yet.

You review the suggestions, modify as needed, and approve (or not) the changes. Nothing moves without your say-so.

Available now on Business Standard and Plus, Enterprise, and Google AI plans. English only for now.

📄 Word's spellchecker just got better for screen reader users

If you or someone on your team uses Narrator to navigate Word, Microsoft just made the Editor experience more usable.

Previously, when Narrator flagged a spelling or grammar error, it would read out a wall of information all at once. Now it presents things in a logical order: the type of issue, the problem word, the context, then the suggestions.

Fixing errors is faster too. Press 1 for the first suggestion, 2 for the second. Press i to ignore, a to add to dictionary. No extra navigation steps.

Available now in Word for Windows, Version 2601 or later.

🤔 Did You Know?

When it comes to Excel, Power Query works best with proper Excel Tables. But it also accepts named ranges.

And the fastest way to create one for a single column or row: select it including the header, then go to Formulas > Create From Selection.

Or skip the ribbon entirely: Ctrl + Shift + F3.

It reads the header and uses it as the name automatically. No typing required.

(And if you ever need to review or edit your named ranges, Ctrl + F3 opens the Name Manager.)

👏 Reporting that runs itself

Azolie is a Financial Analyst. Here's what she posted on LinkedIn after finishing our Power Query course:

That's what a structured course does differently. You're following along in your own files, doing the challenges, and when you get stuck there's someone to help. That's the fastest way to building any skill.

See you next week,

Leila

When you're ready, here are some ways we can help:

🎓 Join 400,000+ members in our courses​

📺 Get free tutorials on YouTube​

👥 Train your whole team with our courses. Team pricing and progress tracking - reply for details.

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