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Can You Enter Data into Power BI?

Cody Schneider•

The short answer is yes, you absolutely can enter data directly into Power BI. While its main strength is connecting to existing data sources like databases, spreadsheets, and web services, Power BI gives you a handy way to create small tables of data from scratch right inside your report. We'll show you exactly how to do it, why you might want to, and when you should use a better alternative.

Why Would You Manually Enter Data into Power BI?

Connecting to external data sources is the standard, but there are several practical scenarios where typing or pasting data directly is the perfect solution. It’s not meant for your primary sales data, but it’s incredibly useful for specific, supporting tasks.

Common use cases include:

  • Prototyping and Testing: Imagine you want to test a complex DAX formula or see how a new chart will look, but you don't have the final data source ready. You can quickly create a small, fake table with the "Enter Data" feature to build and test your visuals without waiting.

  • Creating Small Lookup Tables: Sometimes, the information you need doesn't exist in your main database. You might want to create a small table to categorize products, assign regional managers, or define custom sorting orders. For example, you could create a two-column table to group US states into regions ("California" -> "West", "New York" -> "East").

  • Building "What-If" Scenarios: You can create simple parameter tables to power your reports. For instance, you could quickly create a single-column table with percentage values (e.g., 1%, 2%, 5%, 10%) to use in a slicer. This would allow your users to see how a potential price increase affects projected revenue.

  • Quick, One-Off Analysis: If a colleague sends you a short list of data in an email and you want to visualize it fast, entering it directly into Power BI can be faster than saving it as a separate Excel file, connecting to it, and then cleaning it up.

Step-by-Step Guide: Using "Enter Data" in Power BI Desktop

The easiest way to add your own data is by using the built-in "Enter Data" function. Follow these simple steps.

1. Find "Enter Data" on the Home Ribbon

Open your Power BI Desktop file. In the Home tab of the top ribbon, look for the "Enter Data" button. It’s often located in the "Data" section.

2. Create Your Table

Clicking "Enter Data" opens the Create Table window. This dialog box looks and feels like a miniature spreadsheet, making it intuitive to use.

You can start typing your data directly into the cells. Here’s a quick-start guide:

  • Enter Data: Simply click on a cell and start typing, just like in Excel.

  • Add New Columns: Click the asterisk (*) in the column header to add a new column to the right.

  • Add New Rows: The grid will automatically add new blank rows at the bottom as you fill in data.

  • Rename Columns: Double-click the default column header (e.g., "Column1") to rename it to something meaningful. This is important for clarity in your data model.

Pro Tip: You don't have to type everything by hand! If you have the data copied to your clipboard (from a website, an Excel file, or a document), you can select the top-left cell in the "Create Table" window and press Ctrl + V (or Cmd + V on Mac) to paste the data instantly. Power BI will automatically create the necessary rows and columns.

3. Name and Load Your Table

At the bottom of the "Create Table" window, there is a field for the table Name. Replace the default "Table" with a descriptive name, like "RegionLookup" or "SalesTargets." Good naming practices will save you headaches later.

Once you’re finished, click the Load button.

Power BI will process the data and add it to your data model. You'll see your new custom table appear in the Fields pane on the right-hand side, ready to be used in relationships, DAX measures, and visualizations just like any other data source.

How to Edit Your Manually Entered Data

It's inevitable: you'll eventually need to fix a typo or add a new entry to the table you just created. A common point of confusion is realizing you can’t just click on the table in the "Data" view and change the values. That’s because manual data is treated as an imported source.

Here’s the correct way to edit it:

1. Open the Power Query Editor

On the Home ribbon, click the Transform data button. This will launch the Power Query Editor, which is where all data transformation and connection steps are managed.

2. Find Your Query's Source Step

In the Power Query Editor, you’ll see a list of all your queries (tables) in the pane on the left. Find and select the table you created manually.

On the right, in the Query Settings pane, look for the list of Applied Steps. The very first step will be named "Source." This "Source" step represents the manual data you entered.

3. Edit Your Data

Click the small gear icon (⚙️) next to the "Source" step. This will re-open the familiar Create Table dialog box where you first entered the data.

From here, you can add new rows, delete old ones, or fix any mistakes in your cells. Once your changes are complete, click OK.

4. Apply Your Changes

Finally, to save the changes and update your report, click the Close & Apply button in the top-left corner of the Power Query Editor. Your table and any visuals connected to it will now reflect the new information.

A More Flexible Alternative: Connecting to a Simple Spreadsheet

The "Enter Data" feature is fantastic for small, truly static tables. However, if your data might change even semi-frequently or needs to be updated by team members who don't use Power BI, there's a better way: connect to a simple spreadsheet.

Maintaining data in an external file like Excel or a Google Sheet offers several advantages:

  • Easier Updates: Anyone can open a spreadsheet and change a value. Editing data inside Power Query requires more clicks and a bit more technical know-how.

  • Better Collaboration: Spreadsheets in shared locations (like OneDrive, SharePoint, or Google Drive) can be updated by multiple people without them needing Power BI licenses or expertise.

  • Handles More Data: While you technically can paste a lot of data into the "Enter Data" window, it becomes impractical and slow. Spreadsheets are built to handle thousands of rows with ease.

Connecting is simple. Use Get Data → Excel Workbook for local or SharePoint-hosted files. For a Google Sheet, you can use a third-party connector or a simpler method: publish the sheet to the web as a CSV, and then in Power BI, use Get Data → Web and paste the link. After a refresh, any changes made in the sheet will flow through to your Power BI report automatically.

Limitations to Keep in Mind

"Enter Data" is a utility feature, not a data warehouse. It's smart to be aware of its limitations:

  • Size Constraints: There is a technical limit on the amount of data you can enter, but the practical limit is much smaller. If your table has more than a few dozen rows, you should seriously consider using a spreadsheet instead.

  • Editability: As we covered, editing the data involves going into the Power Query Editor. It’s not difficult, but it’s more cumbersome than updating a spreadsheet cell.

  • Static, Not Live: This method is only for static data. It's not a form for live data entry. Each change requires a manual intervention and refresh in Power BI Desktop or the Power Query Editor.

Final Thoughts

You can definitely input data directly into Power BI, and the "Enter Data" feature is an excellent tool for quick prototypes, small lookup tables, and what-if analysis. By following the steps above, you can confidently create and edit these small tables directly within your reports. For any data that is larger or needs to be updated regularly, connecting to a dedicated file like an Excel or Google Sheet is always the more robust and scalable approach.

The underlying goal of any data tool, whether it's Excel dashboards or enterprise reporting platforms, is to get from data to insights as quickly as possible. Manually entering, copying, and maintaining datasets is often one of the biggest bottlenecks. At Graphed , we built our tool to solve this very problem by connecting directly to your live data sources and letting you use natural language to build and chat with your dashboards. This removes the intermediate steps of wrangling spreadsheets or manually entering tables, allowing you to focus on the questions that actually grow your business.