# Is Power Query Free? Which Excel Versions Include It - Author: CheapBankConvert (https://cheapbankconvert.com) - Published: 2026-10-17 - Category: Free tools you already own - Canonical: https://cheapbankconvert.com/blog/is-power-query-free > Is Power Query free? Which Excel versions include it, which ones lack the PDF connector, and how to check yours before you pay for anything. Is Power Query free? Yes, in the sense that it costs nothing beyond Excel itself. It is built into Excel 2016 and later on Windows and into Excel for Microsoft 365, under Data, Get Data. You cannot buy it separately. Whether your copy can read a PDF is a separate question, and your ribbon answers it. ## Is Power Query free inside the Excel you already own? Power Query is free inside any Excel that ships with it, because Microsoft does not sell it as a separate product. It is the engine behind the Get & Transform Data group on the Data tab. If you own a current Excel, you already paid for Power Query when you paid for Excel. Microsoft's page [about Power Query in Excel](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/about-power-query-in-excel-7104fbee-9e62-4cb9-a02e-5bfb1a6c536a) gives its history. For Excel 2010 it was a free add-in you downloaded. Excel 2016 and 2019 for Windows got the same Get & Transform experience built in, and in Microsoft 365 it is the default way to bring data in through the Data tab. So the honest answer to "is it free" has a catch. Power Query costs nothing extra, but Excel itself is not free. Excel for the web comes with a free Microsoft account, and the same Microsoft page says it gained the ability to refresh queries from authenticated data sources. Reading a PDF there is a different matter, covered in [what Excel for the web lacks for a PDF import](/blog/excel-for-the-web-pdf-import). ## Power Query by Excel version: built in, add-in or missing The table below sums up what Microsoft's page says for each version. "Built in" means you find it on the Data tab with nothing to install. | Excel version | Power Query | Source of the claim | | --- | --- | --- | | Excel 2010 for Windows | Separate add-in, once a free download | Microsoft's page calls it free | | Excel 2013 for Windows | Same add-in, now deprecated | Microsoft says it may stop working later | | Excel 2016 and 2019 for Windows | Built in as Get & Transform | Microsoft's page | | Excel 2021, 2024 and Microsoft 365 for Windows | Built in | Listed under the page's Applies To | | Excel for Microsoft 365 for Mac | Supported | Microsoft's page | | Excel 2016 and 2019 for Mac | Not supported | "There is no support for Power Query" on these | | Excel for the web | Refresh of queries, with a short source list | Microsoft's page | If your copy sits in the "Not supported" row, no setting will add it. On an old Windows copy with the add-in, expect fewer connectors than a current version offers. ## Which Excel copies with Power Query still lack the PDF connector? A copy of Excel can have Power Query and still lack From PDF, because connectors differ by version. Microsoft's [table of Power Query data sources by Excel version](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/power-query-data-sources-in-excel-versions-e9332067-8e49-46fc-97ff-f2e1bfa0cb16) ticks PDF only for the Microsoft 365 plans on Windows. Office 2016 and 2019 have Power Query but no PDF tick, and the table has no column for 2021 or 2024. The same table gives one requirement for PDF: the connector needs the .NET Framework 4.5 or later on your computer. Installing the framework fixes that case. Three more reasons From PDF can be missing: - **A one-time-purchase copy.** Microsoft's page says perpetual versions get a large subset of Power Query features, not all of them, so check the ribbon rather than assume. - **A Mac.** Excel for Microsoft 365 for Mac has Power Query, but Microsoft's Mac source list has no PDF entry. Excel 2016 and 2019 for Mac have no Power Query at all. - **The browser.** Excel for the web lists PDF only for files in SharePoint or OneDrive for work or school, with an organizational sign-in. Even with the connector, it reads text only. [Microsoft's PDF connector reference](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-query/connectors/pdf) describes it as returning the tables found in a PDF. A scanned statement has no text, so it returns nothing useful. ## Checking your Power Query ribbon in one minute Your own ribbon is the only reliable test of what your copy can do. Version tables tell you what should be there. The ribbon tells you what is. Run this check before you pay for a trial, a plan or a converter. 1. Open Excel on your computer, not in the browser. 2. Select the Data tab. 3. Look at the left end for Get Data. If you see Get External Data instead, you have an older layout without Power Query. 4. Click Get Data, then point at From File. 5. Read the list. If From PDF is there, your copy can import a text PDF. 6. If From File is there but From PDF is not, update Excel through File, Account and try again. On a one-time-purchase copy, an update may still not add it. For a hands-on test, use a short statement PDF you downloaded from online banking. If the Navigator window shows a table with your dates and amounts, you have everything you need. ## Power Query and the trial trap: when not to subscribe for one PDF The trial trap is starting a paid Microsoft 365 trial just to get Power Query's PDF import for one statement. It can work, but trials renew into paid plans unless you cancel, and one statement rarely justifies the risk. Check what you already own first. If the ribbon check fails, these are cheaper paths to look at in order: - **Word in your current Office.** Word can open a PDF and rebuild its table, which you then paste into Excel. The steps are in [converting a PDF to Excel with Office 365](/blog/convert-pdf-to-excel-office-365). - **A trial, used with care.** If you decide a trial is worth it, read [using the Microsoft 365 free trial to convert a PDF, then cancelling](/blog/microsoft-365-free-trial) before you enter a card. - **A free online converter.** Most cap the pages they convert. [How free PDF converter page limits work](/blog/free-pdf-converter-page-limit) explains what happens to a 12-page statement. - **A per-statement converter.** [CheapBankConvert](/) plans to charge once per statement with no subscription, with a free preview of the first 2 pages. It is not open yet. Avoid paying for an AI add-on for this job alone. Whether Copilot adds anything to a PDF import is covered in [Copilot in Excel for PDF imports](/blog/copilot-in-excel-pdf).