Power Query Join Types Explained: Outer, Inner, Anti, Semi, and Full Anti Joins
In this video, Ken walks through the 9 different join types in Power Query and explains how each one behaves when combining two tables.
If you’re used to Excel’s VLOOKUP-style matching, Power Query gives you far more flexibility. You can return matching records, unmatched records, records from one side only, or even build reconciliation-style outputs that show what does not match between two lists.
Ken uses a Transactions table and a Chart of Accounts table to explain how each join type works, including what happens when records exist in one table but not the other.
In this video, you’ll learn:
How Left Outer and Right Outer joins work
When to use a Full Outer Join
How an Inner Join returns only matching records
How Left Anti and Right Anti joins help find mismatches
Why a Full Anti Join is so useful for reconciliation work
How to build a Full Anti Join by appending Left Anti and Right Anti results
What Left Semi and Right Semi joins do
How to manually create Semi Joins by editing the join kind in the formula bar
Ken also explains an important difference between Semi Joins and Outer Joins.
Whether you’re reconciling bank transactions, comparing two lists, checking master data, or cleaning up mismatches between tables, understanding these join types will make your Power Query work much more powerful.
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