Part V: Understanding Power Pivot and Power Query
As of this writing, the Power Pivot Ribbon interface is available to you only if you have one
of the following editions of Office or Excel:
Office 2013, 2016, or 2019 Professional Plus: Available through volume licensing
only
Office 365 Pro Plus: Available with an ongoing subscription to Office365.com
Excel 2013, 2016, or 2019 stand-alone edition: Available for purchase through any
retailer
If you have any of these editions, you can activate the Power Pivot Ribbon by following
these steps:
- Open Excel and look for a Power Pivot tab on the Ribbon. If you see the tab,
then you can skip the remaining steps.
- On the Excel Ribbon, click File ➪ Options.
- Choose the Customize Ribbon option on the left.
- Look in the Main Tabs list on the right and find the Power Pivot option. Check
the box next to this option and click OK.
- The Power Pivot tab should appear (see Figure 35.1). If the Power Pivot tab does
not appear in the Ribbon, close Excel and restart.
FIGURE 35.1
The Power Pivot Ribbon interface
A Word on Compatibility
Since Excel 2010 was released, Microsoft has made several versions of the Power Pivot add-in available
for download. Starting with Excel 2013, the Power Pivot add-in has been included natively with Excel.
The bottom line is that there are different versions of Power Pivot being used today, each designed to
work with different versions of Excel. This obviously leads to some compatibility considerations about
which you should be aware.
You have to be careful when sharing Power Pivot workbooks in environments where some of your
audience is using earlier versions of Excel (Excel 2010, for example) while others are using more
recent versions of Excel. Opening and refreshing a workbook that contains a Power Pivot model cre-
ated with an older version of the Power Pivot add-in will trigger an automatic upgrade of the under-
lying model. Once this happens, users with older versions of the add-in will no longer be able to use
the workbook.
