What is an example of practical scenario when we might need to disable 'Enable load' of the table in Power Query editor? Does it work the same as deleting the table from the entire data model? If so, why keeping a weed?
3 Answers
@teylyn is correct. One of the primary uses for these tables is for storing tables that are only used for building up the ones that you actually want to load into your model.
For example, if you have two tables A and B but you're really interested in their union C = A ∪ B, then you can append A and B in the query editor to create a new table C (not a DAX union after loading) and only load that table to your model by unchecking 'Enable load' on A and B.
This helps keep your model cleaner and your PBIX smaller since the intermediate staging tables are only stored as connections rather than having to store the data they contain too. Tables that aren't loaded to the model obviously can't be used in visuals or referenced outside of the query editor but they behave just like any other table within the query editor.
Power BI will perform all Power Query transformations before the data is loaded into the data model. You can have intermediary queries that you need to arrive at a certain data state, but you may not use some of these intermediary queries as the data source for visualizations in the report. In that case, you can disable the load of these queries into the data model.
This preserves memory and can improve performance.
Another example, where a rejig of the load/refresh is needed for changes to a static table sourced from a spreadsheet.
Column order within Power Query is not reflected in Model or Datasheet views (bug?)
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