How to Add Column from Another Table in Power BI [3 Different ways]

Recently, while creating an HR dashboard in Power BI, I encountered a situation in which one table had an important column I also needed to use in another table. Instead of manually copying data, I explored different ways to bring that column into the second table.

In this tutorial, I will show you how to add a column from another table in Power BI, covering three practical methods:

• Add a column from another table using DAX
• Add a column from another table using Power Query
• Add a column from another table using Lookup methods in Power BI

Add Column From Another Table in Power BI DAX

Now I will show you how to do this with a relationship between tables and also without a relationship because both scenarios are common in real projects.

You can download from the table here.

For this example, I’m using a simple vehicle dataset, which includes two tables:

Table 1: (Bikes Table)

Table 2: (Cars Table)

Add a Column From Another Table With a Relationship in Power BI

Now, let’s look at how to add a column from another table when a relationship already exists (or when you can create one) between the tables in Power BI.

Here, I will use the RELATED function in Power BI, which works only when there is an existing relationship between the two tables.

Syntax:

RELATED(<column>)

To create a relationship, both tables must contain at least one common column. This shared column allows Power BI to link the tables together.

Follow the steps below to create a relationship between two tables:

1. Open Power BI Desktop and load both tables. Go to the Model view.
2. Click the vertical ellipsis (⋮) and select Manage relationships, as shown below.

3. In the Manage Relationships window, choose the two tables and select the matching columns that create the relationship. Once selected, click OK to confirm the relationship.

4. The screenshot below shows the cardinality relationship that has been created between the two tables.

5. Now, go to the Table view, and under Table tools, click on New column as shown below:

6. In the formula bar, enter the following DAX formula and click the check icon:

Column from another table = RELATED(Cars[Car Names])

Where:

• Column from another table: The name of the new column we are creating
• Cars: The other table from which we want to pull the data
• Car Names: The specific column in that table we want to reference

In the screenshot below, you can see that the new column has been successfully added. It now displays the corresponding data values pulled from the other table.