How to Use Column From Examples in Power Query (Get Day Name from a Date)

By Ravindra Bagale · Last updated: 18 October 2026

Practice files: blinkit-sales-2025-days-small.csv (the 8 orders on this page) and blinkit-sales-2025-days.csv (1,200 orders in 2025).

Made-up data: fictional Blinkit-style orders from 2025, for practice only. Amounts are in ₹ and dates are DD-MM-YYYY.

1. The problem

Many shops sell more at the weekend; some sell less. To know which is true for us, each order needs its day name. The file has order_date (and delivery_date), but no day column. Typing 1,200 day names by hand is not an option.

2. The idea in simple words

Power Query can add columns worked out from the columns you already have. The Add Column tab offers four kinds you will use often:

Column From Examples is like Excel's Flash Fill (Ctrl+E). It has two options:

• From Selection: looks only at the columns you selected (here, order_date).
• From All Columns: may combine any columns of the table.

These new columns are calculated when the data refreshes and are stored in the model, so they take memory. (In Power BI, the term calculated column usually means a column written in DAX in Table view. Power Query's added columns do the same job one step earlier; both are stored.)

3. The data

The 8 orders in blinkit-sales-2025-days-small.csv (columns: order_id, order_date, delivery_date, store_id, product_id, sales, price, revenue):

4. Step by step

Day name by example

1. Get data › Text/CSV › the file › Transform data. Check that order_date and delivery_date show the calendar icon (Date). If they are text, see How to Fix US Dates with Locale, Keep ID Columns as Text and Use Fixed Decimal Number in Power Query.
2. Select order_date. Add Column › Column From Examples › From Selection.
3. A new empty column opens on the right. Double-click its first cell: a list of suggestions appears (Year, Month, Day of Week, Age, End of Month…).
4. Next to 01-01-2025, type Wednesday and press Enter. Power Query fills Thursday, Friday, Saturday… for every row and shows the formula it found at the top.
5. If a row looks wrong, type the right answer on that row too; more examples make the rule clearer.
6. Double-click the column header and name it Day Name. Click OK.

The menu way (same result)

7. Select order_date › Add Column › Date › Day › Name of Day. This writes Date.DayOfWeekName([order_date]). Use whichever you find easier; keep just one Day Name column.

Day Number for sorting

8. Add Column › Custom Column. Name: Day Number. Formula: Date.DayOfWeek([order_date], Day.Monday) + 1. OK, then set the type to Whole Number. Monday is 1 and Sunday is 7.

IDs by example (From All Columns)

9. Add Column › Column From Examples › From All Columns. In the first row (product_id P206, store_id 102), type 206. Power Query removes the "P" for every row. Rename it product_no.
10. Try another: type P206-102. Power Query joins product_id, a hyphen and store_id. Examples copy exactly what you type, capitals included: type p206-102 and you get a different (lowercase) rule, or none.

Delivery days

11. Add Column › Custom Column. Name delivery days, formula [delivery_date] - [order_date]. The result is a Duration, shown as 5.00:00:00 (days.hours:minutes:seconds).
12. Select it › Transform › Duration › Total Days. Now it is the number 5.

The chart

13. Close & Apply. In Table view, select Day Name › Column tools › Sort by column › Day Number.
14. Insert a Clustered column chart: X-axis Day Name, Y-axis revenue. Open More options (…) › Sort axis › Day Name, then Sort ascending. The bars run Monday to Sunday.

5. Your result should look like this

With the 1,200-row file, revenue by day: Monday 43,652, Tuesday 46,675, Wednesday 44,315, Thursday 49,584, Friday 45,393, Saturday 56,940, Sunday 73,041 (total ₹3,59,600).

6. What happened

• From one example, Power Query guessed that you wanted the day name of order_date and wrote Date.DayOfWeekName for you. The menu option writes the same function.
• Text sorts A to Z, so without help the chart would start with Friday. Sort by column tells Power BI to order Day Name by Day Number.
• Date.DayOfWeek counts from 0. The second argument says which day is 0; with Day.Monday, Monday is 0, so adding 1 gives 1 to 7.
• Subtracting two dates gives a Duration, not a number. Total Days turns it into a number you can sum or average.

7. Explore further

• DAY() is not the weekday. In DAX, DAY([order_date]) returns the day of the month (1 to 31). For the name use FORMAT([order_date], "dddd"); for a number use WEEKDAY([order_date], 2) (Monday = 1).
• Age. A suggestion called Age subtracts the order date from today. It is also a Duration (use Total Days), and it changes every time you refresh, because "today" moves.
• Replacement window. If replacement is allowed for 8 days after delivery, add a Custom Column Date.AddDays([delivery_date], 8). Orders with no delivery_date get null: not yet delivered, or lost, which is worth a separate check.
• Delivery delay. delivery days shows slow deliveries at a glance; a bar chart of delivery days vs number of orders is a common interview task for e-commerce data.
• When examples fail. Column From Examples cannot do your own maths: typing 6.5*0.18 is treated as text. For formulas use a Custom Column (next chapter).

8. Common mistakes

9. Practise on your own

10. Think like a professional

• Business view. Day of week drives staffing, delivery slots and offers. A Sunday peak means more riders on Sundays.
• Prefer the clearest formula. Name of Day and Column From Examples give the same result; pick the one your team will understand later.
• Keep the helper column. Day Number exists only for sorting. Hide it in Report view (right-click › Hide) so it does not clutter the field list.
• Know the domain. Order date vs delivery date, return windows and delays are the questions interviewers at e-commerce companies ask.

Interview questions

1. What is Column From Examples? An Add Column option where you type the expected result and Power Query writes the formula, like Flash Fill.
2. How do you sort day names Monday to Sunday? Add a Day Number column and use Sort by column on Day Name.
3. What does DAY() return in DAX? The day of the month, 1 to 31.
4. How do you turn a Duration into days? Transform › Duration › Total Days.

Recap

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