Microsoft spells out how Power Query reads SharePoint folders and lists

Department reporting still often starts with Excel exports dropped into a SharePoint library, then pulled into Power Query or Power BI because that path feels faster than waiting for a warehouse. Refresh success has always hinged on who can access the site, whether every file shares the same columns, and whether someone notices when a new export quietly adds or renames fields. Official connector detail does not invent a new architecture. It makes the failure modes easier to name: schema drift in combine steps, path and permission breaks, throttling under load, and the hard limit that a document library is still a file drop, not a governed metric store. For people who must defend totals in meetings, that distinction decides whether SharePoint remains a temporary landing zone or becomes another fragile weekly dependency.