This user has found the exact point where a skilled Excel practitioner meets the friction of a new tool. They know what they need, append cleaned data, sever the link, delete the source file, and they have already solved the transformation part. The overwhelm is not about complexity. It is about the gap between a targeted task and the broad, menu-driven way most Power Query tutorials are built.
We think the user is right to feel this way. Power Query is not overkill for their needs, but the standard introductions are. When every guide starts with merging queries, parameters, and data model architecture, someone who just wants to append a few columns from a temporary export is left scrolling past irrelevant options. That is not a failure of the user. It is a failure of the material to respect that "simple" and "powerful" are not opposites. A skilled user does not need a tour of the entire city to find one street.
Here is the practical truth: what this user wants is entirely possible, and it can be done in a few direct steps. The key is to treat the export file as a transient source. In Power Query, create a connection only, no load to the worksheet yet. Perform the column removal and any other transforms. Then use the "Append" function to combine that query with the existing table in the workbook. Finally, choose "Load To" and select "Only Create Connection" for the export query. Once the data is appended, the export file can be deleted. The workbook will hold the combined data, and the query definition will simply fail gracefully next time it cannot find the source, it will not break the existing data. The user can then delete the query from the Queries & Connections pane to clean up.
The alternative is to keep doing it manually, which is exactly the path of least resistance when the learning curve asks for too much upfront investment. But the user has already done the hard part: they identified the repetitive step and recognized the tool that fits. The missing piece is not more features, it is permission to ignore the features they do not need. Our advice is to search for "append from Excel file Power Query" and ignore every result that mentions merging on keys or creating a data model. The answer is in the first two minutes of a focused tutorial. The rest of the video can stop playing.