There's a quiet frustration in the question that /u/fluctuatore asks, and it's one we hear far too often from people who've outgrown the familiar rhythm of Excel. Moving range calculations are trivial in a traditional spreadsheet, a simple formula dragged down a column, but in Power Query, the same task feels like it requires a different kind of thinking. That gap, between what feels intuitive and what the tool demands, is exactly where many users get stuck. And it's worth saying plainly: if you're hitting that wall, the problem isn't you, and it isn't the concept. It's that Power Query doesn't always reward the mental shortcuts we've built elsewhere.
The good news is that the solution exists, and it's not buried in some obscure function or hidden menu. Moving range, defined as the absolute value of the difference between the current value and the previous one, is a natural fit for Power Query's row-context features. The trick is learning to think in terms of indexes and shifted columns rather than cell references. In Excel, you point at the cell above you. In Power Query, you add an index, create a second column that references the prior row, and then compute the absolute difference. It's a small conceptual shift, but it's the kind of shift that separates people who fumble through Power Query from those who actually enjoy using it. The user in this thread is asking the right question, they're not looking for a workaround; they're looking for the proper way to do it.
What makes this more than a niche tip is what it represents. When you learn to handle moving ranges in Power Query, you're not just solving one problem. You're unlocking a pattern that applies to any calculation that depends on row-to-row relationships: running totals, period-over-period changes, even more complex time-series logic. Once you see the index-and-lookup approach in action, you start spotting opportunities to use it everywhere. That's the real value here. It's not about the specific formula, it's about building a mental model that makes Power Query feel less like a stubborn sidekick and more like a genuine partner in your data work.
So if you're the one staring at your data and wondering why something so simple in Excel feels so foreign in Power Query, take this as a sign to push through. The steps are straightforward once you know the pattern: add an index column, create a custom column that references the previous row, and apply the absolute difference. It's not flashy, and it won't make headlines, but it will save you the manual work that's currently eating your afternoon. And that's the point. The goal isn't to replicate Excel in Power Query, it's to learn where each tool shines and to use them accordingly. This is one of those places where a little effort upfront pays off in ways you'll feel long after you've closed the query editor.