There's a quiet frustration in this question that far too many spreadsheet users will recognize immediately. You're not an Excel expert, and you shouldn't have to be just to get a simple tally across multiple sheets. The instinct to build a workbook with separate pages for inspections, activities, and statuses is sound. The problem isn't your logic; it's that you've been pushed toward a tool like Power Query when all you really need is a straightforward, reliable formula that won't bring your Surface to its knees. We think the real issue here isn't your understanding, but the assumption that more complex tools are the only path forward.
Let's be direct: if Power Query is crashing your machine and the syntax feels like a foreign language, that's not a personal failing, it's a signal that you're using the wrong approach for the job. You don't need to master a data transformation engine to tally a few columns across sheets. You need something like `SUMIFS`, `COUNTA`, or a simple `IF` statement to calculate whether someone is behind or on track. Those functions are built into Excel, they run locally without the overhead of Power Query's background refresh, and they're far more forgiving to learn. For your use case, a master sheet that references each individual page with direct cell references or a few conditional formulas is not only lighter, it's actually more transparent. You can trace every number back to its source, which is exactly what you want when you're managing inspections and activities across a team.
What you're experiencing is a common trap: the allure of a powerful tool that promises to solve everything, but in practice introduces more complexity than the problem warrants. Your Surface crashing isn't a sign that you need to upgrade your hardware or spend a weekend learning Power Query. It's a sign that the solution you were handed doesn't fit your actual need. You need a tally, not a transformation pipeline. And the good news is that Excel has been doing tallies for decades, long before Power Query existed. You can use `SUMIF` to add up amounts completed based on a name, or `COUNTIF` to track how many activities are marked done. A simple `IF` formula can compare completed to required and return "Behind" or "On Track" in seconds. No refresh, no crash, no steep learning curve.
The practical takeaway here is to step back and ask what you're actually trying to accomplish. You want a clean summary sheet that pulls data from your other pages, and you want it to update without freezing your device. That's a job for formulas, not Power Query. Start by building your master sheet with `=Sheet2!B2` style references if your data is in predictable cells, or use `SUMIF` if you need to match names across sheets. Test it on a few rows, then expand. If you hit a wall, search for "SUMIF across sheets" rather than wrestling with Power Query's interface. You'll likely find that the solution is simpler than you feared, and your Surface will thank you. The goal isn't to master every tool; it's to get your data working for you, not the other way around.