Alteryx offers this nifty little trick that makes our jobs a lot easier when inputting multiple files. Instead of adding multiple input tools, we can just use the one input and use a wildcard match to bring multiple data sets of the same structure into our workflow.

For this blog, we will be using mock data that is about the sales figures of a made up retailer. It has the sales figures for each quarter of the year 2022. Each File has the same data structure, which allows us to use wildcard match to save a little bit of time.

After adding an input tool and selecting a file, We can look at the configuration pane where the file path for the input is given and make a quick adjustment to utilise wildcard match.

Delete anything after the specific filename section of your filepath  like shown below, where the specific file name is deleted and replaced with Sales*.xlsx or whatever the file extension of your data sets may be. This means that alteryx will look for any excel file in the Sales folder that contains 'Sales' in its file name, and bring them all through in a singular input tool.

4 seperate excel files for the 4 quarters of 2022 and its sale figures have been brought through in one combined File.

It is a very easy to utilise trick that becomes even more useful the more files you have to bring through.