Announcing Shortcut Transformations: from files to Delta tables. Always in sync, no pipelines required.
Shortcut transformations is a new capability in Microsoft Fabric that simplifies the process of converting raw files, starting with .CSV files, into Delta tables. This feature eliminates the need for traditional ETL pipelines, enabling users to transform data directly on top of files with minimal setup.
Why use Shortcut transformations
Shortcut transformations help users:
- Accelerate time-to-insight by skipping complex ETL pipelines.
- Reduce operational overhead and data movement.
- Enable self-service data transformation for business users.
- Maintain governance with built-in monitoring and lineage tracking.
What is supported
As of this release, Shortcut transformations support converting CSV files into Delta tables in OneLake. Users can create a Shortcut to a CSV file and apply a transformation to materialize it as a Delta table, all within a few clicks and without building ETL pipelines.
Coming soon
We’re actively working on expanding Shortcut transformations with the following capabilities:
- AI-powered transforms apply built-in transformations like summarization, translation, sentiment analysis, and PII detection.
- Custom transforms use notebooks to define your own transformation logic for advanced scenarios.
- Prompt-based transforms define transformations using natural language instructions.
These upcoming features will make it even easier to go from raw files to always-synced, analytics-ready Delta tables.
How does it work?
Shortcut transformations in Microsoft Fabric are designed to keep your Delta tables always in sync with your source files, without requiring ETL pipelines, scheduled refreshes, or manual intervention.
How it works behind the scenes:
1. Shortcut as a live reference
When you create a Shortcut, you’re not copying or importing data. Instead, you’re creating a live reference to a file stored in a cloud source like Azure Data Lake or Amazon S3. This reference acts as a virtual pointer to the file’s location.
2. Transformation layer
You can apply a transformation to the Shortcut—currently, this is CSV to Delta. The transformation logic is applied on top of the referenced file, and the output is materialized as a Delta table in OneLake.
3. Always in sync
There’s no need to schedule refreshes. The Shortcut transformation engine continuously monitors the source location for changes:
- New files added to the source path are automatically picked up and processed.
- Modified files are reprocessed to reflect the latest data.
- Deleted files are removed from the Delta table output.
This change detection runs on a 2-minute interval, ensuring that your Delta tables stay fresh and aligned with the source data.
4. Query-ready output
The result is a Delta table that’s always up to date and ready for use across Fabric experiences, whether you’re building reports in Power BI, running notebooks, or feeding downstream pipelines.
How to Get Started
Here’s how to try it out:
1. Select or create a new Fabric Lakehouse.
2. Click New Shortcut and select your source (e.g., Azure Data Lake, Amazon S3).
Note: to use the resulted delta table directly, create a Table shortcut.
3. Choose your CSV files.
Note: all CSV files needed for transform need to be in the same folder. Nested folders are not supported yet.
4. In the Shortcut wizard, choose the CSV to Delta option.
5. Configure your settings.
6. Save your Shortcut.
7. Use the Manage Shortcuts hub to track refreshes.
Try it Today
Shortcut transformations are now available in Microsoft Fabric. Head over to your workspace, create a new Shortcut, and see how easy it is to go from CSV to Delta.
We’d love your feedback! Drop us a note under the blog or join the conversation in the community.
To learn more, check out the Shortcuts file transformations documentation.
