Power Automate lets you build automated workflows without writing code. If you’ve ever wished your computer could handle repetitive tasks—moving files, sending notifications, collecting approvals—Power Automate makes that possible.
This guide teaches you how to use Power Automate from scratch. By the end, you’ll understand the core concepts, know how to build your first flow, and have the foundation to create automations that save real time.
What Is Power Automate?
Power Automate is Microsoft’s workflow automation platform. It connects different apps and services, watches for events you care about, and takes action automatically when those events occur.
Some examples:
- When an email arrives from your boss, send yourself a Teams notification
- When a file is added to SharePoint, copy it to another folder and email the team
- When someone submits a form, create a task and add them to a mailing list
These automated workflows are called flows. You build flows by combining triggers (what starts the flow) and actions (what the flow does).
Where Power Automate Fits
Power Automate is part of the Microsoft Power Platform, alongside Power Apps (custom apps), Power BI (analytics), and Power Pages (websites). It’s included with most Microsoft 365 subscriptions, so you may already have access.
Power Automate connects to hundreds of services: Microsoft 365 apps, Salesforce, Twitter, Dropbox, SQL databases, and nearly any system with an API. This makes it a central hub for connecting your business tools.
Types of Flows
Power Automate offers several flow types. Understanding the differences helps you choose the right approach.
Cloud Flows
Cloud flows run in Microsoft’s cloud. They don’t require your computer to be on. When a trigger fires—email received, file created, schedule reached—Microsoft’s servers execute the flow.
There are three cloud flow subtypes:
Automated flows start automatically when something happens. An email arrives. A SharePoint item is modified. A tweet mentions your company. The trigger watches constantly and runs the flow when conditions are met.
Instant flows (also called button flows) start when you manually trigger them. Press a button in the Power Automate app, click a link, or select an option in Teams. You control when the flow runs.
Scheduled flows run on a schedule you define. Every morning at 8 AM. Every Friday at 5 PM. The first of every month. Time-based automation without event triggers.
Desktop Flows
Desktop flows automate applications on your computer. They can click buttons, fill forms, copy data, and interact with software that doesn’t have cloud APIs.
Desktop flows require Power Automate Desktop (free download) and run on your local machine. They’re powerful for legacy system integration but require the computer to be on and logged in (for attended flows) or properly configured for unattended automation.
This guide focuses on cloud flows—the most common starting point.
Getting Started: Accessing Power Automate
Option 1: Web Portal
Go to make.powerautomate.com and sign in with your work or school Microsoft account. This is the primary interface for building and managing flows.
Option 2: Within Microsoft 365
From any Microsoft 365 app, click the app launcher (grid icon) and select Power Automate. You can also access it from the Power Automate tab in Teams.
Option 3: Mobile App
The Power Automate mobile app lets you run instant flows, receive notifications, and monitor flow status from your phone.
Core Concepts
Before building your first flow, understand these foundational concepts.
Triggers
Every automated flow starts with a trigger. The trigger defines when the flow runs. Examples:
- When an email arrives
- When a file is created
- When a SharePoint item is modified
- When someone submits a form
- At a scheduled time
A flow has exactly one trigger. Choose carefully—you can’t change the trigger type after creating the flow without starting over.
Actions
Actions are what the flow does after the trigger fires. Examples:
- Send an email
- Create a file
- Post a message to Teams
- Update a SharePoint item
- Wait for approval
Flows can have many actions. Actions execute in sequence (and sometimes in parallel with branching).
Connectors
Connectors link Power Automate to external services. The Outlook connector provides triggers and actions for email. The SharePoint connector handles sites, libraries, and lists. The Teams connector manages channels and messages.
Some connectors are standard (included with Microsoft 365). Others are premium (require additional licensing). When you use a premium connector, the flow becomes a premium flow.
Dynamic Content
Flows become powerful when actions use data from previous steps. When a trigger fires, it provides data—email subject, sender, file name, form responses. Actions can reference this dynamic content.
For example:
- Trigger: When an email arrives → provides Subject, From, Body, Attachments
- Action: Create SharePoint item → use email Subject as item Title, From as Author
Dynamic content is how data flows through your automation.
Conditions and Branching
Flows can make decisions. Conditions check if something is true or false, then execute different actions based on the result.
Example: If email importance equals High, send Teams notification. Otherwise, do nothing.
Conditions create branches in your flow, allowing different paths based on data.
Loops
When working with multiple items (all attachments on an email, all rows in a spreadsheet), flows use loops. The Apply to each action repeats a set of actions for every item in a list.
Example: For each attachment on an email, save it to SharePoint.
Building Your First Flow
Let’s build a practical flow: when someone submits a Microsoft Form, save their response to SharePoint and send a confirmation email.
Step 1: Create a New Flow
- Go to make.powerautomate.com
- Click + Create in the left navigation
- Select Automated cloud flow
Step 2: Name Your Flow and Choose a Trigger
Give your flow a descriptive name: “Form Submission to SharePoint with Confirmation”
Search for “Microsoft Forms” in the trigger search box. Select When a new response is submitted.
Click Create.
Step 3: Configure the Trigger
The trigger needs to know which form to watch. Click the Form Id dropdown and select your form.
Note: The form must already exist. Create it in Microsoft Forms first if needed.
Step 4: Add Action to Get Response Details
The trigger tells us a response was submitted, but doesn’t include the actual answers. We need another action for that.
Click + New step. Search for “Microsoft Forms” and select Get response details.
Configure:
- Form Id: Same form as the trigger
- Response Id: Select from dynamic content (it will show “Response Id” from the trigger)
Step 5: Add Action to Create SharePoint Item
Click + New step. Search for “SharePoint” and select Create item.
Configure:
- Site Address: Select your SharePoint site
- List Name: Select the list where you want to store responses
- Fields: Map form questions to list columns using dynamic content
For each column in your SharePoint list, click the field and select the corresponding form response from dynamic content.
Step 6: Add Action to Send Confirmation Email
Click + New step. Search for “Outlook” and select Send an email (V2).
Configure:
- To: Select the respondent’s email from dynamic content (if your form collects it)
- Subject: “Thank you for your submission”
- Body: Write your confirmation message, inserting dynamic content as needed
Step 7: Save and Test
Click Save in the top right.
To test, submit a response to your form. Then return to Power Automate, click Test in the top right, select Manually, and click Test. Submit another form response. Watch the flow execute step by step.
If everything works, you’ll see green checkmarks. If something fails, click the failed step to see error details.
Working with Conditions
Let’s enhance the flow. Suppose you want to send different emails based on a form response—perhaps a dropdown asking “Request Type” with options “Question” and “Complaint.”
Adding a Condition
After the “Get response details” action, click + New step and select Condition.
Configure the condition:
- Click the left box and select the “Request Type” field from dynamic content
- Set the operator to “is equal to”
- In the right box, type “Complaint”
Adding Actions to Branches
The condition creates two branches: If yes and If no.
In the If yes branch (request is a complaint):
- Add “Create item” in SharePoint (perhaps a different list for complaints)
- Add “Send email” to the customer service team
In the If no branch (request is a question):
- Add “Create item” in SharePoint (general inquiries list)
- Add “Send email” confirmation to the submitter
Each branch executes independently based on the condition result.
Error Handling
Flows can fail. APIs timeout. Services become unavailable. Data doesn’t match expected formats. Good flows handle errors gracefully.
Configure Run After
By default, each action runs only if the previous action succeeded. You can change this.
Click the three dots (…) on any action and select Configure run after. Options include:
- Is successful (default)
- Has failed
- Is skipped
- Has timed out
To handle failures, add an action configured to run after a previous action “has failed,” then send a notification or log the error.
Try-Catch Pattern
For critical flows, create a “try-catch” pattern using scopes:
- Add a Scope action containing your main flow logic
- After the scope, add another Scope configured to run if the first scope fails
- In the second scope, add error notification actions
This isolates failures and ensures you know when something breaks.
Best Practices
Name Things Clearly
Default action names like “Send an email” become confusing when you have multiple email actions. Rename actions to describe what they do: “Send confirmation to submitter” or “Notify manager of approval.”
Add Comments
Right-click actions to add notes explaining the logic. Your future self will appreciate this.
Test Incrementally
Don’t build 20 steps and then test. Add a few actions, test, confirm they work, then continue. Finding errors early is easier than debugging a complex flow.
Mind Your Connections
Flows use connections to access services. If your password changes or a connection expires, flows will fail. Check connections periodically under Data > Connections in Power Automate.
Watch for Infinite Loops
Be careful with triggers that respond to modifications. A flow that triggers “when SharePoint item modified” and then modifies that item will trigger itself endlessly. Use conditions to prevent this.
Consider Concurrency
By default, some triggers process events one at a time. High-volume scenarios might require adjusting concurrency settings. Access these in trigger settings.
Common First Flows to Build
If you’re wondering where to start, these flows solve common problems:
Email attachment saver: When emails arrive in a specific folder, save attachments to SharePoint.
Form to SharePoint: Collect form responses in a SharePoint list for tracking and reporting.
Approval workflow: Route documents or requests for approval with email notifications.
Meeting notes creator: After meetings, create a notes document in a consistent location.
Reminder system: Check SharePoint for upcoming due dates and send reminder emails.
Welcome message: When someone joins a Teams team, post a welcome message with useful links.
Start simple. Each flow you build teaches you something. Complexity comes naturally as you gain confidence.
Next Steps
You now understand the fundamentals of how to use Power Automate. The best way to learn more is to build flows that solve your actual problems.
Explore templates: Power Automate includes hundreds of pre-built templates. Browse them for inspiration and starting points.
Learn expressions: For advanced scenarios, Power Automate supports expressions—formulas that manipulate data. Start with basics like formatting dates and concatenating strings.
Try premium connectors: When you need to connect to systems beyond Microsoft 365, premium connectors unlock hundreds of additional integrations.
Consider desktop flows: For automating legacy desktop applications, Power Automate Desktop extends your capabilities beyond cloud services.
Related Resources:
- What Is PIMS in Project Management?
- Modern Intranet Best Practices
- Microsoft Disaster Recovery and Azure Business Continuity
Ready to automate your business processes? Nexinite helps organizations implement Power Automate solutions that integrate with Microsoft 365 and beyond. Contact us to explore what automation can do for your team.