When you receive an email with an invoice, wouldnt it be nice if it automatically saved the file to your finance folder, logged the amount in your tracking spreadsheet, and notified your manager? Thats exactly what Microsoft Power Automate can do, along with a host of other automated actions.Like its competitors IFTTT and Zapier, Power Automate allows business professionals of all stripes to create automated workflows involving a series of tasks across certain applications or services even those from different vendors that send notifications, ask for and offer approvals, and handle rote tasks automatically, with no coding required. The automation tool is part of what Microsoft calls its Power Platform, a suite of AI-enabled and AI-enhanced process automation tools.Power Automate taps into enterprise apps and services via components called connectors. Microsoft offers more than 1,000 prebuilt, certified connectors, and you can build custom connectors to other apps.While anyone with a Microsoft account can use Power Automate for free on a limited basis, business users will need a paid subscription to access key connectors and tools. Power Automate is included with most Microsoft 365 enterprise plans, so you may well already have access to it; if not, separate Power Automate plans start at $15 per user per month.Heres what you need to know to get up and running with Power Automate.In this article:Understanding the basicsGetting startedYour first automation: Email filingAdding AI power: Copilot and AI BuilderMaking your flows reliableThe last wordUnderstanding the basicsOften with a service like Power Automate, you get a bit of the writers staring at a blank page syndrome, where you dont even know where to begin. Whats even possible? Fortunately, Microsoft offers templates that show a bunch of a different possibilities: surf over to its templates gallery to get a sense of what you can do, from saving email attachments in a SharePoint library to recording form responses from a Google Sheet (yes, really!).But the templates are just a starting point. Youll want to write something customized for your own workflows, Im sure. Before we dive into building automations (or flows as theyre called in Power Automate), lets get comfortable with what were working with.Think of Power Automate as your personal digital assistant that can work across your applications. There are three main types of automation you can create:Cloud flows are like having an assistant in the cloud, constantly watching for things to happen in your online apps like Outlook, SharePoint, or Teams. There are actually three types of these cloud flows: automated, instant, and scheduled, which do about what you think theyd do.Desktop flows are like having someone sit at your computer, clicking and typing for you in desktop applications like Excel or specialized business software.Business process flows are more like having a guide that walks you through complex procedures step by step, ensuring nothing gets missed.Each type serves a different purpose, and youll likely use a combination of them as you become more comfortable with automation.Getting startedLet me walk you through setting up Power Automate for the first time. The process is straightforward, but there are a few important details to pay attention to.First, open your web browser and go to microsoft365.com. If youre not already signed in, use your work email and password. Youll know youre in the right place when you see the Microsoft 365 app launcher (a square icon with nine dots) in the top left corner.Click the app launcher; this opens a panel showing all your available Microsoft 365 apps. Dont worry if you dont see Power Automate right away scroll down and look for it. The icon looks like a multicolored right arrow. If you dont see it, use the search bar at the top of the app launcher pane.Click on Power Automate to open it. The first time you open it, you might see a brief tutorial. Feel free to go through it or click Skip if you prefer to dive right in. When the whole app opens, youll see a welcome screen with templates and suggestions.Power Automates Home screen is brimming with suggested flows and tutorials.Jonathan Hassell / FoundryTake a moment to look at the left navigation bar: this is where youll find your flows, templates, and connections later.Your first automation: Email filingYou probably noticed in the previous screenshot that Copilot, Microsofts generative AI tool, is now integrated with Power Automate. That means you can describe an automation youd like to create in natural language, and Power Automate will generate a flow based on your prompt. But Copilot isnt available to all Power Automate users, and its helpful for everyone to know how to build a flow from scratch; thatll make it easier to adjust and improve any AI-generated flows.So, lets start with something everyone needs: automatically organizing emails. Lets assume youre in charge of receiving applications for something at work maybe it is an internship, or perhaps youre running a scholarship program and you are managing the entries. Ill show you how to create a flow that stores files attached to emails in SharePoint and tracks them in a neat, centralized list. This is a perfect first flow because its both useful and teaches several important concepts.From the Power Automate home page, look for the button in the left navigation bar labeled Create and click it. (You can alternatively click My flows first, then look for the New flow button up top.)Youll see several options. For this flow, we want the whole automation to run without us having to start it, so select Automated cloud flow.Choose Automated cloud flow on the left for your first flow.Jonathan Hassell / FoundryThis opens the flow creation wizard. Name your flow Scholarship Applications.Next, you choose a trigger, which is the event that will start your flow. In the trigger search box, type Outlook new email and select When a new email arrives. You will be able to add conditions to make it more specific later.Name the new flow and choose a trigger.Jonathan Hassell / FoundryClick Create to continue. The trigger appears in the middle of a blank canvas in Power Automate.Next, we add steps. The flow executes one step at a time, and each step is an action that the flow will perform once triggered. But first we need to configure the start of our sequence and add a couple of parameters so we can nail down which types of emails were looking for and what about them we want Power Automate to do.Click the When a new email arrives trigger and look at the parameters tab. Youll want to add four important advanced parameters, which youll be able to see in the window by clicking Show all.Adding advanced parameters to the new email trigger.Jonathan Hassell / FoundryYou want to add the following:Include Attachments: set to YesSubject Filter: type in Scholarship applicationFolder: set to Inbox (click the folder icon and select Inbox from the pop-up menu)Then just click back over on the canvas area to save those changes.Lets keep adding actions. Click the + sign below your When a new email arrives trigger, and the Add an action pane appears.Lets add our new action by searching for Create item. It will have the SharePoint logo attached to it to let you know its related to SharePoint Online. Click on Create item to add it to your canvas. srcset="https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-05-add-action-screen.png?quality=50&strip=all 936w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-05-add-action-screen.png?resize=300%2C188&quality=50&strip=all 300w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-05-add-action-screen.png?resize=768%2C481&quality=50&strip=all 768w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-05-add-action-screen.png?resize=268%2C168&quality=50&strip=all 268w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-05-add-action-screen.png?resize=134%2C84&quality=50&strip=all 134w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-05-add-action-screen.png?resize=767%2C480&quality=50&strip=all 767w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-05-add-action-screen.png?resize=575%2C360&quality=50&strip=all 575w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-05-add-action-screen.png?resize=399%2C250&quality=50&strip=all 399w" width="936" height="586" sizes="(max-width: 936px) 100vw, 936px">Adding an action after the trigger will tell the flow what to do next.Jonathan Hassell / FoundryNow you can configure the action a little more granularly. You need to give the SharePoint Create item action a couple of parameters, because otherwise it wont know what SharePoint site you want to use for this flow, nor will it know which list to use and augment as new emails and attachments arrive. srcset="https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-06-configuring-create-item-action.png?quality=50&strip=all 936w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-06-configuring-create-item-action.png?resize=300%2C135&quality=50&strip=all 300w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-06-configuring-create-item-action.png?resize=768%2C345&quality=50&strip=all 768w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-06-configuring-create-item-action.png?resize=150%2C67&quality=50&strip=all 150w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-06-configuring-create-item-action.png?resize=854%2C383&quality=50&strip=all 854w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-06-configuring-create-item-action.png?resize=640%2C287&quality=50&strip=all 640w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-06-configuring-create-item-action.png?resize=444%2C199&quality=50&strip=all 444w" width="936" height="420" sizes="(max-width: 936px) 100vw, 936px">Configuring the SharePoint action item.Jonathan Hassell / FoundryGo ahead and select the SharePoint site you want to use, and then select the list you want for this flow. You might need to go over to your SharePoint site first and create a new list for use with this flow; once you do, it should appear in a drop-down list automatically when you click the List Name field. (It may take a few minutes to show up.) Youll also want to add a text column in your SharePoint list called Message Content this is where the automation will store the body of the email message for you.Youll also want to add a couple of advanced parameters to your Create item action:Click Show all to show the choices.Under Limit Columns by View, select All Items.Under Title, type / (slash) and select Insert dynamic content from the pop-up menu. On the pane that appears to the right, select From under When a new email arrives.Under Message Content, type / and select Insert dynamic content, then select either Body or Body Preview under the Outlook When a new email arrives list in the pane on the right. (Body Preview might not be immediately visible. To find it, type body in the search box up top and it will appear among the options.)Under Content type Id, select Item.Setting up advanced parameters of the SharePoint action item.Jonathan Hassell / FoundryClick the canvas to close the parameters screen and save your changes.Next, we need to add a condition. A condition affects the behavior of an action when another factor is true or false. In this case, we want the condition to say that the next two actions have output from the previous action applied to them specifically, we want the attachment from the new email received to be applied to each of our next two subsequent actions.Click the + sign under the Create item action. On the Add an action screen, search for apply to each and then click the Apply to each option that comes up under Control.Adding an Apply to each control.Jonathan Hassell / FoundryIn the Select an output from previous steps field, type / and select Insert dynamic content, then select Attachments to the right. This tells Power Automate to use the attachment for each of the next actions its going to take.Attaching the attachment to the next actions.Jonathan Hassell / FoundryClick on the canvas to save the Apply to each control. At this point, your flow should look like the figure below. srcset="https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-10-partially-built-flow.png?quality=50&strip=all 614w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-10-partially-built-flow.png?resize=243%2C300&quality=50&strip=all 243w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-10-partially-built-flow.png?resize=565%2C697&quality=50&strip=all 565w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-10-partially-built-flow.png?resize=136%2C168&quality=50&strip=all 136w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-10-partially-built-flow.png?resize=68%2C84&quality=50&strip=all 68w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-10-partially-built-flow.png?resize=389%2C480&quality=50&strip=all 389w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-10-partially-built-flow.png?resize=292%2C360&quality=50&strip=all 292w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-10-partially-built-flow.png?resize=203%2C250&quality=50&strip=all 203w" width="614" height="757" sizes="(max-width: 614px) 100vw, 614px">Our flow now has a trigger, an action, and a condition.Jonathan Hassell / FoundryNext, click the + sign below the Apply to each action and add another action. (This ought to be a pretty familiar routine for you at this point.)Here, we need to get the attachment but we need to use the Outlook Get Attachment and NOT the SharePoint Get attachments. This is a key distinction. So when you search for get attachment, make sure to pick the one in the Outlook subsection.Then, in the parameters section, hit / and choose Insert dynamic content in each field, and add Message Id to the Message Id field and Attachments Attachment ID to the Attachement [sic] Id field. Both of these items are under the Outlook When a new email arrives list in the pane that appears on the right, but they might not be immediately visible. To find them, type the first few letters of each in the search box up top and choose the item from the list that appears.Filling out the parameters for the Get Attachment action.Jonathan Hassell / FoundryClick back on the canvas when youre done to save your changes.Now, for the final action, click the plus sign below the Get Attachment item, search for add attachment, and choose Add attachment from the SharePoint list. Here, you need to add parameters again, which you should be getting used to as well. Youll want to add:Site Address: pick your SharePoint site.List Name: pick the SharePoint list.Id: hit the / key, choose dynamic content, and select ID from the SharePoint list.File Name: hit the / key, choose dynamic content, and then choose Attachments Name from the Outlook list.File Content: hit the / key, choose dynamic content, and then choose either Content Bytes or Attachments Content from the Outlook list.Filling in the parameters for the Add attachment action.Jonathan Hassell / FoundryFinally, click Save in the top right of the overall Power Automate window to keep the flow saved in your account. The final flow should look like this: srcset="https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-13-complete-flow.png?quality=50&strip=all 629w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-13-complete-flow.png?resize=212%2C300&quality=50&strip=all 212w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-13-complete-flow.png?resize=493%2C697&quality=50&strip=all 493w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-13-complete-flow.png?resize=119%2C168&quality=50&strip=all 119w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-13-complete-flow.png?resize=59%2C84&quality=50&strip=all 59w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-13-complete-flow.png?resize=340%2C480&quality=50&strip=all 340w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-13-complete-flow.png?resize=255%2C360&quality=50&strip=all 255w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-13-complete-flow.png?resize=177%2C250&quality=50&strip=all 177w" width="629" height="889" sizes="(max-width: 629px) 100vw, 629px">Our first flow is complete!Jonathan Hassell / FoundryYour flow is now ready to test. Use the Test button to try it out. Youll be asked how you want to test select Manual, and then send yourself an email with an attachment and put scholarship application in the subject line. The flow will report back to you onscreen and show you how long it took to process and what happened at each step.Note: you may receive errors about a duplicate filename. This relates to the fact were not trying to rename individual attachment names when we save them into SharePoint, so if you get a bunch of PDFs from different individuals all called application or something similar, Power Automate is telling you the names are duplicated and it isnt renaming them. This is fine for our purposes, since we are saving the attachments to individual list items, so well always know who theyre from regardless of the filename.Other errors may result from how your specific Microsoft 365 tenant is configured, but you can often find a workaround. For example, using the Body item in the Message Content field in this flow works fine in my tenant, but when my editor tested it in her tenant, the flow failed, flagging item/MessageContent as the source of the error. When she substituted Body Preview in that field, the flow ran flawlessly. So if you hit an error when you start building your own flows, its worth looking for a similar item you can substitute.Youll know the flow is working when you get green arrows at each step. You can also head over to your SharePoint list, and you should see your message added to the list. The email address of the sender will be in the first column, the message body in the second, and then when you click the individual item, youll see the attachments listed there just click on them to open them up.Viewing the final result of the automation in SharePoint.Jonathan Hassell / FoundryVoila! Youve just made your first flow and organized a bunch of stuff out of your inbox into a single place where you can share the load with co-workers.Adding AI power: Copilot and AI BuilderNow lets make things really interesting by adding artificial intelligence to your flows. This is where automation becomes truly powerful, handling tasks that traditionally required human review.In this example, lets ask Copilot to create a flow that automatically processes invoices using AI Builder, a Power Platform feature that creates AI models that automate your business processes. Whats cool about this example is that youre going to build it simply by describing what you want in natural language, and as part of the resulting flow, Power Automate will integrate AI Builder actions, which use generative AI to review and extract information from existing data and then do something with it.Note: Youll need an AI Builder credit allocation or a premium Power Automate license to work with this section.Create a new flow in Power Automate, and then click Describe it to design it. Youll get the following screen as a result:Type in natural language to have Copilot generate a workflow based on your prompt.Jonathan Hassell / FoundryNow, in the large box in the center of the screen, just describe the flow you want to create. Ill give you some language here, which you can either cut and paste yourself into the wizard, or you can change any part of it you like simply by customizing the prompt.Example: When a new invoice file is created in SharePoint, I want to use AI Builder to extract information from the invoices. Specifically, I want to extract the invoice number (highly recommended), date, total amount, vendor information, and line items (if needed). Once that information has been extracted, I want the information to be added to a list in SharePoint, with the AI-extracted fields mapped to list columns, and also including the processing date and status. I also want to send an email to accounting to notify them of the presence of the invoice, and that email should include extracted data in the email body, have the original invoice file attached, and should also have links to the SharePoint entry. I also want some error handling to check if AI extraction succeeded, and if it didnt, I want an email to notify me of the failure and also to create a task for manual review.Once youve got the prompt set, click the arrow at the bottom right of the prompt window to enter it. Depending on how you customized your prompt, youll get something like the following flowchart, reflecting Power Automates interpretation of your prompt:You can take an AI-generated flow and then expand and fine-tune it.Jonathan Hassell / FoundryThats it! You can click Next below the suggested flow and then click each action as we did before to configure the specific SharePoint libraries, lists, and files involved as well as the email contents and bodies.Making your flows reliableReliability is the cornerstone of successful automation. While creating flows is exciting, ensuring that they continue to work flawlessly is what separates effective automation from frustrating setbacks. Let me walk you through how to build robust, dependable flows that you can trust.First, think about error handling as you build your flow. After each major action, take a moment to consider what might go wrong. Maybe an email wont send, a file wont upload, or data wont process correctly. These potential failure points need safeguards.This is where Run after settings become your best friend. You can create an action that responds to what happens during a previous step in the sequence: when the step is successful, when it fails, when its skipped, when it times out, or some combination of the above. Think of this as your flows safety net.For example, you could set up an action that sends you an email notification if a previous action fails, is skipped, or times out. Click the + sign after an action to add a new step. Search for and select Send me an email notification. Type in a subject line for the notification (which could include the Subject line from the original email, via the / key, dynamic content pane) and some body text indicating that the flow did not complete successfully.Next, right-click the new action in the flow and select Run after from the pop-up menu. The actions pane opens to the Settings tab. Scroll down to the Run after section. Youll see the name of the action immediately above it in the flow. Click that action to expand it, then check Has timed out, Is skipped, and Has failed. Uncheck Is successful.If you like, you can add other previous actions to this list by clicking Select actions and selecting the actions you want, then expanding and checking/unchecking the status options under each action. In this way, you can set up a single Run after step for all the previous actions in a flow, or you can create different Run after steps for different actions in the flow. srcset="https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-17-run-after-actions.png?quality=50&strip=all 936w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-17-run-after-actions.png?resize=300%2C145&quality=50&strip=all 300w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-17-run-after-actions.png?resize=768%2C371&quality=50&strip=all 768w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-17-run-after-actions.png?resize=150%2C72&quality=50&strip=all 150w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-17-run-after-actions.png?resize=854%2C412&quality=50&strip=all 854w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-17-run-after-actions.png?resize=640%2C309&quality=50&strip=all 640w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/power-automate-17-run-after-actions.png?resize=444%2C214&quality=50&strip=all 444w" width="936" height="452" sizes="(max-width: 936px) 100vw, 936px">Setting up Run after actions and options.Jonathan Hassell / FoundryBy setting up Run after responses, youll be prepared when something does go wrong. Set up notification actions to alert you immediately if a step fails. Create incident tickets so your team can track issues. Keep a log of errors in a spreadsheet for pattern analysis. And dont forget about retry logic sometimes a second attempt is all thats needed to succeed.Parallel branches are another powerful tool for reliability. By clicking the + symbol between steps and choosing Add parallel branch, you can create simultaneous operations. This is perfect for running independent processes, maintaining backup procedures, or sending out secondary notifications. Think of it as having multiple backup plans running simultaneously.Finally, lets talk about monitoring your early warning system for potential issues. Create a daily monitoring flow that runs automatically. Have it check your flow history and look for any failures. Set it up to send you a daily digest summarizing whats working and what needs attention. Include success rates so you can spot trends before they become problems.Your monitoring system should also include smart alerts. Set up notifications for critical failures that need immediate attention. Configure warnings when performance starts to slip. Track usage statistics to ensure youre making the most of your automation resources.Remember, reliability isnt about preventing every possible problem its about having systems in place to catch issues early and resolve them quickly. With these practices in place, you can build flows that dont just work today but continue working reliably long into the future.The last wordMicrosoft Power Automate provides a service like Zapier and IFTTT that is well integrated with both Microsoft 365 and many other popular cloud services used by individuals and businesses alike. While Im not exhaustively comparing Power Automate to IFTTT and Zapier, Microsoft shops and especially organizations already in bed with Microsoft 365 may find integrating flows into their daily work easier and more user-friendly.Whatever the situation, using flows can mean the difference between forgetting subtle but critical details in business workflows and having all of your bases covered.This article was originally published in October 2019 and updated in March 2025.