Fix a Power Apps Form Stuck on “Getting Your Data”

A hotel front desk app I helped with let staff register guests on a tablet. The first guest of the day always went fine. After they pressed Submit, though, the form went blank and just said “Getting your data…” until someone closed and reopened the app. The guest had been saved to SharePoint every time; the form simply had nothing left to show.

This is one of the most common Power Apps form problems, and it comes down to form modes. In this guide, I’ll explain why it happens and the fixes that make it go away for good.

Quick answer: After a successful SubmitForm, a form that was in New mode switches to Edit mode, and with no record in its Item property it shows “Getting your data…”. Put NewForm(Form1) in the form’s OnSuccess property (after any ResetForm), set DefaultMode to FormMode.New for a create-only form, and call NewForm before navigating to the form screen.

Why the form gets stuck

Here’s what the guest registration screen looked like after the first submit:

An edit form is always in one of three modes: New (a blank record), Edit (the record in the Item property) or View. A few actions change the mode behind your back:

Action	Mode afterwards
NewForm(Form1)	New
EditForm(Form1)	Edit
ViewForm(Form1)	View
SubmitForm(Form1), when it succeeds in New mode	Edit (showing the record you just saved)
ResetForm(Form1), in New mode	Edit
Nothing set	Edit, the default

So after the first save, the form is in Edit mode. If its Item property is empty, or points to a variable that isn’t set, there’s no record to display, and the form shows the loading message instead of fields. Every fix below makes sure the form is back in New mode, or has a valid Item, whenever someone looks at it.

The sample app

The app has a Welcome Screen, a Main Screen with an edit form (Form1) connected to a SharePoint list of guest registrations, and a Success Screen. The Submit button started with just:

SubmitForm(Form1)

Fix 1: Start every visit in New mode

On the Welcome Screen, the button that opens the form should put it in New mode first:

NewForm(Form1); Navigate('Main Screen', ScreenTransition.Fade)

For a form that only ever creates records, also set the form’s DefaultMode property to FormMode.New. That’s the mode it starts in when the app opens.

Fix 2: Do the follow-up in OnSuccess

Keep the Submit button to SubmitForm(Form1) only, and put what should happen next in the form’s OnSuccess property:

ResetForm(Form1);
NewForm(Form1);
Navigate('Success Screen', ScreenTransition.Fade)

The order matters: ResetForm clears the fields but switches a new form to Edit mode, so NewForm has to come after it.

You may see this written on the Submit button instead: SubmitForm(Form1); ResetForm(Form1); NewForm(Form1). Avoid it. Those last two run even when the save fails, for example because a required field is empty or the connection dropped, and they wipe what the person typed. OnSuccess only runs when the record was really saved. To show what went wrong otherwise, add a label with Form1.Error.

On the Success Screen, a “Register another guest” button can go straight back to a fresh form:

NewForm(Form1); Navigate('Main Screen', ScreenTransition.None)

In OnSuccess, Form1.LastSubmit holds the saved record, so you can show something like “Registration #” & Form1.LastSubmit.ID on the Success Screen.

Fix 3: A reset button that doesn’t break the form

A reload icon that clears the form is handy, but ResetForm(Form1) on its own switches a new form to Edit mode and brings the problem right back. Use both:

ResetForm(Form1); NewForm(Form1)

Fix 4: Reset the form when the screen opens

As a safety net, set the Main Screen’s OnVisible property:

NewForm(Form1)

Now the form is in New mode whenever someone arrives on the screen, however they got there.

If the form edits existing items

When the same form creates and edits records, Edit mode is correct, but it needs a record. Set it from the gallery:

Set(varSelectedItem, ThisItem); EditForm(Form1); Navigate('Main Screen')

and set the form’s Item to varSelectedItem. If Item points to something blank, you get the loading message again. See how to get the selected value from a gallery for this pattern.

Other causes to check

• SharePoint custom forms don’t close. In a form customized from a SharePoint list, keep RequestHide() in the SharePointForm’s OnSuccess (the default is ResetForm(SharePointForm1); RequestHide()). Without it, SharePoint doesn’t know the form is done.
• A variable isn’t ready yet. App.OnStart doesn’t block the first screen, so a form whose Item depends on a variable set in OnStart can load before the variable exists. Use a named formula in App.Formulas, or set the variable in the screen’s OnVisible.
• The list changed. If you renamed or deleted columns, refresh the data source in the Data pane and re-add any broken cards.
• Galleries don’t show the new record. After SubmitForm, the data source refreshes automatically. You only need Refresh() if the gallery is based on a collection or another copy of the data.
• It’s just slow. Use Live Monitor (Advanced tools > Monitor) to see which call takes the time.

These Power Apps form tutorials may help:

• 2 Best Methods to Create a Simple Form in Power Apps [Step-by-Step]
• Power Apps Form field validation on submit [Email, Phone Number, Date & Text]
• Customize SharePoint list forms with Power Apps based on conditions
• How to create multiple tabs form in Power Apps
• How To Get Selected Value From Gallery In Power Apps?
• How to set default value in Power Apps data card?

Frequently Asked Questions