Recently, I got a requirement to update SharePoint list items from an Excel file using Power Automate. The client had an Excel file and wanted to update these records in a SharePoint Online list.
In this tutorial, I will explain how to update SharePoint list items from an Excel spreadsheet using Power Automate.
Update SharePoint List Items from Excel by Power Automate
Scenario: I have a SharePoint list(Employee Details) with a few columns, along with two list items in it, as shown in the screenshot:
| Column Name | Data Type |
|---|---|
| Employee ID | Single line of text (Title) |
| Employee Name | Single line of text |
| Joining Date | Date & time |
| Department | Choice |
| Permanent Address | Multiple lines of text |
| PF Included? | Yes/No |
In the Excel spreadsheet (Employee Details), I have four items.
Refer to the image below:
My requirement is to update the SharePoint list items with data from the Excel file. If the SharePoint list item already exists (based on Employee ID), update all the list column values properly with the Excel values; otherwise, it will add it as a new item in the SharePoint list.
- From the Power Automate Home page, create a Scheduled cloud flow to run daily, and then configure the parameters as below:
- Starting: Select a date from the calendar at a specific time.
- Repeat Every: Add interval as 1.
- Frequency: Choose a Day from the dropdown.
Then, click on the Create button. Then, the recurrence trigger will be added.
- To retrieve the data from an Excel sheet, add the ‘List rows present in a table‘ action. Provide the following parameters:
- Location: Choose the site location or OneDrive where the file is present.
- Document Library: Select the document library where you stored the Excel sheet.
- File: Choose the file path from the drop-down.
- Table: Select Table from the drop-down.
- Now, I wanted to retrieve the items from a SharePoint list. To retrieve the SharePoint list items, use the Get Items action. Provide Site Address and List Name.
- Click the Show All button to display all advanced parameters. Provide the filter query to retrieve the items that match the data in the Excel.
- Filter Query: Copy and paste the below code. Give the Internal name of a SharePoint list column.
Title eq '@{items('For_each')?['Employee ID']}'For each loop will be added automatically.
- Next, let’s add a Condition action to verify the length of the items retrieved from a SharePoint list.
If the length equals zero, it means no items were found in the SharePoint list based on the given condition.
So, under the True branch, use the Create item action to add a new item to the SharePoint list. Under the False branch, use the Update item action to update the existing list items.
| Choose Value | Operator | Choose Value |
| length(outputs(‘Get_items’)?[‘body/value’]) | is equal to | 0 |
- Under the True branch, take a Create item action that adds a new item to the SharePoint list.
- Configure the Site Address and List Name.
- Click “Show all” to display the Advanced parameters. Add the values provided in the table below that are relevant to the specific field.
| Column Name | Value |
| Title Employee Name Joining Date Permanent Address | Choose the value of dynamic content from Excel |
| PF Included? | if(equals(item()?[‘PF Included’],’Yes’),true,false) |
| Department Value | item()?[‘Department ‘] |
Now, we will write the False branch. This will update the SharePoint list items from the Excel file.
- Under the False branch, take a Compose action to add the ‘PF Included?’ field.
- Inputs: Add the code below.
if(equals(item()?['PF Included'],'Yes'),true,false)In the above code, replace the column name with your Excel column name.
- After that, take the Update item action. Set parameters such as Site Address and List Name.
- Id: Select ID from the dynamic content of Get items.
Click “Show all” to display the Advanced parameters. Provide the values as shown in the table below.
| Column Name | Value |
| Title Employee Name Joining Date Permanent Address | Choose the value of dynamic content from Excel |
| PF Included? | outputs(‘Compose_-_PF_Included’) |
| Department Value | item()?[‘Department ‘] |
- Once the Power Automate flow is ready, click the Save button to save it. Test it manually. When the flow executes successfully, you can see the outputs that are placed below from the True and False branches.
True Branch Output:
- The new items will be created in the SharePoint list, taking the items from the Excel spreadsheet. You can refer to the image below.
False Branch Output:
Input: SharePoint list items with blank values.
Output: SharePoint list items with updated values.
In this tutorial, I have explained how to update a SharePoint list with Excel items using Power Automate.
I hope you found this tutorial helpful. Please mention your suggestions and thoughts in the comment section.
You may also visit:
- Update SharePoint List Items Using Power Automate
- Update Only One Field in a SharePoint List Item Using Power Automate
- Update SharePoint List Items Based On Condition Using Power Automate
- Update a SharePoint List Item from another SharePoint List Power Automate
- Add Excel Table into HTML Email Body using Power Automate Desktop
After working for more than 18 years in Microsoft technologies like SharePoint, Microsoft 365, and Power Platform (Power Apps, Power Automate, and Power BI), I thought will share my SharePoint expertise knowledge with the world. Our audiences are from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, etc. For my expertise knowledge and SharePoint tutorials, Microsoft has been awarded a Microsoft SharePoint MVP (12 times). I have also worked in companies like HP, TCS, KPIT, etc.
