Frequently asked questions

Power Automate is a cloud-based service that makes it practical and simple for line-of-business users to build workflows that automate time-consuming business tasks and processes across applications and services.

Power Automate has two distinct audiences:

• Line-of-business “Citizen Integrators” in enterprise organizations who partner with IT to move responsibility for business solutions closer to the business itself.
• IT decision makers who want to empower line-of-business partners to create their own solutions so IT professionals and integration specialists can focus their expertise on more advanced integration tools, such as Azure Logic Apps.

Power Automate provides features that help line-of-business users create automated workflows. Logic Apps is an Azure service that provides the same great features of Power Automate, plus features such as integration with Azure Resource Manager and the Azure Portal, PowerShell and xPlat CLI, Visual Studio, and additional connectors. Learn more about Logic Apps.

Power Automate is part of a powerful and adaptable business application platform that includes Power Apps, Microsoft Dataverse, Dynamics 365, and Office 365. This platform allows our customers, our partners, and our ISV partners to create purpose-built solutions for their own companies, their industry, for functional roles or even for specific geographies. Line-of-business users, who understand their business needs best, can now easily analyze, compose, and streamline data and processes. Professional developers can easily extend the automation, analytics and apps line-of-business to leverage Azure services like Functions, App Service, and Logic Apps. API connectors, gateways, and Microsoft Dataverse make it possible to get more value out of services or data already in use, either in the cloud or on-premises.

To use Power Automate, all you need is a web browser and an email address.

You can run Power Automate on all modern devices, and browsers.

Power Automate runs great on modern devices. If you need to manage Power Automate from a mobile device, try the Power Automate mobile app that's available on iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone.

We recommend that you use the most up-to-date browser that's compatible with your operating system. We support the following browsers:

• Microsoft Edge
• Safari
• Chrome
• Firefox

Power Automate supports email addresses that end with anything except .gov and .mil.

Power Automate is a public cloud service only. However, you can securely connect to your own on-premises services through the on-premises data gateway.

Power Automate connects to more than 100 data sources out of the box, and we’re adding more all the time. Some examples of data sources and services include the following:

• SharePoint
• Dynamics 365
• OneDrive
• OneDrive for Business
• Google Drive
• Google Sheets
• Trello
• Twitter
• Box
• Facebook
• SalesForce.com
• Mailchimp
• Customer APIs

You can find a full list of available connectors here.

You can access data sources in your own IT infrastructure through the on-premises data gateway.

Templates are pre-built flows for popular and common scenarios. Using a template only requires you to have access to the services in the template and to fill out any required settings.

You can connect to more than 100 standard services from Microsoft and third parties, such Office 365, Twitter, SharePoint, OneDrive, Dropbox, SQL Server, and more. You can also connect to premium services such as Salesforce and Microsoft Dataverse.

You can connect to any REST API that uses JSON and supports at least one of more than 10 authentication methods by creating a custom connector.

You can connect to services on your local network using the on-premises data gateway.

You can share flows in either of these ways:

• You can add co-workers or groups in your organization as owners on your flows, so they can also edit and manage the flow.
• For flows that can be run manually, you can also grant other people or groups in your organization permission to just run the flow.

You can create an unlimited number of flows, depending on the type of license you hold.

Get started with the following resources:

• Blog
• YouTube channel
• Topic
• Community

The Power Automate mobile app is available on Android, iOS, or Windows Phone.

Yes, each flow has an on/off switch that enables you to stop the flow from processing requests.

See the following table to understand how your flow responds when it's turned back on.

Power Automate is available in 42 languages and six regions. To see the languages that are available:

1. Sign into the Power Platform admin center > Environments
2. Select your environment
3. Select Settings on the top menu bar.
4. Select Product > Languages

Power Automate is the successor to SharePoint Designer for many common business scenarios such as approvals, document review, and onboarding/offboarding. It will be the default tool for building business automation in SharePoint moving forward.

Administrators can create data loss prevention policies to ensure that only sanctioned services are used in Power Automate.

While you can create flows with a service account, we don't recommend doing so if the credentials for the service account are shared.

Yes. You can use our free offering, which has limited user rights, or you can sign up for a free 90-day trial of Power Automate. You can activate your subscription at any time during your trial.

Power Automate offers both free and paid service levels. Learn more about pricing.

• Take a guided learning tour of Power Automate
• Learn the basics of Power Automate in the getting started guide