How to fill out forms automatically with Power Automate

Mastering form automation is one of the great advantages of Power automat, especially when we want optimize time and reduce human errors in repetitive tasksIf you've stopped to think about how you could centralize form management and leverage your data efficiently, this article will show you how. how to fill out forms with Power Automate.

Not only rfill out, but also process and act on form data. Plus, we'll reveal tips and solutions to the most common problems.

What is Power Automate and how does it connect to forms?

Power Automate—formerly known as Microsoft Flow—is a process automation tool that allows you to create chains of automatic actions for different applications and services, without the need for programming. When it comes to forms, the most natural integration is with Microsoft Forms, although it is also possible to leverage other data sources, such as Excel Online or third-party platforms through UI Flows and specific connectors.

The key is to turn each form submission into a trigger for automated actions.: from recording data in a database to sending approvals, personalized emails, or feeding more complex processes.

Common ways to automate forms in Power Automate

According to official Microsoft documentation and the practical experience of many users, the most common tasks that you can automate when someone fills out a form

• Send email notifications both to the owner of the form and to the user who completed it.
• Request approvals directly with the collected details in the form, ideal for vacation processes, applications, purchases, etc.
• Automatically record responses in an Excel spreadsheet or SharePoint list for subsequent processing and analysis, bringing the data to the company's usual digital work environment.
• Manage attachments uploaded to the form, creating shared links and sending the files via email or storing them in OneDrive.

Each option can be customized to fit your workflow, with multiple variations that range from sending personalized messages to automatically creating files based on responses received.

How to create an automatic flow with forms

To illustrate the entire process, let's build a typical example: you want to save that information to a SharePoint list and send a custom notification every time someone fills out a Microsoft Form. The usual steps, according to user experience and the documentation itself, are these:

1. Sign in Power automat and select the option to create an automated cloud flow from scratch.
2. Choose the Microsoft Forms trigger “When a new response is sent".
3. In that trigger, select the form you want to work on (you can search for it by name or, if it's a group form and doesn't appear in the list, use the identifier you'll see in the Forms URL after "FormId=").
4. Add the action block “Get response details”.
5. Configure the data destination: You can choose between creating a new record in a SharePoint list (aligning each column with each field in the form) or storing the information in Excel Online (using tables as the destination).
6. If your form contains attachments, you must use the “Parse JSON” to manage the structure of uploaded files and then use OneDrive or SharePoint to generate a link and manage them.
7. Finally, you can add an action to send a personalized email to both the owner and the responder (including any dynamic information from the form).

One of the great advantages of filling out forms with Power Automate is the flexibilityThe tool allows you to add conditions and split the flow based on responses (for example, to differentiate whether someone will attend an event in person or via Teams, and send different notifications in each case).

Advanced Automation: Filling Web Forms and Managing Data with UI Flows and Selenium

Power Automate is not limited to automating tasks within the Microsoft ecosystem. An advanced feature is the ability to Automate form filling on external websites that do not have their own connectors, using what's known as UI Flows. This mechanism, based on the Selenium IDE, allows you to simulate human input in any web form or legacy application, entering data one by one from sources like Excel Online.

The typical procedure would be as follows:

1. Prepare an Excel file with the data, ensuring it is formatted as a table so you can manipulate it with Power Automate.
2. Use the “List Rows Present In a Table” block to read each row of data.
3. Set up a loop that iterates through the records (using, for example, a 'Key' column as the iteration identifier).
4. For each record, launch a UI Flow configured with Selenium IDE to enter the data into the destination web form.
5. You can complement this flow with an “Update a Row” block to mark that a record has been correctly processed (for example, changing a YES/NO field in Excel if the iteration is successful).

This capability is ideal when you need Dump large amounts of data into external platforms, integrating people and systems that do not have their own APIs or direct connectorsAdditionally, managing your work from Excel is especially convenient for users who are used to working with spreadsheets and are looking for a fast and flexible solution.

Integration with SharePoint: storage and exploitation of results

One of the most common uses of Power Automate in combination with forms is Automatic data entry into SharePoint listsThis mechanism is perfect for transforming form submissions into structured records that can then be processed as metadata and used in dashboards, reports, or internal business processes.

For proper integration, make sure that Form questions and SharePoint list columns match in structure, so that each response is stored in an organized and usable manner. This approach allows for the digitization of everything from internal surveys to personnel selection processes, internal orders, and material requests.

Handling attachments and generating shared links

In cases where the forms allow the uploading attachments (for example, when requesting receipts, ID documents, quotes, etc.), Power Automate has the ability to:

• Retrieve the uploaded file with the “Get Response Details” action.
• Use the “Parse JSON” action to process attachment information and extract its unique identifier.
• Upload the file to OneDrive or SharePoint and then generate a shared link that can be automatically emailed to whoever needs it.
• Customize the email body by inserting the link and file name as a clickable HTML link (using the Name syntax in Power Automate's own HTML editor).

This functionality is key to digitizing administrative processes and tasks that require document flow., such as human resources processes, expense control or documentation validations.

Recommendations for a robust and efficient flow

If you want your automations to be truly useful, take note of these best practices:

• Always use clear identifiers and standardize form names. to facilitate long-term management.
• Verifies the authenticity of the data entered by users When you can't restrict forms, implement validation mechanisms for email if you request it as a text field.
• Keep track of actions and errors through logs in Excel, SharePoint or notifications to those responsible.
• View Power Automate run history to debug issues and adjust your flows as you detect recurring patterns or errors.
• Take advantage of Power Automate's integration with other tools in the Microsoft ecosystem, such as Teams, Outlook, SharePoint, and Excel, to create complete and collaborative solutions.

Turning forms and workflows into automated digital assets provides a significant competitive advantage. If you internalize these recommendations and avoid the problems that other users have already solved, You will have the ability to transform tedious tasks into fluid and customizable processes.Efficient digitalization and automation can be implemented in any sector or business size, without having to be a programmer, and Power Automate is your best ally in achieving this.