Power Apps: Upload Files to SharePoint Document Library (V2 Trigger Method)

Directly uploading files from Power Apps to a SharePoint Document Library isn’t supported out-of-the-box. However, using the Power Apps (V2) trigger in Power Automate provides a reliable workaround. This guide covers the complete setup.

Step 1: Prerequisites

Before building the app, ensure you have the following ready in SharePoint Online (SPO).

1. Document Library: Create a library where files will be stored.

2. SharePoint List: Create a dummy list.
Why? The Attachment Control in Power Apps is only accessible via a Form control connected to a SharePoint list (or Dataverse table). We need this list solely to grab that control.

Step 2: Create the Power Automate Flow

We will create a flow that receives file data from Power Apps and creates a file in SharePoint.

Note: The screenshots below use the Classic Designer. The steps apply similarly to the New Designer.

1. Create an Instant Cloud Flow and select the PowerApps (V2) trigger.

2. Add an input parameter of type File.


You can rename this parameter (e.g., “FileContent”) for clarity.

4. File Content: Select the file content parameter (Bytes) from the trigger.

5. Save the flow. Your backend is ready!

Step 3: Create the Power Apps UI

Now, let’s extract the Attachment Control.

1. Create a Canvas App and add the SharePoint List connection (from Step 1).

2. Insert an Edit Form and connect it to the list.

3. Inside the form, locate the Attachment DataCard. Select the DataCardValue (the attachment control itself) and Cut (Ctrl+X) it.

4. Paste (Ctrl+V) the control outside the form onto the screen. You can now delete the Form.
Tip: Resolve any errors in the properties pane (remove references to Parent.Default) and set the Items property to blank.

Step 4: Connect Flow to App

1. Add the Power Automate flow to your app.

2. Set the MaxAttachments property of the control to 1 (for single file upload).

3. Add a Button and set its OnSelect property to run the flow. Pass the file properties directly:

// Replace 'FlowName' and 'AttachmentControlName' with your actual names
FlowName.Run({
    file: {
        contentBytes: First(AttachmentControlName.Attachments).Value,
        name: First(AttachmentControlName.Attachments).Name 
     }
});

Testing

Run the app, attach a file, and click the button. Check your SharePoint library—the file should appear instantly!

Bonus: Uploading Multiple Files

To handle multiple attachments, we need to loop through the files using ForAll.

1. Change MaxAttachments to your desired limit (e.g., 5).

ForAll(
    AttachmentControlName.Attachments As file,
    FlowName.Run({
        file: { 
            contentBytes: file.Value, 
            name: file.Name
        }
    }) 
);

Limitations & Considerations

• File Size: This method is suitable for small to medium files (typically under 50MB). Larger files may cause the Flow to time out.
• Overwrite: If a file with the same name exists, SharePoint will overwrite it by default.
• Performance: Using ForAll triggers a separate Flow run for each file. For bulk uploads, consider passing a JSON array to Flow instead.

While you can also upload files by converting images to Data URI, I prefer the V2 Trigger method for its simplicity and reliability with various file types (PDF, Excel, Docx).