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How to Automate Email Notifications with Power Automate
Introduction
Email notifications keep teams moving. But sending them manually is slow and easy to forget. Maybe you need to email a manager when a form is submitted, alert a team when a file changes, or notify someone when a task is overdue. These are perfect jobs for Power Automate.
Power Automate is a Microsoft tool that lets you build “flows” that run automatically. A flow listens for something to happen (a trigger), then takes actions (like sending an email). Once set up, it runs in the background and keeps working, day after day.
In this guide you will learn how to:
- Choose the right trigger for email notifications
- Build reliable flows that send useful emails
- Use dynamic content (names, dates, links) in your messages
- Add conditions so the right people get the right alerts
- Prevent duplicate emails and handle errors
- Use approvals, reminders, and escalation patterns
- Follow good practices for security and maintenance
You don’t need to code. You just need a clear plan.
What you can automate with email notifications
Here are common real-world examples:
- Forms: Send a confirmation email to the person who submitted a Microsoft Form, and alert the admin team.
- SharePoint lists: Email someone when a new item is created or when a status changes to “Approved”.
- OneDrive/SharePoint files: Email the team when a file is added or modified in a folder.
- Planner / Tasks: Email task owners when due dates are close (or overdue).
- Approvals: Send an email when an approval is requested and when it is approved or rejected.
- Outlook: Send alerts when certain emails arrive (subject contains “Invoice”, from a certain supplier, etc.).
- Scheduled: Send a daily digest email with updates from the last 24 hours.
The building blocks: trigger, actions, and dynamic content
A basic email notification flow looks like this:
- Trigger – what starts the flow
- “When a new response is submitted” (Microsoft Forms)
- “When an item is created” (SharePoint)
- “When a file is created” (OneDrive)
- “Recurrence” (schedule)
- Actions – what the flow does
- Get details (Get response details, Get item, Get file metadata)
- Condition (if/then)
- Send email (Outlook)
- Post to Teams (optional)
- Dynamic content – values pulled from the trigger
- Name, email, status, amount, date, link
Step 1: Pick the best trigger for your situation
A) Form submissions (common and simple)
Use:
- Microsoft Forms > When a new response is submitted
Then add: - Get response details
Because the trigger only gives the response ID, not the full answers.
Best for: registrations, enquiries, internal requests.
B) SharePoint list updates (great for process workflows)
Use:
- SharePoint > When an item is created
or - SharePoint > When an item is created or modified
Best for: approvals, onboarding tasks, request tracking, issue logs.
C) File changes (good for document processes)
Use:
- OneDrive for Business > When a file is created
or - SharePoint > When a file is created (properties only)
Best for: notifying reviewers, folder drop zones, project document updates.
D) Scheduled notifications (reminders and digests)
Use:
- Recurrence (runs every day/hour/week)
Best for: daily summaries, overdue reminders, weekly reports.
E) Email-based triggers (Outlook)
Use:
- When a new email arrives (V3)
Best for: alerting or routing based on inbound email content.
Step 2: Build your first email notification flow (example pattern)
Let’s build a simple, reliable pattern you can reuse. Imagine you want to notify a mailbox when a new request comes in.
Flow outline
- Trigger: when something happens
- Get details (if needed)
- Create a neat email message
- Send it
- Add a link back to the source item
What makes an email “good” for users
- Clear subject line
- Short summary at the top
- Key fields in a tidy list
- A direct link to the source
- Who to contact next (optional)
Step 3: Write better subject lines
Bad subject lines are vague:
- “New submission”
- “Update”
- “FYI”
Better subject lines include:
- the request type
- a reference number or title
- the priority or due date (if important)
Examples:
- “New Training Request: Excel Intermediate – 12 Feb”
- “Approval Needed: Purchase Request – £1,250”
- “Overdue Task: Update Risk Log (Due 01 Jan)”
Step 4: Use dynamic content in the email body
In the email action (usually Office 365 Outlook > Send an email (V2)), you can insert values from the trigger.
Good structure for the email body:
Top line: what happened
Details: key information
Link: where to view the item
Next step: what you want the reader to do
Example layout:
- Requestor: {Name}
- Department: {Department}
- Priority: {Priority}
- Summary: {Summary}
- Link: {Item link}
Keep it short enough to scan in 10 seconds.
Step 5: Send to the right people (Conditions and branching)
Most flows need logic, like:
- If priority is High, email the manager
- If amount is over £5,000, email finance
- If status changes to Approved, email the requester
Use:
- Control > Condition
Example logic (plain English):
- If
Priorityequals “High”- Send email to
ManagerEmail
- Send email to
- Else
- Send email to
TeamMailbox
- Send email to
You can also use:
- Switch (when there are many categories)
Step 6: Avoid duplicate emails (a very common problem)
Duplicate emails usually happen because:
- You used “created or modified” as the trigger
- The item gets edited several times
- Each edit triggers the flow again
Good ways to prevent this
- Trigger conditions (best option)
- Example: only run if Status equals “Submitted” and NotificationSent is not “Yes”
- Add a “NotificationSent” column in SharePoint (Yes/No)
- The flow sends the email, then sets NotificationSent to Yes
- Next edits won’t send again
Simple approach for SharePoint
- Add a Yes/No column:
NotificationSent - Flow logic:
- If NotificationSent is No → Send email → Update item → NotificationSent = Yes
This is a reliable pattern.
Step 7: Add links that people can click
For SharePoint list items, you can include the “Link to item” value if available.
If not, you can build it using the Site URL + list item ID (depends on setup).
For files:
- Use “Link to item” or “Web URL”
For Forms:
- Include a link to your SharePoint list (if you store responses there), or include enough details so the recipient can act.
Step 8: Improve the email appearance (but keep it simple)
Power Automate emails support HTML. You can add:
- bold headings
- line breaks
- a button-style link (simple HTML)
But don’t go overboard. The goal is clarity, not design.
A clean format usually looks best:
- short paragraphs
- bullet list
- one obvious link
Step 9: Use attachments (when useful)
You can attach:
- a file from OneDrive/SharePoint
- a generated file (Excel, PDF)
- an image or exported report
Typical example:
- When an approval is completed, email the approved document.
Be careful: attachments increase email size and may trigger security checks. Links are often better.
Step 10: Add reminders and escalations
Reminder pattern (scheduled)
Use Recurrence daily:
- Get list items where Status = “Pending” and DueDate <= today+2
- Send reminder to the owner
- If DueDate < today, send escalation to manager
This is very useful for task lists and approvals.
Escalation logic
- If overdue by 1–2 days → email owner
- If overdue by 3+ days → email owner + manager
- If overdue by 7+ days → email team mailbox
Step 11: Approvals with email notifications
Power Automate has an Approvals connector.
Typical flow:
- Trigger: item created (SharePoint)
- Start and wait for an approval
- If approved:
- Update the item status
- Send email to requester with result
- If rejected:
- Update the item status
- Send email with reason and next steps
Approvals can send emails automatically, but many teams still add a custom email for a clearer message.
Step 12: Handle failures and errors
Flows can fail for simple reasons:
- missing permissions
- invalid email address
- file moved
- connector temporarily unavailable
Best practice actions
- Add a Scope for your main actions
- Add another Scope for “On failure” actions
- Use “Configure run after” to trigger the failure path
- Send a failure email to an admin mailbox with:
- flow name
- date/time
- item ID
- error message
Also consider writing errors to a SharePoint list called FlowErrors.
Step 13: Security and permissions (keep it safe)
- Use a service account for business flows (where IT allows).
- Avoid hard-coding personal email addresses in flows. Use:
- a shared mailbox
- a security group
- a SharePoint “OwnerEmail” column
- Be careful with confidential data in emails. Email is easy to forward.
- Prefer sending a link to the source where permissions apply, rather than sending sensitive details in the message body.
Step 14: Testing and maintenance
Before you roll a flow out:
- Test with real examples (low, medium, high priority)
- Check the email formatting on desktop and mobile
- Confirm links work for different users
- Confirm no duplicates are triggered
- Add clear names to your actions so troubleshooting is easy
For maintenance:
- Keep a “Flow Owner” and a “Last Updated” note in the flow description
- Export a backup when you make major changes
- Use solution-aware flows if your organisation uses Power Platform environments
Common email notification templates you can copy
Template A: New request
Subject: New request: {Title}
Body:
- A new request has been submitted.
- Requestor: {Name}
- Priority: {Priority}
- Summary: {Summary}
- View item: {Link}
Template B: Status change
Subject: Update: {Title} is now {Status}
Body:
- The status of your request has changed.
- New status: {Status}
- Updated by: {Modified By}
- View details: {Link}
Template C: Overdue reminder
Subject: Reminder: {Title} is overdue (Due {DueDate})
Body:
- This task is overdue. Please update it today.
- Owner: {Owner}
- Due date: {DueDate}
- Open task: {Link}
Conclusion
Power Automate makes email notifications simple and reliable. You choose a trigger, pull in the details you need, and send a clear email with the right context and links. With conditions, reminder schedules, and a “NotificationSent” flag, you can prevent duplicates and build professional workflows that your team will trust.
If you’d like hands-on guidance building real flows for your own business processes (Forms, SharePoint, approvals, reminders, and email templates), take a look at our course:
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