Our integration with Microsoft Power Automate enables you to create robust automations between Cognito Forms and Microsoft SharePoint.
General notes
- The Dynamic Content list in Power Automate will only display a certain number of fields. If you can’t find the field you’re looking for, try searching for the name of the field instead.
- The field label (not the field name) is used in Power Automate. If you have two fields with the same label, they will be listed in the order they appear on the form.
- If you rename a field in Cognito Forms, you may need to re-select the field’s dynamic content in Power Automate.
- If a field is inside a section, the field name will appear underneath the section name in the Dynamic Content list in Power Automate.
Field types
Below is a table that explains the appropriate SharePoint column type based on the Cognito Forms field type.
| Cognito Forms Field Type | Corresponding SharePoint Field Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Textbox (type=Single Line) | Single line of text | See SharePoint column settings: Maximum number of characters and Enforce unique values |
| Textbox (type=Multiple Lines) | Multiple lines of text | See SharePoint column settings: Single Line of Text/Multiple Lines of Text, Use enhanced rich text, Append changes to existing text |
| Name | Single line of text, Multiple lines of text | Several values will be listed as “Name” at the top of the Dynamic Content list – including File Upload fields, the Form Name, and (if you’re collecting payment) the Order Name. The Name field in the Dynamic Content list will display “First”, “First And Last”, “Last”, etc. underneath it. |
| Choice (type=Drop Down) | Choice with Display choices using set to Drop-Down Menu, Single line of text | See Field settings |
| Choice (type=Radio Buttons) | Choice with Display choices using set to Radio Buttons, Single line of text | For the field receiving Radio Buttons data in SharePoint, we recommend that you select “Radio Buttons” under “More Options” in the SharePoint column settings. Also, make sure the choices in your SharePoint Choice column match the choices from your Cognito Forms choice field exactly. |
| Choice (type=Checkboxes) | Choice with Display choices using set to Checkboxes, Single line of text | See Field settings |
| Address | Single line of text, Multiple lines of text | In the Dynamic Content list, select “Address Full Address” (replacing “Address” with the name of the Address field on your form). If you are collecting payment on your form, you can also select “Order Billing Address” from the Dynamic Content list. Choosing “Order Billing Address” will include any mapped billing fields on your form. |
| Lookup | Single line of text, Multiple lines of text | A Lookup field will have three dynamic content options in Power Automate: 1) the Lookup Field name, 2) the Entry ID and 3) the Entry Label. |
| Yes/No | Yes/No, Single line of text | We recommend sending Yes/No fields to SharePoint as “Yes/No” values instead of “Single line of text”. In SharePoint, this will give you the ability to control the answer by switching a toggle and also sort entries based on the answer. If the column in SharePoint is a Yes/No column, the Flow will require you set up a “Custom Value” when mapping the Yes/No field from Cognito Forms. |
| Phone | Single line of text | You can send a Phone field to SharePoint the same way that you send a Textbox field. |
| Date (type=date) | Date and Time with Include Time set to No, Single line of text, International date formats not supported | Choosing “Date” as the column type instead of “Single line of text” gives you the option to pick a new date from a date picker rather than just displaying the date as a line of text. The default value in SharePoint for a Date column does not have to match the default value of the Date field in Cognito Forms. |
| Date (type=time) | Single line of text | The only SharePoint Column type that will work with a Time field is a Single Line of Text. If a Date column is set up in SharePoint, the Flow will error out and not send the time to the column in SharePoint. |
| Single line of text | ||
| Number | Number, Single line of text | See Field settings |
| Website | Hyperlink or Picture (format URL as hyperlink), Single line of text | A website column in SharePoint must either be a Hyperlink or Text column. A website sent to a Hyperlink column is clickable while a website sent to a Text column is not. |
| Currency | Currency, Single line of text | SharePoint doesn’t recognize currency formats in Cognito Forms. When you send currency values to SharePoint, the values will display in the designated format for that list. Also, since Cognito Forms only supports currency values with 2 decimal places, SharePoint will just display 0 for any decimal places past 2. |
| Rating Scale | If using a rating scale in Cognito Forms, each individual question should be created as a column whose type is a Single line of text | In Power Automate, there are two options corresponding to a Rating Field: “Rating Scale Question” and “Rating Scale Question Rating”. The “Question” item will send the text value for the selected rating and the “Rating” item will send the numerical value for the selected rating. |
| Signature | Sent to SharePoint as an image attachment | See Field settings |
| Content | Not supported | N/A |
| Section | SharePoint doesn’t have the concept of sections, but fields inside of a section need to correspond to a column. | Fields inside a section need to reference the name of the section when looking for the field in the dynamic content list in Power Automate. |
| Repeating Section | Fields inside of a repeating section need to correspond to a column. | When sending Repeating Section data to SharePoint, each item in the Repeating Section will create a new item in SharePoint. After selecting the field in the Repeating Section you’d like to send to a specific column in SharePoint, an “Apply to Each” operator will be added to the Create Item step in the Flow. |
| Table Field | Fields inside of a table need to correspond to a column. | Similar to how a Repeating Section works, a Table field will create a new item in SharePoint for each item (row) in the table on the form. |
| File Upload | No field needs to be created in SharePoint. These files will appear as attachments on the SharePoint list item. | There are two ways to send uploaded files to SharePoint: 1) As attachments to each item in SharePoint, or 2) As individual files added to a SharePoint Library. Learn more about sending uploaded files as attachments to SharePoint. |
| Calculation (type=Text) | Single line of text or Multiple lines of text | See Textbox (Type: Single Line) |
| Calculation (type=Yes/No) | Yes/No, Single line of text | See Yes/No |
| Calculation (type=Number) | Number, Single line of text | See Number |
| Calculation (type=Percent) | Number, Single line of text | See Number |
| Calculation (type=Currency) | Currency, Single line of text | See Currency |
| Calculation (type=Date) | Date and Time with Date and Time Format set to Date Only, Single line of text | See Date (Type:Date) |
| Calculation (type=Time) | Single line of text | See Date (Type:Time) |
SharePoint column settings
Single line of text/Multiple lines of text
These settings determine how text is displayed in SharePoint. For example, if your SharePoint column is set to Single line of text, the text will display on a single line even if the Textbox field in Cognito Forms is set to Multiple Lines.
Use enhanced rich text (Rich text with pictures, tables, and hyperlinks)
This setting allows you to customize text values with various formatting options.
Append changes to existing text
This setting creates a log of all the text edits made on each entry.
Maximum number of characters
If a value from Cognito Forms exceeds the character limit in SharePoint, the Flow will fail and the entry will not be sent to SharePoint. If you want to update the character limit in SharePoint, you must open your Flow and save it to register your change.
Column validation
If a column in SharePoint has column validation set up and the entry from Cognito Forms does not meet the requirement, the Flow will fail. Sample error message on the failed Flow: “List data validation failed.”
Enforce unique values
This setting prevents identical values across different entries in SharePoint. For example, if an entry from Cognito Forms has a Choice field with a value of “First Choice”, the Flow will fail if an existing entry in SharePoint has the same value.
Require that this column contains information
This setting displays an error when fields in SharePoint are empty. Sending a blank value from Cognito Forms will still create an item in SharePoint, but if you attempt to edit the item, you will receive a “Required Info” error and the item cannot be edited until that field is filled out.
Field settings
Choice (type=Drop Down)
If you are sending a Choice - Drop Down field from Cognito Forms to SharePoint as a single line of text, you can simply choose the name of the Choice field in the list of Dynamic Content options.
If you want to send values from a Choice - Drop Down field in Cognito Forms to a Choice column in SharePoint:
- Select the field in Power Automate that corresponds to the choice field in SharePoint.
- Click the Dynamic Content option in the “Custom Item” options and search for the name of the choice field from your form. Be sure the choices in your SharePoint Choice column match the choices from your Cognito Forms choice field exactly.
- If you have enabled “Allow Fill In” for your Choice field in Cognito Forms, you must select the “Can add values manually” option in SharePoint to ensure that the field’s value is retained. If not, the field value will disappear when you attempt to edit the SharePoint item.
Choice (type=Checkboxes)
When setting up a column in SharePoint for a Choice - Checkboxes field:
- Choose a “Choice” column using “Drop Down Menu” with the Allow multiple selections option turned on. Be sure the choice options in SharePoint match those in Cognito Forms exactly.
- In Power Automate, add an action Before the Create Item in SharePoint action. Set the action to “Select” (Data Operation).
- Set the From to the dynamic content item to the checkbox field from your Cognito form. Set the Key for the first line next to Map to “Value” and set the Enter Value line item to Item. The following fields will generate an “Item” listing in the Dynamic Content list:
- Checkbox Choice Fields
- File Upload
- Repeating Section
- Table Fields
- In the Checkbox field in the Create Item action, choose “Enter Custom Value”.
- Choose the “Output” from the previous Select Data Operation step.
Number field
- Decimal Places: Since integers in Cognito Forms don’t display decimal places, extra decimals will appear as 0 in SharePoint.
- If a Decimal field in Cognito Forms is set to only show 2 places, but 4 are entered on the form, all 4 decimals will show in SharePoint if ‘Automatic’ is selected.
- If a static number of decimal places is set to show in SharePoint, only that number of decimal places will show, regardless of what’s set up in Cognito Forms. This number in SharePoint will be rounded up or down depending on the actual value from Cognito Forms.
- If the number of Decimal places in SharePoint is changed later and the value from Cognito Forms originally had more decimal places, those extra decimals will appear – the full value is retained in SharePoint even if all the decimal places are not shown.
- Show as Percent: This option treats Integers and Decimals as a whole number in a percent format (Ex: 5 becomes 500% and 25 becomes 2500%). When this option is not selected, the number is displayed in a decimal format (Ex: a Percent field from Cognito Forms with a value of 10.35% will display as .1035 in SharePoint).
- Use thousands separator: Select this option to display the thousands separator in SharePoint.
- Minimum/Maximum allowed value: Entry data from Cognito Forms that contradicts these settings can be sent to SharePoint, but the limit will be enforced when you attempt to edit the SharePoint item.
- Default Value: When an item is created from Cognito Forms, the default value in SharePoint is ignored. The item will match the value from Cognito Forms (even if the value is blank).
Signature field
Sending a Signature field to SharePoint requires the “Add Attachment” step:
- Select the same Site Address and List name as the Create Item step.
- Select the ID from the Create Item step in the Dynamic Content options for “ID”.
- Select “Signature Name” and “Signature Content” in the File Name and File Content lines, respectively. When the signature is sent to SharePoint, it will be an attachment at the bottom of the SharePoint item. If no signature is sent with the entry, the Flow may throw an error.