If you’re new to Power Automate or haven’t explored the Power Automate button in Power BI, this article is for you. Power BI includes a built-in Power Automate visual, allowing you to integrate automated workflows directly from your reports. Below is an image illustrating where to find this feature in the visualization pane.
The Power Automate button enables you to pass data from your Power BI report to an automated flow, unlocking a range of automation possibilities. This allows you to leverage report data dynamically within your workflows. The goal of this article is to provide a foundational understanding of how to use the Power Automate button and highlight key use cases.
When you add the button to your report canvas, a set of setup instructions will appear. Note that you may need to increase the button size to fully display these instructions.
The setup process consists of five key steps:
- Select an environment
- Add data
- Set up your flow
- Apply and share
- Format your button
Let’s walk through each step in detail.
1. Select an environment
In the top right corner of the Power Automate button, you can select the Power Platform environment where your flow will be created or where an existing flow resides. It is important to choose the correct environment first, as changing it later requires deleting and re-adding the button. Once a flow is applied to the button, switching to a different environment is not possible without recreating it.
2. Add data
This step is optional but allows you to include data fields from Power BI that you want to pass to your flow. The process is similar to adding fields to any other visual in Power BI. Additionally, you can add or modify data fields later, and they will automatically become available within your flow.
3. Set up your flow
This step involves configuring the flow within Power Automate. To begin, click “Edit” under the “More options(…)” menu on the Power Automate button. This will open Power Automate directly within Power BI.
You will then see a list of all available flows—specifically, those that use the “On Power BI button clicked” trigger. You also have the option to create a new flow. In this case, we’ll select “+ New” to create an “Instant cloud flow”, which will automatically generate the flow with the appropriate trigger. From here, you can begin adding actions to your flow.
Additionally, Power Automate provides some default fields at the bottom of the “Dynamic content” panel. One particularly useful field is “Power BI data”, which contains all selected data in a tabular format. This field can be valuable for passing structured data into your flows.
If you included data fields in Step 2, they will now appear in the “Dynamic content” area. For a simple example, we can add a “Compose” action. Clicking on the input field within the action will bring up the “Add dynamic content” panel, where you’ll see the available fields. This includes both default fields and any fields added in Step 2.
It is important to note that accessing the Power BI dynamic content can only be done when editing the flow in the Power Automate interface that you connect through Power BI. While you can access and edit the flow in Power Automate directly, the Power BI dynamic fields will not appear.
4. Apply and share
After creating your flow, be sure to name it and save it. Once saved, you will have the option to “Save and apply”, which links the flow to the Power Automate button in Power BI.
Keep in mind that once a flow is applied to a button, there is no visible indication within Power BI of which flow is associated with it. To track this, consider maintaining documentation or using a consistent naming convention for your flows.
5. Format your button
Once a flow is applied to the button, the instructions will disappear and the button will have the default text and blue color. You can format the button similar to formatting other visuals, including changing the color, the text, etc.
Important Considerations
When integrating with Power Automate, there are several key considerations to keep in mind:
- Data Interactions: If data fields are attached to a Power Automate button, they will interact with other visuals in the report—just like any other visual—unless interactions are manually disabled. This means that slicers, filters, and interactions with other visuals can impact the underlying data being passed to Power Automate.
- Accessing Power BI Dynamic Content: To access Power BI data fields beyond the default fields, you must edit your flow through the Power BI → Power Automate interface. While you can make modifications to the flow directly in Power Automate, Power BI data fields will not be available in the Dynamic content panel unless accessed through the Power BI interface.
- Row Limitations: Power Automate has a limit of 1,000 rows per execution. If the dataset exceeds this limit, only the first 1,000 rows will be passed to the flow. Consider aggregating or filtering the data beforehand if you need to work within this constraint. (If you want to export > 1,000 records, check out this post)
- Automatic Flow Execution: Once a Power Automate button is clicked, the flow triggers immediately—there is no confirmation prompt asking users to proceed. If confirmation is needed before execution, you can create a custom confirmation step in your flow. (Here’s a video on how to implement this.)
- Ensuring Data Accuracy: Understanding what data is being passed to your flow is crucial to avoid unintended results. A common mistake is assuming that a table visual and the Power Automate button are passing the same filtered data. If a visual has a manual filter applied but the same filter is not set on the Power Automate button, additional or unintended records may be included in the flow.
Want to explore further use cases with Power BI and Power Automate? Check out these videos:
Using Power Automate to Refresh Power BI Datasets
Using Power Automate to Send Automated Emails Directly from Power BI
Adding HTML Format to Automated Emails Generated from Power Automate
Adding safety measures when using Power Automate to send automated emails from Power BI