Flow to notify in teams chat when a file is added to a sharepoint folder only once

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Posted on by JM-25061648-0

I have tried to get a flow to notify me only once but no matter what I try, it is not working. Here is the process that is happening:

Another flow is adding files to a sharepoint folder based on emails recieved (they are invoices) on a monthly basis and there are about 30

my team needs to be notified when they start coming in

the flow is made to notify me for EVERY file that goes into that folder and I can't modify it to stop after the first one.

I have asked copilot and have tried integers, do until, conditions- all kinds of stuff but nothing seems to work. HEEEELLLPPP

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Building flows

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Sunil Kumar Pashikanti 2,267 Moderator on at

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Hi @JM-25061648-0,

This is happening because the SharePoint trigger runs once per file. So when ~30 invoices are dropped at the same time, your flow runs 30 times and sends 30 notifications.

Option 1 (Simplest approach)
Instead of triggering on file creation, switch to a Recurrence flow:

Trigger: Recurrence (e.g., every hour or once a day)
Add Get files (properties only)
Add condition:
length(body('Get_files_(properties_only)')?['value']) > 0

If yes → send Teams message (only once)

This avoids the “one file = one notification” problem completely.

Option 2 (If you must use file trigger)
You’ll need a flag, and this is important:

Go to trigger settings → turn on Concurrency Control
Set Degree of Parallelism = 1

This prevents multiple runs from firing at the same time.
Then:

Check a flag (SharePoint item / file / variable store)
If not notified → send message → set flag to Yes

Summary

Trigger runs per file → expected behavior
Multiple files arriving together = multiple notifications
Best fix → use Recurrence
If using trigger → limit concurrency + use a flag

This will make sure you only get one notification when files start arriving

✅ If one of the responses here solved your issue, please mark it as Accepted so others facing the same problem can benefit as well.
👍 If this or any other reply here helped you, feel free to give it a Like. It helps others and is always appreciated.

Sunil Kumar Pashikanti, Moderator
Blog: https://sunilpashikanti.com/posts/

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JM-25061648-0 on at

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for option 1- when I add the send a teams message, do I have to set anything else up to only send it once? or does the condition cover it to send once?

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David_MA 14,891 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Sunil Kumar Pashikanti with your proposed method in option 2, how does the flag get reset so that the next time a batch of files is uploaded to the folder, a notification gets sent.

Option 1 is good and is the method I've used in this type of situation.

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Sunil Kumar Pashikanti 2,267 Moderator on at

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Hi @JM-25061648-0,

That's a great question, let me break it down clearly.

With the Recurrence approach, you don’t need anything extra to avoid getting a message for every file. The flow runs on a schedule and sends only one message per run, not per file.

However, if your flow runs again later (for example, next hour or next day) and the files are still in the folder, it will send the message again.

So it depends on what you want

If you’re okay with one notification per scheduled run → nothing extra needed
If you want only one notification for the whole batch → add a simple flag or date check

In short

Condition prevents per-file spam
Flag or timestamp prevents repeated notifications across runs

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Sunil Kumar Pashikanti 2,267 Moderator on at

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Hi @David_MA,

You’re absolutely right to think about how the reset works. Glad that you asked this!

If you go with the flag approach, the flag does need to be reset at some point, otherwise the flow will only send a notification once and then never again.

Two simple ways to handle it:

Option 1: Scheduled reset (simplest)
If your files arrive monthly, the easiest approach is:

Create a small separate flow with a Recurrence trigger (for example, once a month)
Reset the flag back to “No”

This prepares the system for the next batch.

Option 2: Use a timestamp instead of a flag (cleaner)
Instead of Yes/No, store something like LastNotificationMonth.
Then in your flow:

Check if LastNotificationMonth is not equal to the current month (for example using utcNow('yyyy-MM'))
If different → send notification and update the value
If same → skip

This way you don’t need a second reset flow.

Finally

Yes, the flag needs a reset
Easiest → scheduled reset flow
Cleaner long-term → use date-based logic

And you’re right, for this scenario, the Recurrence approach is usually the simplest overall!!!

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