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When powerapp connected to an excel, the excel file content cannot update (even if flow succeeds)

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Hi all,

I connected my PowerApp to an excel file as a data source. The excel file stores all task information and their task status (open, closed etc.) , and is placed in a sharepoint folder. In my app, I have configured a timer that refreshes the data from the excel file every 5 minutes.

At the back end, the task status excel file is generated every 5 minutes. Since there is a new excel file generated every five minutes, I have configured a Power Automate flow such that, whenever a new file is generated, it replaces the content in the file in the sharepoint folder. The file ID remains the same, so that the connection between my Power App and the excel file is still intact.

However, I realised that if I leave the Power App open (and have it refresh every 5 minutes), the excel file in the sharepoint does not update (the 'Last modified' timestamp does not change). If I open the excel file on sharepoint, it shows that a user (user of the PowerApp) has the workbook open. Meanwhile, the flow in power automate (which replaces the content of the file) still says that it has been successfully run.

It appears that whenever the PowerApp (which is connected to the excel file) is open, we are unable to make changes to the content of the excel file in the back end (via MS power automate). The problem disappears whenever I close the PowerApp.

In short - how do I keep updating an excel file (with a flow) with new content at the backend, when it is connected to a PowerApp that refreshes the excel data every 5 minutes?

Please let me know if you have any solutions to this, thank you very much!

Cheers,

Tim

Screenshots:

1. File that should be modified every 5 minutes - the last modified time does not change whenever the PowerApp is opened (the app is connected to the excel)

2. Flow that updates the excel file (without replacing it) using the "Copy file" function - this allows for the PowerApp excel connector to stay connected to the excel file. The flow succeeds all the time, but whenever the PowerApp is open (connected to the excel), while it still successfully runs, the file in sharepoint is not always modified:

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Building Power Apps

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v-jefferni on at

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Hi @Anonymous ,

Please refer to the limitations of Excel Online (business) connector:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/connectors/excelonlinebusiness/#known-issues-and-limitations

Note:

An Excel file may be locked for an update or delete up to 6 minutes since the last use of the connector.

Besides, you could see there are quite a lot limitations and issues when using this connector, why don't you consider use a SP list as the data source rather than an Excel table?

Hope this helps.

Best regards,

Community Support Team _ Jeffer Ni
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Community Power Pla... on at

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Hi @v-jefferni ,

Thanks for your reply! In fact I also wanted to use sharepoint list but since the data comes in form of excel files every 5 minutes and it has more than 1000 rows, it takes much longer to upload them all to a sharepoint list...

Tim

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v-jefferni on at

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Hi @Anonymous ,

If you will need to update more than 1000 items every 5 minutes, I'm afraid there is no way to achieve the need with neither the Excel nor SharePoint list. But every problem has the root, could the Email attachment only includes the updated items which I assume would way less than 1000? Then you will be able to update the SP list quickly and use the list as a data source in Power Apps.

Hope this helps.

Best regards,

Community Support Team _ Jeffer Ni
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it.

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