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Hints and tips using SharePoint as a Datasource

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Posted on by Kalishma

Hello!

I've been wondering as I am actually developping a solution for a client :
If an user deposits documents in a PowerApps application connected to SharePoint lists and launches flows that update that very same SharePoint lists...
Will that user ever get to see the site (by registering data in the lists using PowerApps) in the "Recent Sites" page of their SharePoint's homepage or they'll actually have to browse the URL of the site to ever see it there?

I'd like any kind of user to be able to download/upload and view the files (which are filtered for them) inside PowerApps, but I'd like them to avoid going about looking at the work of others easily or just by 'dumb luck'.
Some says that it will actually appear there, and if that's the case, I'd love hints and tips about hiding the view of the data on SharePoint so they feel like they must only commit to PowerApps.
The app is Canvas.

To maybe clarify the idea of what's happening here, the business process would be the following :

Manager drops a file, which is put in a list element, where the name of the employee that the document is registered along with other managers which will have to verify the file later.
User and managers go through a verification process until they agree on the document.
TL;DR, both managers and employee will play on the file, but none other should usually see the document other than Site Administrators, which should be seeing the whole of the content.

Thank you for your wisdom!
Samuel

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Building Power Apps

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KevinGador 832 Moderator on at

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how did you share the sharepoint site to the other members? Did you add them to a sharepoint group or did you just manually add them in the permission with an un inherited permission?

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Kalishma 8 on at

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I've added them with contribute permission on the lists and removed the right to create personal views.

Henceforth, I can create a base view that they see nothing into, adding a filter they can't edit.

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Infamous_Let 332 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Yes, users interacting with the SharePoint lists (even indirectly via PowerApps) may see the site in their "Recent Sites" section on SharePoint's homepage. This behavior can depend on various factors, including:

How often the site is accessed.
Direct URL use to the site.
Flow actions (if running under their credentials).
However, simply interacting with a PowerApp that works behind the scenes on SharePoint might not be enough on its own unless the user specifically accesses the SharePoint site URL.

You can use item level permissions (set via Power Automate) or filtered views (Read items that were created by the user) to protect data.

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Kalishma 8 on at

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Thanks, @Infamous_Let that pretty much answers what I half-feared.

I be doing test with another coworker to see if just being subscribed to it ain't enough, but what I'll do is really enforce the views so users can't see anything and have the Admins create personal views so they can access the data a bit more freely.

Working with by item level permission could result in an headache, especially at the moment where a manager requires their administrative aides to work on the documents. I'd have to do verifications everytime someone add delegation (by looking at every employee under that manager that has items on the SharePoint list) on top on everytime an item is created.

I think I'll keep the more general approach. After all, the only users of the SharePoint should be HR people, so a handful, really.

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KevinGador 832 Moderator on at

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Hello @SP-30011511-0,

I was also very curious and ddnt know that users can see the site in their recent sites when they open SharePoint , so you deserve a "Thanks" for this post and made me aware of this functionality.

I also tried to find a solution and I stumbled upon this video. Secure Your Power Apps: Block Direct Access to SharePoint Lists!

I think this is the best case for you. I also saw a reddit post that tackled about this which you can see here. Power app users gave a lot of insights and most of them have already implemented this in their solution. I hope that this is the best case for us in dealing with this.

How do you prevent users from accidentally seeing the sharepoint site? : r/PowerApps

If this solves your problem, don't forget to mark it as the answer and give it a like! 😊 Your feedback helps others in the community. Thank you and happy learning power apps! 💻💡

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