web
You’re offline. This is a read only version of the page.
close
Skip to main content

Announcements

News and Announcements icon
Community site session details

Community site session details

Session Id :
Power Platform Community / Forums / Power Automate / How to have zipped exc...
Power Automate
Suggested Answer

How to have zipped excel sheet inside emails be sent to Power BI Table?

(0) ShareShare
ReportReport
Posted on by 36
I get monthly emails containing a zipped file which has a folder, which then has an excel sheet inside. I wish to have the contents of this excel sheet be visalised in a table within PowerBi and if new info from those excel sheets occur, they show on the Power Bi table. Is there any way to do this?
 
I assume you will need both a cloud and dekstop flow connecting to onedrive/sharepoint but was wondering there was a simpler way/youtube video ont his Thanks
I have the same question (0)
  • Suggested answer
    11manish Profile Picture
    3,333 on at
    You can actually achieve this with a single Cloud Flow in Power Automate and Power BI Desktop. You don't need a Desktop Flow for this, which makes the setup much simpler and more reliable.
     
    The challenge with your specific file (Email $\rightarrow$ Zip $\rightarrow$ Folder $\rightarrow$ Excel) is that Power BI cannot "look inside" a Zip file stored on SharePoint or OneDrive natively. Power Automate acts as the "unzipper" that puts the clean Excel file where Power BI can see it.
     
    Step 1: The Power Automate Cloud Flow
     
    This flow handles the heavy lifting of extracting the data when the email arrives.
     
    • Trigger: "When a new email arrives (V3)". Set the filter to look for your specific sender and "Has Attachments: Yes".
    • Action: "Extract archive to folder" (SharePoint or OneDrive).
      • Archive file content: Use the "Attachment Content" from the trigger.
      • Destination folder path: Pick a dedicated "Processing" folder in SharePoint.
    • Action: "Get files (properties only)" (SharePoint). Point this to the destination folder from the previous step.
    • Action: "Copy file". Since your Excel is inside a subfolder, use this step to move the Excel file from the subfolder into a "Master" folder, overwriting the old one (e.g., name it MonthlyData_Master.xlsx).
     
    Step 2: Power BI Configuration
     
    Now that Power Automate is ensuring the latest Excel file is always sitting in your "Master" folder, you connect Power BI to that specific file.
    • Get Data: Use the SharePoint Folder or Web connector (do not use the local "Excel" connector, as it won't refresh in the cloud).
    • Transform Data: In Power Query, ensure you are pointing to the MonthlyData_Master.xlsx file.
    • Load: Create your table visualization.
     
    Step 3: Enabling Automatic Updates
     
    • Publish: Upload your report to the Power BI Service (the web version).
    • Scheduled Refresh: Go to the dataset settings in the Power BI Service. Since your data is on SharePoint, you don't need a Gateway. Just edit the credentials to "OAuth2" and set a refresh schedule (e.g., daily).
     

Under review

Thank you for your reply! To ensure a great experience for everyone, your content is awaiting approval by our Community Managers. Please check back later.

Helpful resources

Quick Links

Season of Sharing Community Challenge Launch!

Jump in, show your community spirit, and win prizes!

Kudos to our 2025 Community Spotlight Honorees

Expanding mentorship, skilling, and AI innovation

Congratulations to the May Top 10 Community Leaders!

These are the community rock stars!

Leaderboard > Power Automate

#1
Valantis Profile Picture

Valantis 377

#2
11manish Profile Picture

11manish 279

#3
David_MA Profile Picture

David_MA 234 Super User 2026 Season 1

Last 30 days Overall leaderboard