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SharePoint Canvas App 'Created By' and 'Modified By' do not show contextual user.

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Posted on by t3ch3

I'm creating forms in PowerApps for SharePoint Online, but the 'created by' and 'modified by' of the list items always shows the user credentials used in the connection. Surely there is a way to show the contextual user (the user ACTUALLY completing the form). It's extremely frustrating to me that this is a thing. I understand needing connectors for integrations but not allowing the ability to pass contextual users to metadata is dumbfounding. This is how forms have always worked.

Short of creating custom fields and populating them manually, does anybody have any ideas on how to bypass this ridiculous functionality?

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Building Power Apps

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RezaDorrani 12,143 on at

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@t3ch3

This should not be the defaul behavior
PowerApps runs all its connections under the context of the logged in user

Are you customizing SharePoint forms using PowerApps or creating a Standalone App or posting data using Flow?

Regards,
Reza Dorrani

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly

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Jeff_Thorpe 6,085 Super User 2024 Season 1 on at

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I just checked a few of my PowerApps Forms that use SharePoint and the created by and modified by are the people who created or modified the data in the PowerApp.

Are other users seeing this issue on different devices or is this happening when the same device is used but with different accounts?

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v-xida-msft on at

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Hi @t3ch3 ,

Could you please share a bit more about your scenario?

Currently, when customizing a form via PowerApps from a SP list or generating a canvas app based on the SP list, the "Created By" field and "Modified By" field would be populated automatically by SP Server based on current login user/sign in user (based on current sign in user's credential), rather than the contextual user that you mentioned.

If you want the "Created By" field and "Modified By" field of your SP List to be populated with contextual user that you mentioned, I afraid that there is no way to achieve your needs.

If you would like this feature to be added in PowerApps, please submit an idea to PowerApps Ideas Forum:

https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/PowerApps-Ideas/idb-p/PowerAppsIdeas

Best regards,

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Vsolano1 2 on at

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Hi @t3ch3,

I am currently working on an App and need that when a new record is created, the “Created by Column” alway shows the user credentials used in the conection(the owner of the powerapp), instada of the actual personnwho create that specific record- exactly what you are getting.
Colud you please guide me to know how this is possible?

Thank you in advance!
Verónica

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vwyankee 360 on at

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I would also like to know how to change this when it (somehow) is set. I've created a number of Power Apps and they all write to SP with the user logged in account but have one app that is using the Power App SharePoint connector account for some reason which throws so many things out the window with galleries only showing users "their stuff" based on the Created By SP column. How does one app end up having this set but no others?

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vwyankee 360 on at

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For anyone that was following this thread or comes across it with the same issue I can report it is a non-issue and incorrect understanding of using SharePoint connectors with Power Apps. In short it's not recommended to use a service account as a SharePoint connector since it brings no additional value given that the connector (when used) will always use the account of the user logged in, unless... as in my case I created the service account connector and with adding it to the Power App I was essentially giving my authorization to use that service account instead of my own.

In conclusion it was only happening with me as the Power Apps author who gave the service account connector my permission for when I was logged in. There are times where service accounts are definitely needed and beneficial, but this is NOT one of them.

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Guy Boswell 234 on at

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Hi VW Yankee, this almost certainly is an incorrect understanding of using SharePoint but it certainly isn't a non-issue. Please can you share how you set up an app differently so that you know it will record modified by as a) the person modifying data or b) the person owning the process used to modify the data. Thank you very much for your help. Guy

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vwyankee 360 on at

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@GuyBoswell wrote:
Hi VW Yankee, this almost certainly is an incorrect understanding of using SharePoint but it certainly isn't a non-issue. Please can you share how you set up an app differently so that you know it will record modified by as a) the person modifying data or b) the person owning the process used to modify the data. Thank you very much for your help. Guy
I'd like to understand why you're stating this in reply to my explanation of how SharePoint connectors work in Power Apps - relayed from a Microsoft Engineer. It appears you're saying I don't have a correct understanding of using SharePoint and that this is an issue. Maybe the simpler way to explain my previous comment is to say:

Adding a SharePoint connector with an account other than your own will only run the app under that account for you as you're the one that created it, thus giving your authorization to use it. Any other user will be prompted initially to use their own credentials.

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Baudelaire 110 on at

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This answer makes no sense.

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