Skip to main content
Community site session details

Community site session details

Session Id : Xot09rRuvgQaR3Hdvv3mwZ
Power Automate - Building Flows
Answered

Loop trough a list in all subsites and update them according a parent site list

Like (0) ShareShare
ReportReport
Posted on 8 Mar 2021 23:41:25 by 39

Hi all,

I am new in Power Automate and SharePoint. Apologies in advance if my cry for help seems a bit basic...

 

I am trying to update a specific list that is in all my subsites, according a master list that is based in my parent site. Both lists (parent and subsites) have the same columns and the idea is to have the same information always, and that the subsite lists get updated whenever an new item is created or modified at the parent list.

 

Basically I just want to make a copy of the parent list to all my subsites, but I can't find a way to do it via Power Automate and so far I couldn't find an explanation to it.

 

Cheers!

  • Verified answer
    evaristo Profile Picture
    39 on 20 Mar 2021 at 23:12:28
    Re: Loop trough a list in all subsites and update them according a parent site list

    My solution (SEND AN HTTP REQUEST TO SHAREPOINT) already creates an array with all the subsites, although I am getting all the subsites and not the ones with the specific list.

    My struggle is to:

    1. Get only the subsites that have a specific list

    2. Populate each subsite with the information from parent site list but filtered by the subsite name (project code).

     

    NOTE: The parent site list has a column called PROJECT CODE and the values in this list are the ones from the subsite names.

     

    Anyone who can help me with this? I can't find a way and I believe a LOT of people will seek this feature.

     

    Many thanks!

     

  • v-litu-msft Profile Picture
    on 17 Mar 2021 at 08:59:31
    Re: Loop trough a list in all subsites and update them according a parent site list

    Hi @evaristo,

     

    Sorry for reply late.

    Filter out subsites is complex but it is possible. You could use the extract the substring of subsites after the "sites/", for example, a subsite is:

    https://domain.sharepoint.com/sites/IceCream/watermelon

    Use split()  function we could extract the string after "sites/":

    split('https://domain.sharepoint.com/sites/IceCream/watermelon','sites/')[1]

     then use split function again to separate it by using "/" and convert the substring "IceCream/watermelon" to an array:

    split('IceCream/watermelon','/')

    ["IceCream", "watermelon"]

    Then use length() function to get its length, if its length equals 2, it means it is a subsites.

    Then append the subsite into a array variable.

     

    Best Regards,
    Community Support Team _ Lin Tu
    If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

  • evaristo Profile Picture
    39 on 16 Mar 2021 at 15:19:00
    Re: Loop trough a list in all subsites and update them according a parent site list

    Hello @v-litu-msft ,

    sorry to bother you but I think your solution was very close to sort my problem...

    Have you seen my latest reply? I have pasted the error that I am getting when I try to run my flow.

    Regards,

    evaristo

  • evaristo Profile Picture
    39 on 11 Mar 2021 at 18:40:05
    Re: Loop trough a list in all subsites and update them according a parent site list

    Hello,

    after some attempts doing what you said and changing some parameters at the way I am creating my array, when I run the flow I get the following error at the last step:

    image.png

    I guess (but not sure) the problem is because not all the subsites have the destination list... For example the query is giving me an array of 14 subsites, but only 1 has the list that I pretend to populate.

     

    Therefore I would like your help to:

     

    1. Filter the SEND AN HTTP REQUEST TO SHAREPOINT function so I can get only an array with the subsites that have the destination list

     

    1. Populate in each destination list only the values where the PROJECT CODE values from the parent list are equal to SITE NAME of each subsite.

     

    Do you think it's possible?

     

    Once again thanks a lot for your support. If you're available I would more than happier to explain you in a Teams meeting my problem.

     

    Best regards

  • evaristo Profile Picture
    39 on 11 Mar 2021 at 10:35:48
    Re: Loop trough a list in all subsites and update them according a parent site list

    Hi @v-litu-msft ,

    it didn't fail, but in the last step the results are empty and child lists are not populated.

     

    I paste here all the flow results:

     

    evaristo_3-1615458700430.png

     

     

    evaristo_2-1615458658499.png

    evaristo_4-1615458745093.png

    evaristo_5-1615458782270.png

    evaristo_6-1615458835825.png

    evaristo_7-1615458854558.png

     

    Best regards

     

  • v-litu-msft Profile Picture
    on 11 Mar 2021 at 09:10:13
    Re: Loop trough a list in all subsites and update them according a parent site list

    Hi @evaristo,

     

    Which step failed? Could you please share the error details? Thanks.

     

    Best Regards,
    Community Support Team _ Lin Tu
    If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

  • evaristo Profile Picture
    39 on 10 Mar 2021 at 14:47:11
    Re: Loop trough a list in all subsites and update them according a parent site list

    Hi @v-litu-msft ,

    thank you for your reply and detailed explanation! It was really a light to me in the middle of this SharePoint / Power Automate world... 🙂

     

    I tried to follow your example but by some reason I couldn't get the items copied from parent site to subsites, although I believe I am on the right path and very close to achieve it.

     

    The only change I made was the creation of an array with all the subsites I have:

    evaristo_0-1615386901144.png

     

    I used the following command to get the array of subsites:

     

    evaristo_6-1615387187567.png

     

     

    evaristo_2-1615386983744.png

     

    evaristo_3-1615387017241.png

     

    After this I tried your approach, following the steps you describe at your example and just adapting the columns of my list:

     

    evaristo_4-1615387072669.png

     

    evaristo_7-1615387470104.png

     

    I used the folowing to tipify the Item:

     

    {
    "Title": "@{item()['Title']}",
    "RequestType": "@{item()['RequestType']}",
    "RequestDescription": "@{item()['RequestDescription']}",
    "a87a": "@{item()['a87a']}"
    }

     

     

    What do you think I did wrong? By the way is it possible to filter the subsite query to get only the projects that I have the site collection that I need to update?

     

    Best regards,

    evaristo

  • Verified answer
    v-litu-msft Profile Picture
    on 10 Mar 2021 at 08:21:25
    Re: Loop trough a list in all subsites and update them according a parent site list

    Hi @evaristo,

     

    OK, according to your description, I create a Flow as below could update subsites list when parent site list is updated.

    1. Trigger is When an item is created or modified, site address is parent site.

    2. Initialize an array variable to store all subsites, in my Flow, I only put one.

    3. Create an Apply to each action to loop all subsites, then Use Get items action to get current subsites list items that InstanceNumber equals to parent's.

    InstanceNumber eq '@{triggerOutputs()?['body/InstanceNumber']}'

    4. Create a Condition action and use length() function to check if the return items number, if it is 0, means the subsites has no item related with the modified item, then do nothing; Or go to Apply-to-each-2 action and update these items(normally one item return).

    5. Update item, subsite address append current subsite, id append id Get items ID:

    item()?['ID']

    item is key-values that you need to update, for example, I just update two columns, you can add more depends on your requirement:

    {
    "Title": "@{item()?['Title']}",
    "RequestType": "@{item()?['RequestType']}"
    }

    Screenshot 2021-03-10 155935.jpg

     

    Screenshot 2021-03-10 160005.jpg

     

    Screenshot 2021-03-10 160120.jpg

       

     

    Best Regards,
    Community Support Team _ Lin Tu
    If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

  • evaristo Profile Picture
    39 on 09 Mar 2021 at 08:00:17
    Re: Loop trough a list in all subsites and update them according a parent site list

    Hello,

    sorry not have posted an example with the columns. I thought it was irrelevant.

     

    Parent > Child subsites

     

    Parent site:

    /customers

     

    Child subsites: 

    /customers/projectA

    /customers/projectB

    ...

    /customers/ProjectZ

     

    The columns are:

     

    Instance Number (unique value)

    Request Type (single text)

    Project Code (single text)

    Description (Multiple lines text)

    Date

     

    Regards

     

     

  • v-litu-msft Profile Picture
    on 09 Mar 2021 at 07:07:03
    Re: Loop trough a list in all subsites and update them according a parent site list

    Hi @evaristo,

     

    Could you please share an instance of the Parent list and Subsites?

    For example, you could show columns in SharePoint, associated columns between these sites.

     

    Best Regards,
    Community Support Team _ Lin Tu
    If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

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

Paul Stork – Community Spotlight

We are honored to recognize Paul Stork as our July 2025 Community…

Congratulations to the June Top 10 Community Leaders!

These are the community rock stars!

Announcing the Engage with the Community forum!

This forum is your space to connect, share, and grow!

Leaderboard > Power Automate

#1
Michael E. Gernaey Profile Picture

Michael E. Gernaey 497 Super User 2025 Season 1

#2
David_MA Profile Picture

David_MA 436 Super User 2025 Season 1

#3
Riyaz_riz11 Profile Picture

Riyaz_riz11 244 Super User 2025 Season 1

Loading complete