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Power Platform Community / Forums / Power Automate - Building Flows / Filter Array not worki...
Power Automate - Building Flows
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Filter Array not working when trying to filter list by todays date

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Posted on by jdrm8989 13

Hi,

I have been trying to get a flow to send an email when a certain field has todays date in it.

I have set up a filter array to look through the column for todays date like below screenshot but keep getting an error

jdrm8989_0-1713365046239.png

 

 

The execution of template action 'Filter_array' failed: The evaluation of 'query' action 'where' expression '@contains(item()?['ActualLeaveDate'],outputs('Compose_Todays_date'))' failed: 'The template language function 'contains' expects its first argument 'collection' to be a dictionary (object), an array or a string. The provided value is of type 'Null'.'.

 

If I change to 'is equal' it will work but then it seems to show things that are not todays date.

Any ideas why or what I need to do?

  • SimranSachdeva Profile Picture
    SimranSachdeva 22 on at
    Re: Filter Array not working when trying to filter list by todays date

    Hi @IT_Dept-MH , Have you tried to put a filter on get items directly?

    Something like this-- 

    SimranSachdeva_0-1713376055541.png

     

  • jdrm8989 Profile Picture
    jdrm8989 13 on at
    Re: Filter Array not working when trying to filter list by todays date

    any suggestions on what it needs to be then?

  • creativeopinion Profile Picture
    creativeopinion 10,439 Super User 2025 Season 1 on at
    Re: Filter Array not working when trying to filter list by todays date

    @IT_Dept-MH Adjust the Filter Array action to filter out those items that do not contain a date. Although it may look like the Filter Array action can only take a single condition—it can take multiple conditions when using the Advanced Editing Mode. I cover how to add multiple conditions to a Filter Array action in this section of my tutorial.

     

    Hope this helps!

    If I helped you solve your problem—please mark my post as a solution ✅.
    Consider giving me a 👍 if you liked my response!

    👉 Level up your Power Automate skills by checking out my tutorials on YouTube
    👉 Tips and Tricks on TikTok and Instagram
  • jdrm8989 Profile Picture
    jdrm8989 13 on at
    Re: Filter Array not working when trying to filter list by todays date

    As it happens I have tried the way you suggested using contains but it fails. some of the fields it needs to check will have no data in if that makes a difference.

  • creativeopinion Profile Picture
    creativeopinion 10,439 Super User 2025 Season 1 on at
    Re: Filter Array not working when trying to filter list by todays date

    @IT_Dept-MH You might find my tutorial helpful: Send Emails Based on a 📆 Date Column in SharePoint with Microsoft Power Automate

     

    In this Microsoft Power Automate tutorial, I’ll show you how to build a flow that will send a Happy Birthday email to a user based on a date column in a SharePoint list. The SharePoint list also contains a column with a Manager’s name which we’ll use to send a three-day and day of reminder to the user’s manager.

     

    This automation will use the Filter Array action to filter out all SharePoint list items where the user’s birthday is today or in three days. This flow can apply to a variety of scenarios such as:

    📅 Student Birthdays

    📅 Project Due Dates

    📅 Contract/Membership Renewals

    📅 License Expirations

    📅 Client Anniversaries

    IN THIS VIDEO:

    ✅ How to Send an Email based on a Date Column in SharePoint

    ✅ Using the Recurrence Trigger in Power Automate

    ✅How to Use the Filter Array Action with multiple conditions

    ✅ How to Get Dynamic Content from a Filter Array Action

    ✅How to Get a Date Three Days from Today

    ✅ How to Create a Dynamic Date Based on utcNow()

    ✅ How to Return a Count of Items

    ✅ How to initialize and set a variable

    ✅ How to use the Send an Email (V2) action

    ✅ How to send test emails

     

    Hope this helps!

    If I helped you solve your problem—please mark my post as a solution ✅.
    Consider giving me a 👍 if you liked my response!

    👉 Level up your Power Automate skills by checking out my tutorials on YouTube
    👉 Tips and Tricks on TikTok and Instagram

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