Autonumber button to add numbers as needed

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Posted on by ST-02051051-0

Hello,

I have added an Autonumber field to our Accounts Table. It is working well when a new record is created.

We would like to add the number as needed on existing account records. Not a bulk export/import action but when an account qualifies they get a number.

Is it possible to have a button that when selected to yes it triggers the autonumber?

Thanks for your suggestions.

S.T.

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Power Apps Pro Dev & ISV

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Pstork1 69,385 Most Valuable Professional on at

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I don't think there is any way to do this using an Autonumber field. Autonumber fields are populated with a value as soon as the row is created in the Table before the record is committed to the Table. So there is no way to leave it blank until manually assigning it.

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11manish 1,963 on at

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you can’t “re-trigger” a Dataverse AutoNumber field on demand, but you can absolutely achieve the same outcome with a button + automation.

My recommendation

If you don’t need strict gapless sequencing → use Power Automate

If you do need strict sequential control → use a custom action + plugin

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Valantis 4,819 on at

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Hi @ST-02051051-0,

The native Dataverse autonumber field cannot be triggered on demand for existing records it only fires on record creation.

The practical approach is to use a separate number column instead of the autonumber field, and generate the number via Power Automate when the button is pressed.

try this

1. Add a plain text or whole number column to your Accounts table e.g. Account Number
2. Create a Power Automate instant cloud flow using the When a row is selected trigger on the Accounts table
3. In the flow, generate the next number. The simplest approach is to query the Accounts table for the current maximum number using a List rows action with an OData orderby and top 1, then increment it by 1
4. Use the Update a row action to write the new number back to the selected account

The button appears automatically in the model-driven app command bar when the flow uses the When a row is selected trigger. Users select a record and run the flow from there.

This gives you full control over when the number is assigned without changing your existing autonumber field for new records.

Best regards,

Valantis

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Valantis 4,819 on at

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Hi @ST-02051051-0,

Just wanted to check in and see if everything is working now. If you still need any help, feel free to let me know.

Also, if the issue is resolved, it would be great if you could mark the answer as solved so others with the same question can find it easily.

Thanks and have a great day!

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