Power Platform Community Forum Thread Details

Hi all,

I am currently working on a use case combining Copilot Studio and Power Automate.

Goal:
I want to trigger a Power Automate flow from a Copilot Studio agent (“When an agent calls a flow”) to automatically generate a Word document using the action:
"Microsoft Word – Populate a Microsoft Word template".

Environment:
- Copilot Studio: Power Plattform@SI - Copilot Studio Sandbox
- Power Automate: same environment
- File location: OneDrive

Problem:
The flow always fails at the Word action with:
"The selected file contains no template elements"

What I already tried:
- Created proper Content Controls (Plain Text + Date Picker)
- Set Title and Tag for each control
- Tested with a minimal document (only one field)
- File stored in OneDrive
- Recreated the flow and reselected the template
- Same error persists

Observation:
It seems that the Word Online (Business) connector might not be allowed together with Copilot Studio / Power Virtual Agents due to a DLP policy.

Questions:
1) Is this a known limitation when using Copilot Studio + Power Automate?
2) Can Word Online (Business) be blocked by DLP policies in sandbox environments?
3) Are there recommended workarounds for automated document generation in this scenario (e.g. without using Word templates)?

Thanks a lot for your support!

Categories:

Power Automate Desktop

Hi! Great question — there are two separate issues here, both documented on Microsoft Learn.

Issue 1: Date Picker is an unsupported content control

The most likely cause of "The selected file contains no template elements" is that your template uses a Date Picker Content Control, which is NOT supported by the Word Online (Business) connector.

The connector docs explicitly list these as unsupported:

- Rich Text Content Control

- Building Block Gallery Content Control

- Date Picker Content Control (most likely your issue)

- Check Box Content Control

- Legacy form controls

Supported controls: Plain Text, Combo Box, Drop-Down List, Image, and Repeating Section Content Controls only.

Reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/connectors/wordonlinebusiness/#known-issues-and-limitations

Fix: Replace your Date Picker content control with a Plain Text Content Control, give it the same Title and Tag, save the .docx, and re-select the file in the flow. The connector will then detect the template elements correctly.

Issue 2: DLP policies can block the connector

Yes — DLP policies can absolutely block the Word Online (Business) connector. It is classified as a Premium connector for both Power Automate and Copilot Studio. In a sandbox environment, if the DLP policy places it in the Blocked data group, the flow will fail when called from your Copilot Studio agent.

Reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-automate/prevent-data-loss

To check: go to Power Platform Admin Center → Environments → [your sandbox] → Data policies and confirm that Word Online (Business) is in the Business or Non-business group, not Blocked.

Summary checklist:

1. Remove Date Picker controls → replace with Plain Text Content Controls

2. Confirm Title + Tag are set on each control (Developer tab → Properties)

3. Save the .docx to OneDrive for Business (Microsoft Graph-backed library)

4. Check DLP policy — ensure Word Online (Business) is not in the Blocked group

5. Re-select the template file in the flow action after making changes

Template setup guide: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/connectors/wordonlinebusiness/#how-to-create-microsoft-word-templates

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Raghav Mishra — LinkedIn | PowerAI Labs