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Power Platform Community / Forums / Power Automate / Flow is no longer bein...
Power Automate
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Flow is no longer being triggered

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Posted on by 30
I have a flow that worked perfectly for a couple of years until just recently.  It is triggered when data is added to a SharePoint list (via upload from a Power App), and the data uploads continue to occur on a daily basis.  However, despite making no changes to the flow in the previous 11 months, two weeks ago the flow stopped being triggered.  The last time it ran was successful, but it just won't run anymore.
 
Just for fun, I asked Copilot why it stopped running and received the following response: "The action can't run because the instructions are too long. Rewrite them to be more brief and try again."  This isn't very helpful considering that the instructions obviously weren't too long for the two years leading up to when it stopped working, but it made me wonder:  Should I be using nested flows?  Are we doing that now?  Can I add a flow within a flow?  And how would one go about testing a sub-flow to ensure it works before inserting it a larger flow?
 
I realize this is a vague question but would appreciate any ideas or suggestions.  Thanks in advance!
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  • David_MA Profile Picture
    14,090 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at
    The first thing I would suggest you try is to delete the trigger action and add it back in again and reconfigure it. Have you also checked to make sure the flow did not get turned off by accident?
     
    If you or anyone else made changes to the SharePoint list (adding and removing fields, renaming fields, changing the data type of a field, etc.), sometimes that can cause these issues, which is why deleting the trigger and adding it again can fix the issue since it reinitializes the trigger with the configuration of the SharePoint list. If you did make changes to the SharePoint list and deleting and adding the trigger again fixes the flow so it triggers, you could have issues with other actions in the flow that may also need to be updated.
  • Suggested answer
    Michael E. Gernaey Profile Picture
    53,969 Moderator on at
     
    So let me state I am not saying Flow in a flow is the answer, but I am answering you
     
    1. You create a Manual Flow
    test it love it save it
     
    2. Create the parent flow, (scheduled, Triggered, manual)
     
    3. Inside you use the Run a Child Flow Action and point to your Step 1 Flow
     
    Thats it... and you can pass data in and use the data from the child flow.
     
    So yes flow in a flow is and has been a thing forever.
     
    As for why your flow is not triggering... There are only a few reason
    1. Back end change broke it and MS will fix it hopefully
    2. someone changed something in the back end "thing" that is supposed to trigger it so it doesn't trigger and needs to be updated
    3. The flow is literally hosed and the meta-data in the back stinks and bleh.
    4. Someone turned it off (check in the Details Page to make sure)
    5. Bad trigger condition
    6. A change has made the custom trigger condition stop it from ever triggering.
     
    Options
    1. Remove the Trigger and re-add it, yes you can delete a trigger, and then re-add it. If I am able, I switch it to a manual trigger, unless I need the data from the Trigger in which case I cannot do this as it won't let me save. But either way, remove it. re-add and configure it.
     
    2. Create a copy of your Flow using Save As in the My Flows or shared to me whatever. Test that one, many times bingo this works but sucks as it's a different flow and needs to be deployed to whereever you are using it so that its the correct one
     
    3. Turn it back on
     
    4. Turn it OFF, then back on.
     
    5. Do a Test, go into the Flow, click Test, if its a triggered Flow it will just sit there Spinning until you do the action that should trigger it.
    See if that makes it start working again.
     
    6. verify the/ if any custom trigger conditions
     
    etc.
     
    If this helps resolve your question please Mark as such and maybe a like. THanks!
  • chadangrisani Profile Picture
    30 on at
    Thank you both for the info!  I'm the only one in the company who does any of the Power Platform dev/admin, so I'm quite sure that no changes were made to the flow or the list.  I will definitely try the suggestion to delete and recreate the trigger first.
     
    I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I never realized you could add a child flow.  I've developed 10+ flows over the last three years and always start with a Manual flow to test until it works, then I'd build the cloud flow and literally recreate the entire thing from scratch with an automated trigger at the top.  What a waste of time!
     
    Anyway, thanks again - I'll follow up and report back.
  • David_MA Profile Picture
    14,090 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at
    @chadangrisani you will get much better with the more flows you build. I have been developing workflows since SharePoint 2010 flows and by now have created more flows than I can keep track of. About the only thing I know is I have more than 600 in production right now. You gain a lot of experience through trial and error, and it doesn't help that Microsoft is constantly changing things.
     
    As you have already figured out, there is always more than one way to do something in Power Automate. Over time you'll get the experience to know which method works best and is more efficient. Based on how many points and some of the answers @Michael E. Gernaey provides, I am sure I still have much to learn as well. That is one constant that never changes, there is always something new to learn.
     
    Good luck and happy automating!!
     
    P.S. While Copilot can offer some solid advice, always be skeptical of its answer and question what it says. 
  • chadangrisani Profile Picture
    30 on at
    Well, I've tried all the suggestions provided but the flow still refuses to trigger.  It appears that perhaps @Michael E. Gernaey's Reason #3 may be the culprit.  After trying all the suggestions, I also created a new flow just to test the SharePoint list trigger: When a new item is created, send me an email.  That worked just fine.  In comparing the code view between all three flows (the original, the copy with a deleted-and-reattached trigger, and the new test flow), there are only two differences:
     
    • Recurrence interval is 1 on the test flow and 5 on the two broken flows; and
    • There is a "metadata": { "operationMetadataId": "a-bunch-of-random-numbers-and-hyphens" } that only appears on the two broken flows, with no metadata listed at all on the test flow.
     
    Should I assume the entire flow is hosed?  

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