Timestamp Flow

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Posted on by MK-18101553-0

I want to be able to create a flow for my Microsoft List so when an item is modified on my Microsoft List we will call it column A than a timestamp is created in column B. I tried the suggestion by AI but the issue is all my timestamps are updating when any modification occurs leading to all my timestamps always changing and also always being the same. Below are the steps I followed....

Step 1: Create a New Flow

Log into Power Automate.
Click on "Create" from the left navigation pane.
Select "Automated cloud flow."

Step 2: Set the Trigger

Name your flow (e.g., "Timestamp on Column Modification").
Under "Choose your flow's trigger," search for "When an item is modified."
Select your Microsoft List from the dropdown menu.

Step 3: Add a Condition

Click on "+ New step."
Search for and select "Condition."
Set the condition to check if the specific column you’re interested in has been modified. For example:
- Choose a value: Select the column.
- Condition: "is not equal to"
- Choose a value: Use the dynamic content to select the column value from the previous version of the item (usually under "Get changes for an item or a file (properties only)").

Step 4: Update the Item with Timestamp

In the "If yes" branch of the condition, click on "+ Add an action."
Search for and select "Update item."
Choose the same List and fill in the required fields.
For the timestamp column, set it to utcNow(), which will provide the current date and time.

Step 5: Save and Test Your Flow

Click "Save" to save your flow.
Test the flow by modifying the designated column in your Microsoft List.
Check to see if the timestamp is updated correctly.

Categories:

Building flows

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David_MA 12,982 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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I must be missing something, but you say that you want to timestamp column B when an item is modified. And if I understand correctly, it is doing just that. What is the issue? If your list is in SharePoint, you would not even need to do what you are asking, as SharePoint has a column that does exactly this, which is the modified column.

And what does, "all my timestamps always changing and also always being the same" mean? Are you saying that when your flow runs, it is always putting the same timestamp (e.g. 2024-10-18T12:55:00Z)? If so, please show your flow and how you are updating the column in your list.

What Chat GPT listed would be what you would do.

Most likely the issue is that you have created an endless loop, which is caused by the workflow updating the item with the modified date, which then causes the flow to trigger again since the item was modified, which then causes the flow to trigger again because it was modified, which.... You get the idea. This will show you how to avoid endless loops: How to avoid infinite trigger loop in Power Automate.

If that is the issue, I would go back to why are you doing this in the first place when the modified column contains the data you want to update the item with.

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MK-18101553-0 4 on at

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The modified column would not assist me as that is too general. It must capture a specific column being modified for a specific set of choices selected in that list. When the the LOA Request Status column has a choice that is flipped to Ready for Reg Approval or Ready for Reg Denial it should than put a time stamp relvent t to this change in the timestamp column. So for instance. when I trigger it on row 5 of my Microsoft list it does create a timestamp in my timestamp column, but when I modify row 10 and change my choice in that row to ready for reg approval it generates a time stamp in the column but also updates the one in row 5 now all my timestamps match.

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