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Power Platform Community / Forums / Power Automate / Using Power Automate t...
Power Automate
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Using Power Automate to automatically transform PDFs into an Excel table

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Posted on by 4

Hi, currently whenever I have a report in PDF format I open up excel and use the "Get Data" function to import my PDF into excel and transform it into a table, I then save that file in the same folder as the PDF.  This is a repetitive task which I do on a weekly basis.  I've searched online on how to do this however there are many different ways and the Desktop version is different than the Cloud version. My reasoning for using desktop is that our PDF reports get downloaded to our Server drive which I have access to. What I would like is for this to be automatic whenever a new PDF file is detected in the folder, if possible I would also like to have the original PDF deleted after the excel file has been created and saved.

 

I've watched videos online and have a bit of Power Automate experience from setting up a flow to send a generic email at the push of a button but I can't seem to figure out how to do the above.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I have the same question (0)
  • VishnuReddy1997 Profile Picture
    2,656 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

    Hi @J604 ,

     

    You can try the below solution in Cloud flow.

     

    1.Trigger: "When a file is created (properties only)" trigger.

    Settings:
    Set the "Folder Path" to the server drive location where your PDF reports are downloaded.
    Choose "PDF" for the "File type filter" (optional, to only trigger on PDFs).

    2.Action 1: "Get file content (OneDrive for Business)" action.
    Set the "File Identifier" to the dynamic content from the trigger - "File Path". This retrieves the content of the new PDF.

    3.Action 2: "Convert to table (Excel Online (Business))" action.
    Paste the dynamic content from Action 1 (PDF content) into the "Content" field.
    Choose the appropriate delimiter and other options to format your table as needed (experiment with a sample PDF to get the best settings).

    4.Action 3: "Create file (OneDrive for Business)" action.
    Set the "Folder Path" to the same server drive location as your PDFs.
    Set the "File Name" to something descriptive, including the date or using dynamic content from the trigger (e.g., "Report_YYYY-MM-DD.xlsx").
    Paste the dynamic content from Action 2 (converted table) into the "File Content" field.

    5.Action 4 (Optional): "Delete file (OneDrive for Business)" action (to delete the original PDF).
    Set the "File Path" to the dynamic content from the trigger - "File Path".

     

    (Note:- if you got your solution you can mark as solution and gives kudos)


    Thanks & Regards

    Vishnu Reddy

  • Deenuji_Loganathan_ Profile Picture
    6,250 Moderator on at

    @J604 

     

    Please follow the below topic to trigger your desktop flow for pdf automation when new file is created in certain shared drive.

    Solved: Start a flow only when a file is inserted into a f... - Power Platform Community (microsoft.com)

     

    How to create pdf automation:

     

    1. Get file name from cloud trigger which file is created by latest

    2. Use Extract table from pdf action and save your datatable into excel

    3. Save excel file into same folder

    4. Delete the pdf file from the same folder using delete file(s) action

     


    Thanks,
    Deenuji Loganathan 👩‍💻
    Automation Evangelist 🤖
    Follow me on LinkedIn 👥

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    If I've helped solve your query, kindly mark my response as the solution ✔ and give it a thumbs up!👍 Your feedback supports future seekers 🚀

  • J604 Profile Picture
    4 on at

    "Action 2: "Convert to table (Excel Online (Business))" action"

     

    There is no such action available

  • J604 Profile Picture
    4 on at

    Choose "PDF" for the "File type filter" (optional, to only trigger on PDFs).

     

    The above option is also not available

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