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Power Platform Community / Forums / Power Automate / Recurrence Flow- Date ...
Power Automate
Suggested Answer

Recurrence Flow- Date columns

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I have employee email ids and date columns(for ex 16/03/2026 till 31/03/2026) in my sharepoint list. when any employee, on particular date the data is not filled against their name, need to send out email notification.
I created a recurrence flow to run every day and not able to compare with the system date against the column name becuase comparining date is not working out. Any one tried?
 
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  • Fredrik_A Profile Picture
    3,644 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at
    Hey,
     
    could you please share a picture of your flow or your Date comparison formula? =)
  • AV-16030957-0 Profile Picture
    4 on at
    I tried taking 
    internal column names('_x0031_0_x0020_Mar_x0020_2026') for each date from the sharepoint list and checked whether it has some value..
    this is how i have checked
    _x0031_0_x0020_Mar_x0020_2026 contains true
  • Suggested answer
    deepakmehta13a Profile Picture
    369 on at

    I had the same issue and figured out a solution. The trick is to convert today's date into SharePoint's internal column name format and then use it dynamically to check if the data is filled or not. Here's the full step-by-step:

    Important background:

    SharePoint doesn't store column names as-is. If your column name contains special characters (like /) or starts with a number, SharePoint encodes the internal name. For example:

    Display Name Internal Name
    16/03/2026 OData__x0031_6_x002f_03_x002f_2026
     

    The encoding rules:


    • Column name starts with a number → first digit gets hex encoded as _x003{digit}_

    • / becomes _x002f_

    • Prefix OData_ is added

    •  

    So you need to build today's date in this encoded format dynamically.

     

    Step 1 — Recurrence

    Set it to run daily at your preferred time.

     

    Step 2 — Get items

    Connect to your SharePoint list. This returns all rows from your list.

     

    Step 3 — Compose (name it "TodaysDateReadable")

    Expression:

    formatDateTime(convertFromUtc(utcNow(), 'India Standard Time'), 'dd/MM/yyyy')

    Output example: 19/03/2026

    Adjust the timezone as per your region.

     

    Step 4 — Compose (name it "TodaysColumnName")

    This converts the readable date into SharePoint's internal column name format:

    concat(
      'OData__x003',
      substring(outputs('TodaysDateReadable'), 0, 1),
      '_',
      substring(outputs('TodaysDateReadable'), 1, 1),
      '_x002f_',
      substring(outputs('TodaysDateReadable'), 3, 2),
      '_x002f_',
      substring(outputs('TodaysDateReadable'), 6, 4)
    )

    This dynamically handles any date because day values only start with 0, 1, 2, or 3, and the hex encoding pattern is _x003{digit}_ for all of them:

    Date First Digit Encoded As
    01/04/2026 0 OData__x0030_1_x002f_04_x002f_2026
    16/03/2026 1 OData__x0031_6_x002f_03_x002f_2026
    25/12/2026 2 OData__x0032_5_x002f_12_x002f_2026
    31/01/2026 3 OData__x0033_1_x002f_01_x002f_2026
     

    Step 5 — Apply to each

    Select output: value from Get items.

     

    Step 6 — Inside the loop: Condition

    Compare today's column value to check if the data has been filled against each person's name:


    • Left side: items('Apply_to_each')?[outputs('TodaysColumnName')]

    • Operator: is equal to

    • Right side: true

    This checks whether the data for today's date column is filled for each row in your list.

     

    Step 7 — Inside "If no" branch: Take action based on your requirement

    If the condition is not met, it means the data is not filled against that person's name for today's date. What you do here depends entirely on your business need.

    For example:

    • To: Use the email column from your list — items('Apply_to_each')?['YourEmailColumnInternalName']
    • Subject: Based on your need — could be a reminder, escalation, or daily summary
    • Body: Customize per your use case — mention the date using outputs('TodaysDateReadable') so the recipient knows which date is missing

    For the email column or any other column you reference inside the loop, use the internal name from your list. You can include outputs('TodaysDateReadable') in your message so the recipient knows which date's data is missing.

     

    Complete flow overview:

    Recurrence (daily)
        ↓
    Get items → all rows from SharePoint list
        ↓
    TodaysDateReadable → "19/03/2026"
        ↓
    TodaysColumnName → "OData__x0031_9_x002f_03_x002f_2026"
        ↓
    Apply to each row
        ├── Condition → items('Apply_to_each')?[outputs('TodaysColumnName')] equals true?
        │     ├── Yes → data is filled, do nothing
        │     └── No → data not filled, take action per your requirement
    
     

    Key takeaway:

    The whole solution works because SharePoint's internal name encoding for columns with special characters follows a predictable pattern. Once you understand that / = _x002f_ and the first digit gets encoded as _x003{digit}_, you can dynamically build the internal column name from today's date without any manual mappings or metadata lookups.

     

    Things to watch out for:


    • Make sure your date format in Step 3 exactly matches your column names — especially leading zeros. If your columns use 6/03/2026 instead of 06/03/2026, adjust the format string accordingly.

    • If a column for today's date doesn't exist in the list, the expression will return null. You may want to handle that in your condition to avoid false triggers.

    • If your columns are a different type (like text instead of Yes/No), adjust the condition comparison accordingly — for example, check if the value is empty/null instead of comparing to true.

    •  

    If this helps resolve your issue, please consider marking the response as Verified so it can help others facing a similar scenario. 
    If you found this helpful, you can also click “Yes” on “Was this reply helpful?” or give it a Like. 

     

  • Suggested answer
    Kalathiya Profile Picture
    2,456 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at
     
    Yes, you can add the between date filter directly in the Get items action itself using the Filter Query.
     
    For example, if you want to get items from today up to the next 15 days, you can use:
    Date ge '@{formatDateTime(utcNow(),'yyyy-MM-dd')}' and Date le '@{addDays(utcNow(),15,'yyyy-MM-dd')}'
    This will return items where the Date column falls between today and the next 15 days. After that, you can loop through the results and check if the required data is empty, and send the email notification if needed.
     
     
     
    If your Date column data type is Date and Time, then you can implement it like this:
    Date ge '@{formatDateTime(utcNow(),'yyyy-MM-ddT00:00:00z')}' and Date le '@{addDays(utcNow(),15,'yyyy-MM-ddT23:59:59z')}'
    If this response resolves your issue, please mark it as the Verified Answer so it can help other community members as well.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    📩 Need more help? Just mention @Kalathiya and I’ll be happy to assist.

    ✔️ If this answer helped you, please tick “Does this answer your question?” so it can be marked as the Verified Answer.

    💛 A Like always motivates me to keep contributing!

  • Kalathiya Profile Picture
    2,456 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at
     
    If this solution helped, please consider marking it as the verified answer so it can help others in the community 😊
    If you still need assistance, feel free to let us know, we’re happy to help!
     

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