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Power Platform Community / Forums / Power Automate / Can't Save as Excel Be...
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Can't Save as Excel Because colon mark : in file name That i scape time from web for Excel Name

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I can't Save as Excel Because I want to set Excel name with Date and Realtime .
and Time info have colon mark :  that Excel don't allow to put in Excel Name .So It failed for Save as Excel .
How Can I fix this issue2.png
Thank you.

  • CU16071609-1 Profile Picture
    6,255 Moderator on at

    @PoomCarrier 

     

    We are unable to save the file if it contains certain restricted characters, even if you attempt to do so manually (please refer to the screenshot below).

     

    Deenuji_0-1715742945925.png

     

    Please adjust the datetime format accordingly and append it to your file name.

    Here's the process flow: I obtain the current datetime, convert it to text, and format it as "ddMMyyyyhhmmss". Then, I append this formatted datetime to the name of the Excel file I'm saving.

     

    Deenuji_0-1715743199132.png

     

     


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

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  • VishnuReddy1997 Profile Picture
    2,666 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

    Hi @PoomCarrier ,

     

    Here are some key points to remember:


    1.You can use letters (a-z, A-Z), numbers (0-9), underscores (_), hyphens (-), periods (.), and spaces (but using spaces is generally not recommended).

    2.Special characters like brackets ([]) or symbols (@, #, $) are generally not allowed in filenames within Excel. **Dynamic File Names:** * PAD allows you to create dynamic file names using variables and expressions. This is particularly helpful when you need to automate the naming process based on specific data. * You can use variables created within your flow or system variables to incorporate dynamic elements like timestamps, unique identifiers, or data extracted from your workflow. **Examples of File Name Setups:** * **Static Name:** "MyReport.xlsx" (Simple and straightforward) * **Dynamic Name with Date:** "SalesReport_$(Now:yyyyMMdd).xlsx" (Uses the current date in YYYYMMDD format)

     

    After getting the Current Date and Time,you convert it into Custom form as shown in below image.

    VishnuReddy1997_0-1715747531057.png

     While saving excel you can use it as below.

    VishnuReddy1997_1-1715747592219.png

     

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


    Thanks & Regards

    Vishnu Reddy

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