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Populate a Microsoft Word template completing but not changing anything

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Posted on by ctw1991

Hi All,

I've been trying to use the "Populate a Microsoft Word template" connector in power automate. I've done everything correctly and the flow runs fine however when I open the file. nothing has been changed.

I've seen people say it doesnt work with templates that are loaded into sharepoint so stored the template in onedrive:

https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Building-Flows/Word-Online-Business-Connector-Populate-a-Microsoft-Word/m-p/206836#M21785

I know the limitations on rich text and other controls from here:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/connectors/wordonlinebusiness/#how-to-create-microsoft-word-templates

So what i've done is created a really simple docx with 2 plain text controls and saved it to my onedrive.

I a forms response as a trigger as the input data to the template.

when I run it it completes no problems but when I actually open the file it doesn't show anything.

why is that?

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Building flows

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v-litu-msft on at

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Hi @ctw1991,

After populating these date into the Word template, you should use the generate file content to create a doc file:

Best Regards,
Community Support Team _ Lin Tu
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

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walter_pixelia 16 on at

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Hi Lin,
I'm in trouble because if I open the result file through Teams or Sharepoint I can see the fields filled with data, but If I open it in the Desktop App I see again only the fields names. It is a very strange behaviour. Also if I download the file from Teams (.../Download) the file downloaded miss the fields data.

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Psy 8 on at

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I have observed the exact same behavior on my application.

I am debating between creating a new flow. and just trying fresh because I have not found a solution. The preview shows the data (In my case on SharePoint),
but if I download the file to send to collogues it just shows the field logical mapping names instead of the data.

Also, sometimes it actually does work and populate, but it is empty much more often.

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walter_pixelia 16 on at

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Hi Josi,
I found that if you use a template that used the merge fields (which are orange if I remember correctly) the merge only works in Teams or online, whereas if within the Word template you replace the orange fields with the blue ones (Controls, text field - not RTF) everything works perfectly.

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gauburtin 38 on at

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I'm getting the same issue but it only occurs in sandbox environments. In a production environnement, all files (online and downloaded files) are updated.

Any idea ?

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divyank_raj Microsoft Employee on at

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I'm facing the same issue.

Did anyone ever find the solution to this issue?
This seems like affecting many users.

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IAmBeingForced 9 on at

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I am also still facing this issue. If I open my exported file in Word online, the data fields are filled out.
The desktop client only shows the field names, however, the pen inputs are showing up (super strange).

Does anyone have an answer?

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MRVIX 26 on at

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I'm facing the same issue at the moment. Anyone found a workaround for this?

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divyank_raj Microsoft Employee on at

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In my case, the word template I had was ill formatted.
I had to re-do the word template based on the official Microsoft documentation for creating word templates. Once I followed it to the letter and re-created my template, the output after the power automate flow was perfect in both the web and desktop version.

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IAmBeingForced 9 on at

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It's typically template errors yes.

I actually have started using Encodian, as it handles photos and arrays in a better way.
I would highly recommend checking it out to anyone.

Their service and support team are amazing also.

That being said, it can be just as tough to use as the built-in premium connectors. They have amazing documentation and instructional videos though.

10/10

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