Power Apps or Power Automate to Update Sharepoint List

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Posted on by cloudw_davet

Hi all

Long time lurker, first time asking anything.

If I have an app adding, editing and manipulating data in a Sharepoint List am I better making those changes via Power Apps or via Power Automate? Or is it case dependent? Are there any guidelines?

I've noticed if I create a list and manipulate it with Power Apps I have to share the list. But if I send the data to Power Automate and manipulate from there I don't. But I wonder if that's much slower.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

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Tetralink 64 on at

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Power Apps or Power Automate to Update Sharepoint List

The approach depends on what the app user expects the data to do during their interaction. If they need the data to update quickly—for example, if they click a button and expect immediate feedback—then it’s best to have PowerApps handle the query. However, if the interaction can be processed in the background, you have options. For smaller updates, like a single record, PowerApps can manage it. For larger updates, it’s better to pass the workload to Power Automate to free up PowerApps from having to process it locally.

There are tricks you can do if you load the data in a collection, where you can have the data be updated in the collection which appears to the user the information updated right away, but it’s actually being processed by power automate in the background.

In terms of permissions and security, you can still use PowerApps and share the list. You can restrict the list by hiding it from site content or search using the REST API, setting contribute permissions, or limiting the form view, among other options.

Executing tasks directly from PowerApps is a bit faster since it involves one less call. However, PowerApps will perform better if it doesn’t have to handle processing locally.

It also sounds like you’re using Power Automate to access the record as you (run as user), as users aren’t needing access to the List. One thing to keep in mind is not hitting your daily SharePoint call limits by doing this. As they’re using “your” call limits rather than using theirs.

hope this helps!
cloudw_davet 7 on at

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Re: Power Apps or Power Automate to Update Sharepoint List

Thanks @ARAlmac That's a big help.
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AR-29081311-0 137 on at

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Re: Power Apps or Power Automate to Update Sharepoint List

Hi @cloudw_davet ,

Welcome!

I think it is totally case dependent but a few things to think about:
1. What type of data do I have? is it okay for users to see this data? if they are able to create/edit items then the SharePoint site / list must be shared with them on Edit access level. Any security concerns?
Could we maybe build a SharePoint site that only has this list in it, meaning no other documents/lists are exposed.
2. Power Automate will not give you an interface to Add/Edit records, in fact, if you are going to use the SharePoint list as your means to add or edit data then Power Automate is not required to do the editing and manipulating as the SharePoint list will save itself.
3. Think about the overall user experience, what would be nice for the user?

Personally, I build Canvas Apps with SharePoint lists so we can build a menu system / forms for the user to enter the data and this can be built exactly as you would like it. Then, use Power Automate as your process tool behind the scenes. For example, a record is created, please send an email to xyz.

Hope this helps!

Please accept as a solution if this was helpful to you 🙂

Aaron