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Not Basic Enough: any help for NON-power users?

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Posted on by BrianCurtis

I know this is the powerusers.com forum, but I'm looking for basic Power Automate tutorials or introductory documentation for the NON-power user. Everything I've found, even YouTube videos, assumes that you're an experienced workflow developer who just wants to get up to speed on this new tool.

What I need is online help, tutorials, and beginner-level info that answers questions like

"What IS a workflow, anyway? And why would I want to build one?"
"What are the parts of a workflow, and what do all these terms mean that I'm seeing in the Automate interface (trigger, operation, condition, etc.)?"
"Can't I get just one walkthrough that shows what's involved in creating a basic workflow and what each step actually means?"

and of course,

"Why can't I just set a reminder in SharePoint 2013 instead of trying to figure out all these baffling Automate steps?"

So here's my challenge: Can someone point me to a newbie, non-programmer, never-even-seen-a-workflow resource where my reaction won't be "Nope, too complicated"?

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Expiscornovus 33,997 Most Valuable Professional on at

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Hi @BrianCurtis,

I always find the Learn modules from Microsoft pretty good for beginners. Most of these modules have exercises and a check your knowledge with a couple of questions at the end.

This is one for getting started with Power Automate:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/modules/get-started-flows/1-introduction

Hope this helps a bit?
BrianCurtis 4 on at

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Thanks for suggesting this. I've actually already seen it and it's one that I gave up on as much too complicated. Here were my notes:

"First Page

Concepts I couldn't figure out:
Difference between cloud, desktop, and business-process flows--when and why to choose each kind
Difference between automated, instant, and scheduled flows--when and why to choose each kind

Terms I didn't recognize, can't find definitions for, and don't understand:
AI models
database
triggers & actions
connectors
accounts
Flow Studio
team & channel
dynamic content

"Second Page:

The one point that sticks out is that my best bet is to search for an existing template that already does exactly what I need and requires NO alterations, because I won't be able to figure out what those alterations should be.

'Exercise: Create your first flow' says it will show how to save attachments, but instead it just creates email notifications, twice."

And that's where I gave up. Do you know of anything that's more basic than this?
Ellis Karim 12,329 Super User 2026 Season 2 on at

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Free tutorials at Microsoft Learn: Get started with Power Automate

I also highly recommend the following two Udemy courses, in the following order
Microsoft Power Automate (Flow) Crash Course - 2020
Master Microsoft Power Automate(Flow) Expressions in 2 hours
You can get Master Microsoft Power Automate(Flow) Expressions in 2 hours for "free" when you complete Microsoft Power Automate (Flow) Crash Course - 2020, by posting the Udemy course completion certificate on LinkedIn and tag the author in LinkedIn! The author mentions this at the end of the course.

The above two courses also link you to a free JSON basics course.

Ellis

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BrianCurtis 4 on at

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The Microsoft Learn tutorial you linked is the same one Expiscornovus recommended, which was too complicated for me.

I'll take a look at the Udemy courses; thanks!