{"id":2016,"date":"2023-08-09T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-09T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/processprimer.com\/?p=2016"},"modified":"2026-03-25T19:01:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T01:01:41","slug":"power-automate-your-repetitive-tasks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/processprimer.com\/blog\/power-automate-your-repetitive-tasks\/","title":{"rendered":"Hate Boring? Learn How to Power Automate Your Repetitive Tasks!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Automate repetitive tasks. Free up your valuable time <\/strong>to work on things that interest<\/strong> you. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

How many times do you perform boring <\/strong>and repeated <\/strong>tasks throughout your day and week? How much time do you spend sending the same (or similar) emails? Moving files? Forwarding emails? Saving email attachments? Copying information from one place to another? Updating spreadsheets? <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Did you know that you can automate many of the tasks identified above and free up hours each week to spend on more meaningful activities? And did you know that anyone with a Microsoft office license can automate much of this for free<\/strong>? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are two <\/strong>versions of Power Automate for you to try out: the web <\/strong>version and the desktop <\/strong>version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Web\/cloud version<\/span>: runs online, not on your computer, and it can easily trigger an action based on a date\/time, the storing of a file in a specific folder, an email that you receive, or the click of a button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Desktop version<\/span> (a.k.a. Power Automate Desktop, or “PAD”): can only be installed on workstations running Microsoft Windows, but this more powerful (than the web) version allows a greater deal of functionality including simulating mouse points and keyboard clicks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this blog, we will identify two common use cases for task automation and demonstrate how you can set up your first few automations using Microsoft Power Automate<\/strong> all on your own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me first preface this by stating that I am not a Microsoft affiliate or partner. My business uses Microsoft products because our clients use Microsoft products. I am not a Microsoft reseller, and I do not make any money if you decide to use Microsoft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So when would you want to use Power Automate to automate your processes? Well, if you’re repeating a task several times per day or even <\/strong>several times per week, with little variation, it’s likely a good candidate for automation. And, for Power Automate, if it has to do with Microsoft Outlook for Business emails or moving\/saving files in OneDrive, or updating Excel spreadsheets, even better!<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Here are a couple of scenarios <\/strong>that you may find useful for automating in your day-to-day business life:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scenario #1 using Power Automate Cloud<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Send an email with attachment when a new file is save to a specific folder. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this scenario, you may be keeping track of your timesheet and need to submit it via email on a monthly basis. Let’s say you keep track of your hours of work in an excel spreadsheet. Once you have filled out your hours for the month you need to submit it to supervisor. So we are going to automate it so that once you save the file into a specific folder it will automatically pick the file up and email it to your supervisor.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

For this example, we will assume your timesheet is named “July 2023 Timesheet.xlsx”, you are saving it to a folder named “2023 timesheets”, and you are emailing it to supervisor@test.com.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are the steps to follow once you have logged in to Power Automate via office.com:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Click [Create]
    \"\"
    <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Under “Search select a trigger”, type “create file” and select [When a file is created (OneDrive for Business)].
    \"\"
    <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Click [+ New step].
    \"\"
    <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Click [Automated cloud flow].
    \"\"
    <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. For the “Flow name”, type “Email Monthly Timesheet.”
    \"\"
    <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Click [Create].
    \"\"
    <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. For the folder, locate your “2023 timesheets” folder and select it.
    \"\"
    <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. Type “send” in the search box.
    \"\"
    <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  9. Select [Send an email V2 (Office 365 Outlook)].
    \"\"
    <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  10. Click [Show advanced options] to display extra settings.
    \"\"
    <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  11. Fill in the the following fields:\n