Power Automate Tutorial for Beginners

Summary

In this tutorial, Kevin demonstrates how Microsoft Power Automate can simplify daily tasks without coding knowledge. He showcases creating automated flows, such as posting to Twitter after uploading a YouTube video, and setting up instant and scheduled flows for reminders. The video also touches on advanced features like UI flows and business process flows, highlighting Power Automate's potential to ease personal and professional workflows.

Takeaways

• 😀 Kevin introduces Microsoft Power Automate as a tool to simplify life and reduce manual tasks.
• 🔑 Kevin works at Microsoft and provides a full disclosure of his affiliation at the beginning of the video.
• 📹 He uses his YouTube channel as an example to demonstrate how Power Automate can automate posting to Twitter after uploading a video.
• 🤖 Power Automate requires no coding knowledge, making it accessible to anyone to create automation tasks.
• 🆓 Kevin shows how to access Power Automate using the free consumer version, highlighting that there is also a premium version for additional features.
• 💻 The tutorial includes step-by-step instructions on how to get started with Power Automate, starting from signing into office.com.
• 🔍 Kevin explains how to find and use existing automation templates in Power Automate, such as sharing a YouTube video on Twitter.
• 📝 He demonstrates how to customize the automation, including modifying the tweet text with dynamic content from the video.
• 🛠️ The script covers creating an automated flow from scratch, as well as instant and scheduled flows for different use cases.
• 🎉 Kevin emphasizes the ease of use and the broad range of services and apps that can be integrated with Power Automate.
• 🎈 The video concludes with an invitation for viewers to engage by liking, subscribing, and commenting for future content suggestions.

Q & A

What is Microsoft Power Automate?

Microsoft Power Automate is a service that allows users to create workflows and automate tasks across various apps and services, reducing the need for manual intervention.

Why is Power Automate beneficial for users?

Power Automate is beneficial as it simplifies users' lives by automating repetitive tasks, which can save time and reduce the potential for human error.

Does using Power Automate require coding knowledge?

No, Power Automate does not require any coding knowledge. It is designed to be user-friendly and accessible to anyone, with the ability to create automation tasks through a visual interface.

How is Power Automate similar to ifttt.com?

Power Automate is similar to ifttt.com (If This Then That) in that both services allow users to create conditional automations based on triggers from various apps and services.

What is the difference between the free consumer version and the premium version of Power Automate?

The free consumer version of Power Automate offers a wide range of functionality suitable for personal use, while the premium version is designed for work or school accounts and includes additional features, but at a cost.

How can one access Power Automate?

To access Power Automate, users need to sign in to their Microsoft account on office.com, navigate to 'all apps', and then select Power Automate, which may still be referred to as Flow.

What is a trigger in the context of Power Automate?

In Power Automate, a trigger is an event or action that initiates a workflow. For example, uploading a video to YouTube can be a trigger that then automatically posts a tweet on Twitter.

Can users customize the actions performed by Power Automate?

Yes, users can customize the actions within a Power Automate workflow. For instance, the text of a tweet or the content of an email can be modified to include dynamic content from the trigger source.

What is an instant flow in Power Automate?

An instant flow in Power Automate is a type of workflow that is manually triggered, such as by clicking a button, rather than being automatically initiated by a trigger event.

How can Power Automate help with reminders for personal tasks?

Power Automate can be used to create a flow that sends a reminder after a certain delay, such as reminding to complete a task requested by a family member, by setting up a delay and a notification step in the workflow.

What is a scheduled flow in Power Automate?

A scheduled flow in Power Automate is a workflow that is set to run at specific times or intervals, such as annually for remembering birthdays, by using a recurrence trigger.

What are UI flows and how do they differ from traditional flows in Power Automate?

UI flows in Power Automate allow users to record actions performed in a website or app interface, creating automations based on those actions, similar to macros. This differs from traditional flows that are typically set up using predefined triggers and actions from a list of connectors.

How can users find and utilize pre-built automation templates in Power Automate?

Users can find pre-built automation templates in Power Automate by searching or browsing through the available templates sorted by popularity. These templates can be used as-is or modified to suit specific needs, streamlining the automation creation process.

What are connectors in Power Automate and how are they used?

Connectors in Power Automate represent the various services and apps that can be integrated into a workflow. They are used to define the actions that a flow can perform, such as posting to Twitter or sending an email, by connecting to the respective service.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Introduction to Microsoft Power Automate

Kevin introduces the concept of Microsoft Power Automate, emphasizing its simplicity and utility in reducing manual tasks. As a Microsoft employee, he shares a personal example of automating the process of posting to Twitter after uploading a YouTube video. He highlights the no-coding requirement and the platform's user-friendliness, promising a step-by-step guide for beginners and drawing parallels to ifttt.com but with more advanced features.

05:00

🔍 Getting Started with Power Automate

The tutorial continues with a step-by-step guide on accessing Power Automate through office.com, explaining the process of signing in or creating a Microsoft account. Kevin navigates through the website to demonstrate how to find and launch Power Automate, previously known as Flow, and introduces the homepage's features, including sample automations, template collections, and service options. He then searches for and selects a YouTube-related automation template to streamline the process of sharing new videos on Twitter.

10:02

📲 Creating Automated and Instant Flows

Kevin demonstrates how to create an automated flow using a template for sharing YouTube videos on Twitter, detailing the process of connecting to services and customizing the tweet message. He also explains how to create an instant flow, triggered manually, using a mobile button to set a reminder for tasks. The video illustrates the customization options for the flow, including adding delays and notifications, and concludes with the successful creation and activation of the instant flow.

15:05

⏰ Scheduling Flows and Exploring Advanced Features

The script describes how to set up a scheduled flow for annual events, like remembering a birthday, and shows how to create a flow that sends an email reminder. Kevin also touches on premium features like UI Flow, which allows for creating automations by recording interactions with websites and apps, and business process flows for guided human task completion. The paragraph concludes with an overview of available templates and connectors, emphasizing the vast potential for automation across various services and apps.

📘 Conclusion and Call to Action

In the concluding part of the script, Kevin summarizes the benefits of using Power Automate to simplify life by automating manual tasks. He encourages viewers to like the video if they find the content useful, to subscribe for more similar content, and to leave comments for future topic suggestions. The paragraph ends with a friendly sign-off, expressing gratitude for watching and anticipation for the next encounter.

Keywords

💡Power Automate

Power Automate is a service provided by Microsoft that allows users to create workflows and automate repetitive tasks across various applications and services. In the context of the video, it is the main tool discussed for simplifying manual tasks without the need for coding knowledge. The script illustrates its use with an example of automating the process of posting to Twitter after uploading a video to YouTube.

💡Automation

Automation refers to the process of making a task or process run automatically with minimal human intervention. In the video, the theme revolves around using Power Automate to automate manual tasks such as posting on social media or sending reminders. The script provides examples of how automation can reduce the workload and increase efficiency.

💡Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 is a suite of productivity applications and services offered by Microsoft, which includes well-known programs like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, as well as cloud services like OneDrive. The script mentions Microsoft 365 to highlight the ecosystem within which Power Automate operates and the other productivity tools available to users.

💡Trigger

In the context of Power Automate, a trigger is an event or action that initiates a workflow. The video script uses the example of uploading a video to YouTube as a trigger for an automated flow that then posts a tweet on Twitter, demonstrating how triggers can be used to initiate automated tasks.

💡Action

An action in Power Automate is a step that is executed following a trigger in a workflow. The script describes an action as posting a tweet on Twitter after a video is uploaded to YouTube, which is the result of the trigger and forms the basis of the automation process.

💡Template

A template in Power Automate is a pre-built flow that users can utilize or customize for their specific needs. The video script explains how templates can simplify the process of creating new flows by providing a starting point that can be modified according to the user's requirements.

💡Connector

A connector in Power Automate represents an integration point with an external service or application, enabling the flow to interact with various platforms. The script mentions searching for and using connectors like Twitter to expand the capabilities of the automations created.

💡Dynamic Content

Dynamic content in Power Automate refers to data that can be included in the flow from the source of the trigger or other connected services. The script gives an example of how dynamic content such as the video title or link can be included in a tweet when a new video is uploaded to YouTube.

💡Instant Flow

An instant flow is a type of flow in Power Automate that is manually triggered, as opposed to automated flows that are triggered by events. The video script provides an example of creating an instant flow that sends a reminder after a delay, which is initiated by pressing a button.

💡Scheduled Flow

A scheduled flow is a flow in Power Automate that runs at specific times or intervals. The script describes setting up a scheduled flow to send a birthday reminder email annually, demonstrating how users can automate tasks that need to occur at regular intervals.

💡UI Flow

UI Flow, mentioned in the script, is a feature of Power Automate that allows users to record their actions on a website or application, creating a flow based on those actions. It's likened to creating a macro and is used to automate repetitive tasks within any interface, making it a powerful tool for users to automate complex processes.

Highlights

Introduction to Microsoft Power Automate as a tool to simplify life and reduce manual tasks.

Kevin, a Microsoft employee, demonstrates using Power Automate for automating tasks such as posting to Twitter after uploading a YouTube video.

Power Automate requires no coding knowledge, making it accessible for anyone to create automation tasks.

Comparison of Power Automate to ifttt.com, noting additional advanced functionality.

Kevin shows the process of accessing Power Automate through office.com and signing into a Microsoft account.

Explanation of how to find and launch Power Automate from the Microsoft 365 ecosystem.

Overview of the Power Automate homepage and its features, including sample automations and service integrations.

Tutorial on creating an automation that posts to Twitter when a new YouTube video is uploaded.

Details on customizing the tweet message and using dynamic content from the YouTube video.

Demonstration of how to add additional steps to an automation, such as sending an email or posting to Facebook.

Introduction to the concept of automated and instant flows in Power Automate.

Example of creating an instant flow for reminders, such as taking out the trash, with a delay and notification feature.

How to create a scheduled flow for annual events, like remembering a birthday, with email notifications.

Discussion on the premium features of Power Automate, including UI Flow for recording automations in any application and Business Process Flow for guided human steps.

Highlighting the vast number of connectors available in Power Automate for creating automations across different services and apps.

Encouragement for viewers to explore Power Automate to simplify their own lives and reduce manual tasks.

Call to action for viewers to like, subscribe, and comment for more content on Power Automate and other topics.

Transcripts

Hi everyone, my name is Kevin. Today I want  to show you how you can use Microsoft Power  

Automate, and before you run off because it sounds  like a complicated name, stick around because with  

Power Automate, you can simplify your life and  then cut down on the number of manual tasks that  

you do in your life. As Full disclosure, before we  jump into this, I work at Microsoft as a full-time  

employee. So, to make it real, let me give an  example. So, I run this YouTube channel here and  

just about every day I upload a video to YouTube.  Now, not only do I upload a video to YouTube,  

I also then post about that video on Twitter,  so that's a manual task that I have to do every  

single day. With Power Automate, what I could  do is Power Automate will look at YouTube,  

see that I uploaded a new video, and  then it'll automatically tweet on Twitter  

on my behalf. So, it simplifies and  cuts out one of the manual tasks that I  

had been doing. And best of all, it requires no  coding knowledge at all. Anyone could jump in,  

create an automation task, and then have Power  Automate work on your behalf, and I'll show you  

step-by-step how you can do that. If you've  ever heard of if this then that or ifttt.com,  

it's similar to that, but it also has some  more advanced functionality. Now today,  

I'm going to show you how you can use the free  consumer version of it. There is also a premium  

version that you could use with work or school  accounts that costs some additional money, but I'm  

going to show you how you could use the free one  and it offers tons and tons of functionality that  

can really help make your life easier. All right,  well enough talk, why don't we jump on the PC,  

and I'll show you how first off you can get  started with Power Automate. Here I am on my PC  

and to get to Power Automate, let's head to the  website office.com. Once you land on office.com,  

go ahead and click on the sign in button. This  will bring us to the sign in page. If you already  

have a Microsoft account, you could go ahead and  type it in here. If you don't yet have an account,  

don't worry, you could create one, and it won't  cost you anything. It's free to create an account,  

and you could do that right here. Once you either  sign in or you create an account and then sign in,  

you'll land on the authenticated version of  office.com. Now some of the things that you could  

do on office.com, not only can you get to Power  Automate, but you also have all of these other  

productivity tools. For instance, you get Outlook  for e-mail. You get free cloud storage with  

OneDrive. You also get the well-known productivity  tools, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, amongst  

others. One thing you might notice is there is  no Power Automate as part of this initial set.  

To get there, we're going to click on all apps.  This brings up the all apps screen and here too  

you might notice that there is no Power Automate.  Previously Power Automate was known as Flow,  

and currently it still refers to Flow, so we're  going to use this to launch Power Automate.  

Now, if you're in any other app throughout the  Microsoft 365 ecosystem, so let's say you're in  

Outlook or maybe you're in Word and you want to  get to Power Automate, you can also get there  

through the app launcher or what I like to refer  to as the waffle because it kind of looks like a  

waffle here. You could click on that, and that'll  launch up the default set of apps, and here too, I  

could also click on all apps and then here you'll  see Flow right here. So, either way will get you  

to Power Automate. So, let's go ahead and click  on that, and this drops us on the home page. Here  

we are on the Power Automate homepage and let's  take a moment to look at what's on the home page.  

Here at the very top, you'll see that there are a  few sample automations that you can try out. Down  

below that, you also see some featured template  collections, so these are groups of templates  

relating to different areas, and then you also see  a sampling of different services that you could  

run automations on. Now to really make it real,  I want to go back to the example that I shared at  

the beginning. So, I have this YouTube channel and  every time I post a video, I want a tweet to go  

on Twitter that announces the video. So, let's  see if Power Automate can help me with this,  

and so the easiest way to get started is in this  search box up here, I'm going to type in YouTube  

because this is the app where I'm going to post  the video, and I want to see if there are any  

existing automations that I could simply use, so  I'm going to go ahead and let me put in YouTube  

right here and then I'm going to search. Once I  search for YouTube, one thing that I see is these  

are all of the different automations that already  exist related to YouTube. So, what I could do is I  

could go through these different cards and see all  what I can do or what others have already created.  

Now the nice thing about Power Automate  and sharing these existing automations  

is chances are what I'm looking to automate, other  people have also thought about automating, in  

which case it really makes it easy for me because  I could simply reuse what others have done,  

and in fact on that topic right up here in the  top left-hand corner, I see an automation that  

already exists that says share YouTube video  on Twitter. That sounds like what I want to  

do. So let me click on that and let's try this  out. So here if I look at more of the details,  

here it says when you upload to YouTube, share  your video via Twitter. You can customize your  

tweet message. Well, that sounds exactly like  what I want to do. That's great. And down here  

it says this Flow will connect to both YouTube and  Twitter. Now one of the things that you need to do  

is as you connect to these different services, you  need to sign into these different services, and  

I've actually already gone ahead and done that,  but I signed into YouTube, typed in my username,  

my password, and I also signed into Twitter,  typed in my username and password, and the little  

green check mark indicates that it's a valid  connection. Next, I'm going to click on continue.  

On the next page, I see a visual showing me what's  going to happen. It says when I upload a video,  

so that's the trigger. Then down below I see  what the action is. It's going to post a tweet,  

and here I can modify what the tweet text is. It  says check out this new YouTube video I uploaded  

and then it inserts a link to the  video. If I click into the textbox,  

I see some other dynamic content that I could  also include as part of the Tweet, so in this case  

I already have the web link included, but if I  wanted to, I could also include the videos title,  

the description, the title of my channel, so lots  of different types of content that I can pull in.  

One thing I could even do is let's say that when  I upload to YouTube, not only do I want it to post  

a Tweet, but maybe I want to have it send out  an e-mail to certain people, or maybe I want it  

to also post to Facebook. I could go ahead, and I  could also add additional steps, but in this case,  

I'm satisfied just posting a tweet on Twitter,  so I'm going to go ahead and click on save.  

Congratulations, the new flow has been created  and you just created your very first Flow.  

Now to go see all the Flows that I have, over on  the left-hand side, I could click on my Flows,  

and when I do that, I'll see a list view of all of  the different flows that I have. Now in this case,  

I just have one showing up here. One of the things  I could do is I could click on this, and this will  

bring me to a summary view of my new Flow. Here  I can see things like my 28-day run history,  

so every time it runs, I'll see a record of that.  I can verify that my connections are still working  

and some of the things I could also do is let's  say I could, I want to delete the Flow because  

I no longer need it. I could do that. I can even  turn it on or off. So, let's say I want to take  

a little break from Twitter. I could turn this  off and it'll no longer run. In this example,  

I showed you how you could create a new Flow from  a template. I also want to show you how you could  

create a new Flow from scratch, and to do that  we're going to work our way down on the left-hand  

side here, and next I want to click on create.  Within the create view, I have a few different  

options. I can start from blank, so start a new  flow from scratch, and in a moment, we're going to  

walk through what each of these options does, and  I'll show some examples. Down below, and this is  

something we just did. We started from a template.  This is by far the easiest way to create a new  

Flow, and down at the bottom, you can also start  a new Flow from a service or an app or what's  

called a connector and you could start from there.  So, let's go back up to the top and I'm going to  

walk through some of the different ways you can  start a new Flow. The first way is an automated  

Flow and this is what we just did with YouTube.  That's called an automated Flow. Essentially,  

what that means is anytime some trigger occurs,  so in this case I upload a video to YouTube,  

Flow will take some action based on that, in  which case it Tweets to Twitter, so why don't  

we jump in, and I'll show you how you could also  start off with just a blank automated flow. So,  

if I click on this, I can name it and maybe  I'm going to call this YouTube to Twitter. So,  

I'll show you how I could also start this just  from scratch, and here it says, well, what is  

your trigger? In my case it's on YouTube, so I'm  going to search for YouTube, and then you see the  

different triggers that are available. So, when  a video is uploaded by a channel, when I upload  

a video, or when a new video matches a search. So,  there are a few different triggers that I can use.  

In this case, I want to go with when I upload a  video, so I'm going to create the same flow as  

what I did before, and then I'll click on create.  Now here, because it's not a template, it doesn't  

have the Twitter step, but I could go ahead and  click on new step and within here, I could search  

connectors, and in this case, I want to connect  to Twitter, so I'm going to type in Twitter,  

and here I see Twitter is one of the connectors,  so I'm going to go ahead and click on that,  

and now when I upload a video, I could take  a variety of different actions. In this case,  

I want to post a Tweet, so I'm going to click on  that. Here I could type in text and then similar  

to before, I could also add dynamic content, so  maybe I want to put in the video link, and then  

at this point, I could go ahead and save this and  just like before. Now if I click into my Flows,  

I'll see now that I have two Flows set up, so  that's how I could have set that one up manually.  

Now let me go back to create. I want to show an  example of an instant flow. With an instant Flow,  

I need to manually trigger the Flow, so let's say  by clicking on a button and then that'll kick off  

a Flow. Now this compares to the previous example  where it was an automated flow where I upload a  

video and then the Flow automatically runs  because Power Automate detects that trigger.  

So, in this case, one of the things is sometimes  my wife will come by and she'll ask me to say,  

take out the trash or do something else around  the house, but I might be in the middle of doing  

something, in which case I forget to do that task  and then I get in trouble later. So, it might be  

nice to have a button that I could click on and  then it'll remind me in say 10 minutes to take  

care of whatever that task was. So, in this case,  I'm going to simply add a Flow button for mobile  

and by clicking on this button, that will trigger  the flow. Let me go ahead and click on create.  

And here, so that's the trigger. I click  on a button and now I could add a new step  

and maybe what I want to do is I want to, let's  say, delay the message for let's say 10 minutes,  

so I'm going to type in delay. Here I see a  connector called schedule. So, let me click on  

that and here schedule has an option to delay.  Let me click on that and now I could specify  

how long I want the delay to be. So maybe I'll  say 10 minutes. That should be enough time  

and the unit is minutes, and now let me add an  additional step, because it's going to first off,  

I trigger it, then it waits for 10 minutes, and  what I want to have happen then is maybe I want  

to get a notification. So, I'm going to click on  notification and here I could either get an e-mail  

or a mobile notification. I think a notification,  just a mobile notification is probably good enough  

to remind me, and I'll click on that, and now  I can type in the notification message. So  

maybe I'll say “follow up on what the wife asked  about” and that should remind me what my task is  

and now I'm all done. So, I'm going to go ahead  and click on save and I now have another Flow,  

and once again, if I click on my Flows, here I can  see that I now have this Flow and it's currently  

active. Let me go back to create, and I want  to show how we can create a scheduled Flow,  

and just like the name implies, I could  schedule a Flow to happen at a certain time  

or a certain interval. Now one of the things  is every year my mom’s birthday comes around  

and I hate forgetting that it's her birthday.  That doesn't look too good when I forget, so  

here I'm going to call the Flow birthday and what  I could do is my mom's birthday is on April 30th,  

so I'm going to select April 30th, and maybe  we'll do it at noon, so right in the afternoon,  

and what I could do then is maybe I'll repeat  every let's say 12 months. So, basically every  

year this flow will run. So, now let me go ahead  and create it. Now this type of Flow is great.  

Let's say you work as an admin and every month you  need people to submit their expense report. You  

could have it automatically send out an e-mail  every month, so you no longer have to remember  

to do that on your own. So, here I set up the  recurrence and I'll click on add a new step,  

and here I could click on mail and send an e-mail  notification is the action, so the recurrence,  

that's the trigger, the timing, and then  the action is some to send an e-mail,  

and here in this case, let's see, I'll just  type in an e-mail address. Pretend this was my  

mom's e-mail address, so I could type that in,  and then I could say “happy birthday mom” and  

let me put in some text in the body, and  here I could say “I love you so much.”  

Down below, I can also show advanced options,  and here I could add additional people on the CC  

line or the BCC line. So, maybe if I have some  siblings and I want to make them jealous that  

I remembered it was my mom's birthday, but maybe  they didn't remember, I could BCC them just to let  

them know that I emailed mom and maybe give them  a heads up that maybe they should do the same.  

So, all of this looks good. Let me go ahead  and save this Flow now, and once again,  

I'll click into my Flows and here you can see that  I have my birthday Flow set up. I also have my  

wife reminder flow, and I have my YouTube flow set  up. One of the things you'll notice is my life is  

getting simpler. I feel less weight on my shoulder  as I add these Flows because I no longer have to  

remember these things, I no longer have to do  these things. It's really making my life easier.  

I'm going to click back in to create. Now there  are two more flows here. These are premium flows  

where you either need a work or school account to  be able to take advantage of them. I'm not going  

to go through and demo these today, but I want  to say a quick word about what you can do with  

these. So, with the UI Flow, this is a new feature  or functionality that recently came out for Power  

Automate. What it allows you to do is you could  click through a website, you could click through  

an app, and you could create automations  based on them. So, one way to think of it is,  

it's like making a macro, but in any application  or on any website. So, just to give an example of  

what you could do with that. Let's say that you  have a whole bunch of docs in Microsoft Word, and  

you want to save them all as PDFs. You can use the  UI flow recorder to record opening a doc, and then  

saving a doc as a PDF, and then you could apply  that to any number of documents. So with this, it  

greatly simplifies Flows, and it makes it really  easy. All you have to be able to do is click  

through the interface and then you could automate  a Flow. Then lastly, there's another one called  

the business process Flow, and this allows you  to set up steps that a human will walk through,  

and they won't see the remaining steps until  they've completed the initial set of steps that  

they have. So, you can also use that. It's more  of a business scenario, so today we're not going  

to go into that. That's an overview of how you  could start a new power automation or a new Flow  

from blank. I also have some templates down below  and I see some connectors, but I'm going to click  

into the full view so we could see what's  possible. When I click into templates,  

this shows me all of the different templates  that other people have already created. Now this  

will probably take care of much of your automation  needs, and here I can search for templates. What's  

nice is it's sorted by popularity, so by default I  could see what most other people use and the ones  

at the beginning are pretty compelling and maybe  automations that I also want to take advantage of.  

Now, not only can I look by templates, I'm going  to click on connectors here on the left-hand side,  

and these are all the different services  and apps that I could create automations on,  

and earlier from what I remember, I think they  said there was something like 354, and by the time  

you're watching this video, there will probably  be even more, but this is a nice way I could set  

up automations between apps. All right well,  that was a quick tutorial of how you could use  

Power Automate to simplify your life. If you  feel like you might be able to automate part  

of the manual tasks that you do in your life,  please give this video a thumbs up. If you want  

to see more videos like this in the future,  hit that subscribe button. That way you'll  

get a notification anytime new content like this  comes out. And lastly, if you want to see me cover  

any other topics in the future, leave a comment  down below, and I'll add it to my list of videos  

to create. All right, well, thanks a lot for  watching, and I hope to see you next time, bye.