Blog

Ever needed to programmatically delete files or folders from SharePoint? Whether you’re enforcing data retention policies, cleaning up processed files, or simply keeping your document libraries tidy, the Microsoft Graph API combined with Power Automate makes it straightforward. In this post, I’ll walk you through every step — from obtaining the right IDs to making the DELETE call. Why Automate File Deletion? There are several reasons why one might want to delete a SharePoint file or folder via the Graph API using Power Automate. Firstly, automating deletion can help maintain the organization and cleanliness of a SharePoint site, especially when dealing with temporary or obsolete files. Secondly, it allows for the enforcement of data retention policies by programmatically removing files that are past their retention period. Thirdly, it can be used to streamline workflows by deleting files that have been processed, reducing clutter and potential confusion. ...

If you’ve been using Apply to Each loops to export Power BI data into Excel, you know how painfully slow that can be. In this post, I’ll show you two much faster and more reliable methods — Graph API and Office Scripts — that will transform how you bulk-load data into Excel with Power Automate. Method 1: Using Graph API The first method involves using Graph API. It’s a premium licensed method that invokes an HTTP request to the Graph API. The Graph API requires the site ID, the file ID, and the dynamic range of the data. ...

Ever needed to bundle multiple files into a single zip from Power Automate or Logic Apps? Creating zip files programmatically in the cloud can be tricky — there’s no built-in action for it. In this post, I’ll show you how to set up an Azure Function that accepts base64 file content for an array of files and returns a compressed zip file. You can then store it in Blob Storage, send it to SFTP, attach it to an email — wherever you need it. ...

Have you ever had a service go down because an Azure App Registration secret expired without anyone noticing? Client secrets and key certificates come with expiration dates, and failing to renew them in time can lead to service disruptions and security vulnerabilities. In this post, I’ll walk you through a super efficient Power Automate flow that monitors your Azure App Registrations for expiring keys using the Graph API and XPath — without the nested loops and API overhead that most solutions rely on. ...

Living with heart disease brings challenges that are hard to fully appreciate until you’ve experienced them firsthand. In this post, I’m sharing my personal journey with AV block, amiodarone, and ultimately receiving a leadless pacemaker — in the hope that it might help someone else navigating a similar path. Please note that I do not have a medical background. Atrioventricular Block I was recently admitted to A&E after a faint and subsequently diagnosed with atrioventricular block. AV block refers to a condition where there is a delay or interruption in the transmission of electrical signals from the upper chambers (atria) to the lower chambers (ventricles) of the heart. This can result in a slower heart rate or even a complete block of electrical impulses, which can be dangerous and lead to symptoms such as dizziness, fainting, or heart failure. AV block and tachycardia are not directly related, and their treatments can be different depending on the underlying cause. I already had an ICD implanted in April 2020 after a suspected cardiac arrest caused by ventrical tachycardia (ventricular tachycardia is a fast heart rate that originates in the ventricles of the heart), whilst out riding my bike The unexpected diagnosis – ARVC and this was extracted and replaced by an S-ICD in February 2023 Living with ICD complications. ...

Can you encrypt and decrypt a string using Power Automate? My son challenged me with this question after covering the Vigenère Cipher in school, and I couldn’t resist building it. In this post, I’ll show you how to implement a full Vigenère Cipher in Power Automate — without a single Apply to Each — and there’s even a live version you can try yourself. What is the Vigenere Cipher? The Vigenere cipher was invented by Blaise de Vigenere in the 16th century. It is a method of encrypting alphabetic text by using a series of interwoven Caesar ciphers, with each letter of the plaintext being shifted based on a keyword. ...

Want to keep your organisation informed about Microsoft 365 service health without constantly checking the admin centre? In this post, I’ll show you how I used Power Automate with an Azure App Registration and the Graph API to pull service health and message centre data into a SharePoint List, Teams alerts, and more. We’ll start by creating an Azure app registration and using the Graph API to bring data into Power Automate. From there, you can save this information to a SharePoint List, publish it to your organisation, build a Power App, or set alerts for degraded service health via Teams or email. ...

In 2020, I survived a suspected cardiac arrest and crashed my bike. An implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) — a small device placed under the skin of the chest to monitor and treat dangerous heart rhythms — was implanted as my safety net. Apart from greatly reducing my exercise levels due to the nature of my diagnosis, ARVC, I was living a relatively normal life. I even took part in Caledonia Etape on an Ebike in September 2021 — until I started noticing my neck swell and jugular veins pop out when I bent over, went swimming, lightly exerted, vacuumed or stirred a sauce for dinner. ...

If you’ve heard of Microsoft’s Power Platform but aren’t sure exactly what it includes, this post gives you a clear overview of all five components. Power Platform is a collection of low-code, no-code tools created by Microsoft that allows users to automate business processes, create custom apps, build chatbots, visualise data, and publish web pages — spanning five main components: Power Automate, Power Apps, Power Virtual Agents, Power BI, and Power Pages. ...

Ever since Microsoft removed the ability to add users to Exchange Distribution Lists via the Graph API, Power Automate users have been stuck. In this post, I’ll walk you through a workaround using PowerShell and Azure Runbooks to get distribution list management back into your flows. It’s been over 12 months since I wrote my blog post Add members to a distribution list – Power Automate where initially it was possible to add members directly. That functionality was removed by design and has never made a comeback. Fortunately, I came across PowerShell commands to both add and remove users from a distribution group — and we can bring this to an Azure Runbook. For more details on the Graph API limitation, see Working with groups in Microsoft Graph. ...