How to Use Substring in Microsoft Power Automate

This article is brought to you by JBI Training, the UK's leading technology training provider.   Learn more about JBI's Power Automate tutorials.

Introduction:

Microsoft Power Automate is a powerful tool that can automate various business processes. One of its features is the ability to extract a part of a string using the Substring function. This function is particularly useful when you need to extract specific information from a long string of text. In this guide, we will explore how to use Substring in Power Automate.

Step 1: Adding the Text String

The first step is to add the text string that you want to extract a substring. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open your Power Automate account and select the "My flows" tab.
2. Click on the "+ New" button to create a new flow.
3. Choose the "Instant cloud flow" template to create a new flow from scratch.
4. Give your flow a name and click on the "Create" button.
5. In the flow designer, add the action that generates the text string that you want to extract from.
6. Click on the "Save" button to save your flow.

Step 2: Extracting the Substring

The second step is to extract the substring from the text string using the Substring function. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Add the "Compose" action to your flow.
2. In the "Inputs" field, enter the Substring function with the appropriate arguments.
3. The Substring function takes three arguments: the original string, the starting index, and the length of the substring to extract.
4. For example, if you want to extract the first five characters of the string, you would enter the following expression: substring(stringVariable, 1, 5)
5. Click on the "Save" button to save your flow.

Step 3: Using the Extracted Substring

The third step is to use the extracted substring in your workflow. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Add the action that you want to perform using the extracted substring.
2. Use the output of the "Compose" action as the input for the action.
3. Configure the action as needed.
4. Click on the "Save" button to save your flow.

Use Case: Extracting Names from Email Addresses

Suppose you have a list of email addresses, and you want to extract the names of the recipients. You can use Substring in Power Automate to extract the names from the email addresses. This will allow you to personalize your communication and address your recipients by name.

Conclusion:

Using Substring in Microsoft Power Automate can help you extract a part of a string and use it in your workflows. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can add a text string to your flow, extract a substring using the Substring function, and use the extracted substring in your workflows. With this knowledge, you can explore other use cases for this powerful feature and automate your business processes more effectively.

NEXT ARTICLES

As you continue to explore the powerful features of Power Automate, it's crucial to expand your knowledge and skills to take full advantage of its capabilities.

We highly recommend reading our next articles How to Work with Zip Files in Microsoft Power Automate and How to Use Webhooks in Microsoft Power Automate.