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Week 8 · Power Automate

A hands-on session where everyone builds a simple automation to save Outlook email attachments to OneDrive for Business.

📅 Fri 11 Sep · 4–5 PM
📍 Wilmar office
🧭 Guided build
⏱️ 60 min
Host · Xinran Liu

Menu

Follow along, build your first flow, test it, and improve it with simple conditions.

1
10 min

What Is Power Automate?

Learn the basic idea of automation using three simple concepts: trigger, action, and flow.

Simple explanation
  • Trigger: something happens, such as a new email arriving.
  • Action: Power Automate does something, such as saving a file.
  • Flow: the full automation from trigger to actions.
Example
When a new email arrives with an attachment → save the attachment to OneDrive for Business.
Power Automate is not about learning every connector. It is about solving one repetitive task at a time.
0
Setup

Before You Start

Make sure you have the right access and a test email ready before building the flow.

Participant checklist
  • Open Power Automate at make.powerautomate.com.
  • Use your work account.
  • Make sure Outlook and OneDrive for Business are available.
  • Create or confirm a OneDrive folder called Email Attachments.
  • Prepare one test email with a small attachment.
Test email idea
Subject: Power Automate Test Attachment: any small PDF, Excel, or image file
2
35 min

Build: Save Email Attachments to OneDrive

Create an automated cloud flow that watches for new Outlook emails with attachments and saves those attachments into OneDrive for Business.

Step 1: Create the flow
  • Go to Create.
  • Choose Automated cloud flow.
  • Name the flow Save Outlook Attachments to OneDrive.
  • Select trigger When a new email arrives (V3).
Step 2: Configure the email trigger
  • Folder: Inbox
  • Include Attachments: Yes
  • Only with Attachments: Yes
Step 3: Add attachment loop
  • Add Apply to each.
  • Select the email attachments dynamic content.
  • This is needed because one email can contain more than one attachment.
Step 4: Create file in OneDrive for Business
  • Inside the loop, add Create file from OneDrive for Business.
  • Folder Path: /Email Attachments
  • File Name: Attachment Name
  • File Content: Attachment Content
Step 5: Save and test
  • Save the flow.
  • Send yourself an email with an attachment.
  • Check the run history.
  • Open OneDrive and confirm the file was saved.
This is the key success moment: an attachment arrives in Outlook and appears automatically in OneDrive.
3
10 min

Improve the Flow

Add a simple filter or condition so the automation saves only the attachments you actually care about.

Choose one improvement
  • Only save PDFs: check whether Attachment Name ends with .pdf.
  • Only save invoice emails: filter email subject containing Invoice.
  • Save by sender: create or use a folder based on who sent the email.
Example condition
If Attachment Name ends with .pdf → Create file in OneDrive Otherwise → Do nothing
Automation becomes more useful when you add simple rules that match how you actually work.
4
5 min

Troubleshooting & Wrap-up

Review common errors and reflect on other repetitive email tasks that could be automated next.

Common issues
  • Attachments not saving: check Include Attachments and Only with Attachments settings.
  • Wrong folder: check OneDrive folder path.
  • Connector issue: reconnect Outlook or OneDrive.
  • Duplicate files: consider adding received time or email subject to the file name.
Reflection question
What repetitive email task do you personally want to automate next?