How to Automate Email Sending with Excel Sheets in Power Automate

Power Automate, formerly known as Microsoft Flow, is a powerful tool for automating workflows across various applications and services, including sending emails with Excel table data. In this guide, we will walk you through the process of creating a flow in Power Automate to send an email with a table from Excel, where each sheet in the workbook corresponds to a different email. We will also explore how to achieve this with or without using VBA (Visual Basic for Applications).

Overview of the Process

Before diving into the detailed steps, it is important to have a basic understanding of how different parts of the process work together:

Power Automate: A service for automating workflows with conditional logic, loops, and other operations. Excel: A spreadsheet application used to create and manipulate tabular data. Email Service: Any service that can be integrated in Power Automate to send emails, such as Outlook, Gmail, or custom email services. VBA (Visual Basic for Applications): A programming language used for automating tasks within Excel.

Prerequisites

To follow this guide, you should have:

A Microsoft 365 subscription to access Power Automate. Microsoft Excel installed on your computer. Access to a basic knowledge of Power Automate and Excel.

Method 1: Using Power Automate without VBA

If you prefer not to use VBA, Power Automate provides a straightforward way to achieve your goal. Here’s how:

Prepare Your Excel Workbook: Ensure your Excel workbook has multiple sheets, each containing a table of data you want to send as an email body. Create a New Flow in Power Automate: Log in to Power Automate and create a new flow by selecting “Automated,” then “Automated (Legacy).” Choose Your Trigger: Set the trigger to be an "On a schedule" event every time you want the flow to run or an “HTTP” request if you are invoking it using a web service. Add a “Get Row from Excel” Action: In Power Automate, add an action for each sheet you want to send. Use the "Excel Online (Business)" action and configure it to retrieve the data from each sheet. Format the Email Body: Create an email body with the retrieved data from each sheet. You can use Jinja templating to dynamically insert the data into your email body. Send an Email: Add an “Send an email” action, and configure it to send the email using the Gmail SMTP action or any other email provider service you prefer. Test and Deploy Your Flow: Test your flow in the Power Automate interface and deploy it to make it operational.

Method 2: Implementing VBA for Automation

If you have some programming experience and prefer to use VBA, you can automate the process within Excel. Here’s how:

Create a New Excel Workbook: Open Excel and create a new workbook with multiple sheets, each containing a table of data. Record a Macro: Open the Developer tab, go to Macros, and record a macro that loops through each sheet, collects the data, and sends an email using Outlook or another email provider. Customize the Macro: Modify the recorded macro as needed to ensure it performs the exact actions required for your workflow. Save the Macro: Save the VBA macro so it can be run automatically when needed. Run the Macro: You can run the macro manually or schedule it to run on a specific schedule by integrating it with the Windows Task Scheduler.

Advanced Tips and Tricks

Here are some additional tips and tricks to enhance your Excel and Power Automate experience:

Use Excel’s Export to CSV Feature: Convert your Excel tables to CSV files before importing them into Power Automate. This can simplify data manipulation and make it easier to format the email body. Utilize Power Automate’s Logs: Use logs to track the flow’s progress and debug any issues that arise. Power Automate’s documentation provides extensive guidance on how to use logs effectively. Integrate Power Automate with Other Services: Power Automate supports a wide range of integrations, including CRM systems, databases, and cloud storage solutions. Explore these integrations to expand your automation capabilities.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can Power Automate Connecting to an Excel Workbook Work Remotely?

A: Yes, but the workbook must be accessible through a URL. Use Power Automate’s “Get Rows from Excel Online (Business)” action to connect to your remote workbook.

Q: How Can I Securely Pass Sensitive Information in the Email Body?

A: Avoid hardcoding sensitive information in the email body. Instead, use variables or dynamically generate content based on user input or secure storage methods.

Q: Can I Send Email Attachments Using Power Automate?

A: Yes, you can attach files to your email using the “Upload File to OneDrive” action and then the “Send an Email” action. Make sure to specify the file path correctly.

Conclusion

By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can automate the process of sending emails with tables from multiple sheets in an Excel workbook using either Power Automate or VBA. This approach enhances efficiency, reduces manual workload, and ensures that your data is consistently updated and distributed across various recipient lists. Choose the method that best suits your technical expertise and workflow needs. Happy automating!