Troubleshooting

Start with the symptom shown in the Power Automate designer or flow run history. After making a correction, save or publish the flow and run another test with a known SharePoint item or file.

A site or list is missing from an Alert Relay picker

If the expected value does not appear in the Site URL or List or Library dropdown in an Alert Relay action:

1. Select Site URL before opening List or Library. The list picker uses the selected site.
2. Confirm that the Alert Relay connection uses the expected Microsoft 365 account.
3. Confirm that account can open the site and list or library in SharePoint.
4. Refresh the picker or reopen the action.
5. If the value is still missing, choose the option to enter a custom value. Enter the full site URL and the exact list title or list GUID.

After you enter a custom value, Power Automate displays it in the field in the same way as a value selected from the dropdown. This is expected; the designer does not retain a separate visual indicator showing how the value was entered.

A document's list item ID is not its file identifier. Supply the SharePoint ID value expected by Item ID.

The Fields to Return picker appears as a text box

In the new Power Automate designer, Fields to Return in Get Item or File Version History can initially appear as a text box instead of a SharePoint column picker.

1. Select Site URL and List or Library.
2. Save the flow. For a solution-aware flow, publish it if the designer presents Publish instead of Save.
3. Close the flow designer.
4. Reopen the flow and expand Get Item or File Version History.
5. Open Fields to Return again.

The picker displays SharePoint column display names but passes their internal names to Alert Relay. If you enter a custom value, use the column's internal name or GUID, not its display name.

The action reports access denied or forbidden

The Alert Relay connector uses the delegated Microsoft 365 identity associated with its connection. It cannot read SharePoint content that this account cannot access.

1. Open the failed action in the flow run history and confirm which Alert Relay connection it used.
2. Confirm that the connection account can open the target site, list or library, and item or file in SharePoint.
3. Confirm that the account can see the requested versions, including draft or minor versions when Include Minor Versions is Yes.
4. Repair or reauthenticate the connection if Power Automate reports that it is invalid or expired.
5. Test the flow again.

The action cannot find the list, item, or file

Check the values supplied to the failed action:

• Site URL must identify the site containing the list or library.
• List or Library must be the exact list title or GUID.
• Item ID must be the numeric SharePoint list item ID. For a document, do not use its file identifier or path.

When a flow starts with a SharePoint trigger, take these values from the same trigger wherever possible. Test with an item that still exists and has not moved to another list or library.

Compare From is invalid

For Get Detailed Item or File Changes and Get Item or File Changes as Alert HTML, Compare From accepts:

• the SharePoint trigger's Trigger Window Start Token
• a raw SharePoint change token
• an exact SharePoint version label, such as 4.0
• an ISO 8601 date or date and time, such as 2026-09-01 or 2026-09-01T09:30:00Z

Get Item or File Version History accepts the same forms for Compare From and Compare To. These values define inclusive older and newer range boundaries.

In Parse SharePoint Version Information, Compare From is specifically the token to decode. Supply Trigger Window Start Token or a valid raw SharePoint change token there. A version label belongs in the separate Version Number input.

See Choose a Comparison Baseline for resolution and range behaviour.

The comparison is not what I expected

Check these settings in the successful action's inputs:

• Compare From: leaving it blank makes the two change actions use the oldest eligible retained version, not the immediately preceding version.
• Trigger Window Start Token: use this token for most SharePoint change-triggered flows. The trigger window can cover several edits, so it does not necessarily represent only the latest edit.
• Include Minor Versions: the default is No, so draft or minor versions are excluded.
• Permissions and retention: Alert Relay can only use versions that SharePoint retains and the connection account can see.

The response outputs Has Comparison Baseline, Previous Version Label, Current Version Label, and Is New Item help confirm how the comparison was resolved.

The flow runs or sends an email for a minor version

SharePoint can fire a trigger for draft activity even when the flow and Alert Relay connection accounts can see only the last published version. If the flow calls a detailed Alert Relay action directly, the run can consume a usage unit and continue to an unwanted email.

Use the non-billable Parse SharePoint Version Information action as a guard:

1. Add Parse SharePoint Version Information before a change action.
2. Pass the trigger's Trigger Window Start Token to Compare From.
3. Pass the trigger or SharePoint action's Version Number and Modified Date.
4. Set Include Minor Versions to the same value used by the downstream Alert Relay action.
5. Add a condition that checks whether Is New Version Detected is true.
6. Call Get Detailed Item or File Changes or Get Item or File Changes as Alert HTML only in the true branch.

If Is New Version Detected is false, the visible SharePoint version did not change within the trigger window or the minor-version setting excluded it. Keep both the billable Alert Relay action and the email action inside the condition's true branch.

See Working with minor versions for the complete flow pattern, an explanation of draft visibility, and recommended tests.

Expected minor or draft versions are missing

Set Include Minor Versions to Yes. Also confirm that:

• versioning and minor versions are enabled in the SharePoint list or library
• the Alert Relay connection account has permission to view drafts
• the requested version has not been removed by SharePoint version-retention settings

If Include Minor Versions is No, a minor version label supplied as a boundary is not eligible.

For flows that should ignore draft edits, see Working with minor versions for the recommended non-billable preflight pattern.

Version History returns fewer versions than expected

Review the following inputs and response data:

• Maximum Versions limits how many rows the action returns across Power Automate pagination.
• Maximum Usage Units limits how much version-history work one action run can consume.
• Compare From and Compare To restrict the inclusive range.
• Include Minor Versions defaults to No.
• SharePoint version retention and the connection account's permissions determine which versions are available.

If more rows are available, enable pagination in the Power Automate action settings and set its threshold high enough for the number of versions you need. Alert Relay retrieves physical pages of up to 100 versions; Power Automate can follow the continuation automatically.

Inspect the final returned row's Version History Info data to confirm the range result and whether another page was available. See Get Item or File Version History for paging and range details.

The Changed Fields output includes too many fields

In Get Detailed Item or File Changes, set Include Unchanged Fields to No when you only want fields whose values changed. If it is Yes, the Changed Fields array also contains supported fields that did not change; check Column Value Has Changed on each entry.

A detailed field value is difficult to use

People, lookup, taxonomy, URL, and other complex SharePoint fields can return objects or arrays in the Detailed outputs.

• Use Previous Column Value (Text) and Current Column Value (Text) for emails, messages, and readable summaries.
• Use Previous Column Value (Detailed) and Current Column Value (Detailed) when the flow needs to inspect structured properties.
• Expect Power Automate to add an Apply to each loop when you select a value from an array.

Formatted local date and time values are missing

Confirm that the action's Timezone contains a valid selection and that the underlying SharePoint value is a date and time. Date Format and Time Format control the formatted text; they do not create a value when the source field is blank or is not a date/time field.

For Parse SharePoint Version Information, the UTC outputs can still be available when optional local formatting inputs are not supplied.

Alert Relay returns a user notice

Get Detailed Item or File Changes, Get Item or File Changes as Alert HTML, and Get Item or File Version History return Display User Notice. When it is true, also inspect:

• User Notice Severity
• User Notice
• User Notice Call to Action

Show the notice and call to action to the person who can address the trial, usage, subscription, or entitlement condition. Do not treat every notice as an action failure: use the action's Success, Message, and Error outputs, or the failed run status, to determine whether processing succeeded.

Parse SharePoint Version Information is non-billable and does not return these notice outputs.

The first connection attempt fails with AADSTS90008

If the first Alert Relay authorization in a tenant returns AADSTS90008, retrying can distinguish a transient first-authorization problem from a persistent configuration problem. The error code alone does not confirm the cause.

1. Dismiss the connection error.
2. Create the connection again.
3. If the second attempt also fails, ask an administrator to check whether tenant consent policies block the application and whether the Power Platform environment permits the connection.

See Administrator Reference for delegated permissions and consent information.

The flow does not start immediately

SharePoint triggers are not always immediate. A short delay between the SharePoint change and the Power Automate run can be normal.

If no run appears after waiting, check the flow's run history, confirm that the flow is turned on, and verify the SharePoint trigger's site and list or library. In a solution-aware flow, confirm that the latest changes were published rather than left as a draft.

Gather information for support

Before contacting support, record:

• the affected action's canonical name
• the run date and time, including timezone
• the flow run URL or correlation information
• the action's Success, Message, and Error outputs
• whether the problem occurs for every item or only a safe test item
• the relevant action settings, with tokens, tenant details, URLs, account information, IDs, and customer content removed

Do not email access tokens, connection credentials, generated email bodies, SharePoint field values, or other customer business content.

Related pages

• Creating Your First Alert Email
• Get Item or File Changes as Alert HTML
• Get Detailed Item or File Changes
• Get Item or File Version History
• Parse SharePoint Version Information
• Choose a Comparison Baseline
• Administrator Reference
• Actions Reference