Fill Word Templates without Premium Connectors in Power Automate — Guide 🤖

Comprehensive guide on how to fill Microsoft Word templates using Power Automate w/o any Premium Connectors

Filling out Microsoft Word forms in Power Automate (Photo by the author, Illustrations by Takashi Mifune under free use)

Enterprise users, especially those involved with the digitalization of existing processes, might be faced with the requirement to fill out certain standardized forms with Power Automate and make these available to the respective stakeholders.

Microsoft offers a Populate a Microsoft Word Template action right out of the box in Power Automate, but for many organizations, using Premium Connectors is not feasible due to company policies.

There is a simple solution: We can create a workaround for filling out forms and offering them as a *.pdf with a SharePoint Document Library and a Power Automate Flow.

The following step-by-step guide will walk you through how to electronically fill out Microsoft Word-based Forms using Power Automate.

Concept

Very rough concept of how to Fill out a Microsoft Word Form using Power Automate w/o any Premium Connectors (Photo by the author, Illustrations by Takashi Mifune under free use)

Before we start with the implementation, let’s take a look at the rough concept:

Microsoft SharePoint is one of the most common and free-to-use data sources within the Microsoft Power Platform. With the Document Library functionality in SharePoint, we have a central place to store documents. Even better: We can assign metadata using Document Library columns, which we can then embed into the document in Microsoft Word.

That being said, we can break down what we need to do into these steps:

  • 1) Create a Document Library
  • 2) Add the Microsoft Word template fields as Document Library Columns
  • 3) Upload the Template as a Microsoft Word file
  • 4) Link the Document Library Columns into the Microsoft Word file using Word Desktop.
  • 5) Create a Power Automate Flow that copies the template file, updates the metadata and creates a *.pdf out of the Microsoft Word file

Now as we know what to do in theory, let’s dive right into the step-by-step guide.

Solution

Table of Contents

  1. Acquire a SharePoint Site
  2. Create a SharePoint Document Library
  3. Add the fields for the template as Document Library Columns
  4. Link the Document Library Columns into the Word document fields
  5. Create a Power Automate flow

1. Acquire a SharePoint Site
This approach requires a SharePoint site, as we use SharePoint’s Document Library feature. Please make sure you have access to a SharePoint site first.

The process for acquiring a SharePoint site might differ from organization to organization, that’s why it isn’t covered here.

Create a site in SharePoint

Training: Get up and running quickly with this SharePoint Online Quick Start.

support.microsoft.com

2. Create a SharePoint Document Library

Creating a new Document library (Photo by the author)

For our approach, we need to use a Document Library. A Document Library is a file storage in which we can assign additional properties and metadata to a file.

Please create a Blank library, as depicted below:

Creating a new Document library (Photo by the author)

Assign a speaking name to the Document Library. That will allow us to locate the Document Library better later on.

Creating a new Document library (Photo by the author)

3. Add the fields for the template as Document Library Columns

Once created, access the Document Library settings using the settings cogwheel in the M365 main navigation, as highlighted below:

Acessing Document Library Settings (Photo by the author)

Open “More library settings” to access the column configuration as highlighted below:

Accessing more library settings (Photo by the author)

When you scroll down, you see an overview of available fields. Below the list, you have the option to add new columns. Create one column for each field in your template.

Create a new column in a document library (Photo by the author)

You will be prompted with a dialog to provide additional information about your field. Define the Name as needed. The columns highlighted are the ones with proven compatibility:

Creating a new column in a document library (Photo by the author)

Once you have configured the required fields, either upload your existing Template Word File, or create a new one.

As I don’t have a template file available yet, I am proceeding with creating a new one.

4. Link the Document Library Columns into the Word document fields

Creating a new Word document in a Document Library (Photo by the author)

It is crucial for this approach to open the file in the Microsoft Word Desktop application. Please switch to the Desktop app, as highlighted below:

Opening a Word document in the Desktop app (Photo by the author)

Once you arrive in the Desktop app, you can find and add the SharePoint Library columns through Insert ➡ Text  Document Property ➡ “Column Name” as depicted below:

Adding a new property reference to a Word document (Photo by the author)

Link all the relevant SharePoint Document Library Columns directly into the Template File.

Overview of how property references are displayed in Microsoft Word (Photo by the author)

Now, we’re done with the Microsoft Word Template setup and can begin with creating our Power Automate Flow.

5. Create a Power Automate flow

There are multiple ways to create a Power Automate Flow. If you navigate to make.powerautomate.com, you will see this screen on the starting page with the option to create a new flow.

Press the + Create button to get started.

Creating a new Power Automate Flow (Photo by the author)

In this example, I create a new Flow. For that purpose, using a Instant cloud flow is the best for demo purposes.

Depending on your project requirements, you can pick any Flow type you want.

Creating a new Instant cloud flow (Photo by the author)

Assign a good name to the Flow. You don’t need use the name I decided for.

Creating a new instant cloud flow, with the Flow button type trigger (Photo by the author)

The first required action is a Compose action. We will create a temporary file name.

Creating a Compose action in Power Automate (Photo by the author)

As we would like the temporary file name to be absolutely unique, I am assigning a new GUID to the Compose action. For the Formula, please see below:

Assigning guid() to Compose (Photo by the author)

Now, we need to add a Copy file action from the SharePoint Connector’s catalog as shown below:

Creating a Copy file action (Photo by the author)

We just copy the existing template file into the same Document Library. For configuration, please see below:

Configuring the Copy file action (Photo by the author)

Next, we need to update the SharePoint Columns with their respective values. To update Columns within a SharePoint Document Library, use the Update file properties action, as shown below:

Adding the Update file properties action (Photo by the author)

Configure the action as below. Notice that we use the output of the Copy file action, more specifically, the ItemId of the newly created item.

Configuring the Update file properties action (Photo by the author)

Update the individual SharePoint Document Library Columns to your liking. I am using static values for demo purposes. Of course, the input can also be dynamic.

Updating the template properties in Power Automate using the Update file properties action (Photo by the author)

As we have now have changed the Document’s Document Library Column Properties, it is now time to create a snapshot of the current state.

For that, we utilize the Get file content action in SharePoint:

Adding the Get file content action (Photo by the author)

We use the Identifier of the action Update file properties as input for the action Get file content.

Configuring the Get file content action (Photo by the author)

The next step is to copy the file from SharePoint to OneDrive for Business. You might be wondering why — right? That is, because conversion to *.pdf is only available in OneDrive for Business as of now.

That’s why we create a new Create file action from the OneDrive for Business Connector’s catalog.

Adding the Create file action (Photo by the author)

Then, we use our temporary file name as the desired file name in OneDrive. As File Content, we supply the result of the Get file content action.

Configuring the Create file action (Photo by the author)

Now, as we have the file available in OneDrive for Business, we can convert it. For that, we use the Convert file action, as shown below:

Adding the Convert file action (Photo by the author)

As the action’s input parameter, we supply the Id of the Create file action. Our target type will be PDF:

Adding the Convert file action (Photo by the author)

After successful conversion, we should transfer the file back into our SharePoint universe. For that, we create another Create file action at the end of our Flow.

As the filename, use our temporary file name with the .pdf extension. As for the content, use the output of the Convert file action.

Configuring the Create file action (Photo by the author)

We are done now and are finally ready to test. Save the flow first, and then click the Test button within the Power Automate designer.

Testing the flow (Photo by the author)

Opt for Manually testing the Flow and proceed by clicking the big, blue Test button.

Testing the flow (Photo by the author)

Confirm the action with a click on Run Flow — as shown below:

Testing the flow (Photo by the author)

We now see that the Flow has been successfully executed — very nice. If you did everything right, the designer would look like this:

Testing the flow — success! (Photo by the author)

To check our result, navigate back to our Document Library. There, you see the newly created file with the temporary file name we created using Compose:

Seeing the newly created file (Photo by the author)

Let’s preview the file to check our result. As you can see, the template placeholders have been replaced with the actual values we put into the Document Libraries Columns. So nice!

Reviewing the contents of the template (Photo by the author)

That’s basically it. Now we have a very simple, running Flow that helps us to fill out templates. To make this solution production-ready, you might need to:

  • Delete the temporary files within the Flow
  • Implement error handling
  • Link your values to another data source, instead of statically placing them.
  • and more, depending on your requirements

Conclusion

It’s very much possible to fill out Microsoft Word-based forms using Power Automate without relying on Premium Connectors.

That said, I personally hope that Microsoft will implement some changes:

  • First, I hope that the action Populate a Microsoft Word Template will be free to use for everyone in the future.
  • Second, I hope the data conversion can be done natively, without needing to sync data into OneDrive.

Until then, the approach described in this article is the best available.

About the Author

Martin Jurran

Super Early Bird
I’m a software engineer with experience in the digital transformation of existing processes. I have a passion for analyzing business requirements, new business models, transformation and taking part in complex software engineering projects. I’m a impact-driven, value feedback, and love to learn.

 

 

Reference:

Jurran, M (2025). Fill Word Templates without Premium Connectors in Power Automate — Guide 🤖. Available at: Fill Word Templates without Premium Connectors in Power Automate — Guide 🤖 | by Martin Jurran | Medium [Accessed: 15th January 2025].

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