Automatically Add Users to SharePoint Sites with Power Automate
Question details
The user needs a method to automate granting users access to SharePoint sites without requiring a site administrator to manually process every email approval request.
- Product
- Microsoft SharePoint and Power Automate
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Creating a self-service system where users can independently select and join specific SharePoint sites.
- Observed behavior
- Currently, SharePoint access requests generate approval emails that administrators must process manually. The goal is to build an automated dashboard to handle this instantly.
Ensure you have Site Owner permissions for the target SharePoint site and active licenses to create workflows in Microsoft Power Automate and Power Apps.
Create a Power Apps Dashboard with a Power Automate Flow
Build a self-service Power Apps dashboard that triggers a Power Automate flow, using the administrator's connection to add users to the SharePoint Visitors group via REST API.
Standard SharePoint approval emails are not reliable as an automated trigger. To bypass manual email approvals, you can use a Power Apps dashboard to pass user inputs directly to Power Automate.
By setting the Power Automate flow to use the administrator's connection for run-only users, standard users can add themselves to sites they otherwise wouldn't have permission to modify.
Open Power Apps and create a new interface containing a dropdown menu (for available SharePoint sites) and a 'Join Site' button.
In Power Automate, create a new flow using the 'Power Apps V2' trigger to securely receive parameters from your dashboard.
Modify the flow's run-only user settings to execute using the administrator's established SharePoint connection rather than the invoking user's credentials.
Add an HTTP action to call the SharePoint REST API to retrieve the specific ID for the 'Visitors' group on the selected site.
Add a final HTTP action in the flow to add the current user's email or account claim to the retrieved SharePoint Visitors group.
Return to Power Apps, select your 'Join Site' button, and apply a formula to trigger the flow, such as: `JoinSite.Run(Dropdown1.Selected.Value, TextInput1.Text)`.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why can't I just use standard SharePoint approval emails as a Power Automate trigger?
SharePoint approval emails lack the consistent and accessible properties required to reliably trigger Power Automate flows for dynamic user additions. Using a Power Apps V2 trigger provides a stable, highly controllable alternative.
What permissions do end users need to operate the self-service dashboard?
Users only need basic permission to access and run the Power Apps dashboard. The Power Automate flow handles the actual SharePoint site modification by executing under the administrator's connection credentials.
How do I dynamically find the SharePoint Visitors group ID?
You can retrieve the group ID dynamically by calling the SharePoint REST API endpoint `_api/web/sitegroups` within your Power Automate flow, and filtering the output by the targeted group name.
Can a site owner use this same dashboard to add multiple members simultaneously?
Yes. The Power Apps dashboard can be customized to accept an array of user emails. The Power Automate flow can then be updated with an 'Apply to each' loop to process and add each user to the SharePoint group sequentially.
