SharePoint Document Issues

How to Inherit a SharePoint Lookup Value from a Parent Folder

Camila Milosovich Oct 7, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs to automatically apply a parent folder's lookup value to files and subfolders created within it, without using an external script.

How to Inherit a SharePoint Lookup Value from a Parent Folder

Product: SharePoint
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Managing a document library organized by client folders, where a lookup column contains client names that need to be inherited by all nested items.
Observed behavior: Files and subfolders do not automatically inherit the lookup column values from their parent folder because SharePoint lacks this built-in capability.

Before you start

Ensure you have the necessary permissions to access Microsoft Power Automate and create workflows for your SharePoint site.

Solution 1Recommended

Use Power Automate to Update Lookup Columns Automatically

Since SharePoint does not have a native feature for folder metadata inheritance on lookup columns, creating a Power Automate flow is the recommended approach to automatically update these values.

While SharePoint offers 'Column default value settings' for standard text fields, it does not support dynamic inheritance for Lookup columns. To resolve this, you can build a cloud flow in Power Automate that triggers whenever a new item is added to the library.

Create a new automated flow

Set the SharePoint trigger

Search for and select the trigger 'When a file is created (properties only)'. Enter your SharePoint Site Address and select your Document Library.

Get the parent folder metadata

Add a new step and choose the 'Get file properties' action. Configure it to retrieve the properties of the parent folder so you can extract its lookup value.

Update the new file's properties

Add an 'Update file properties' action. Use the dynamic content from the previous step to map the parent folder's lookup value into the lookup column of the newly created file.

Use Power Automate to Update Lookup Columns Automatically

Community Assistance: If your document library has complex folder hierarchies or you encounter flow errors, consider posting in the Microsoft Power Automate Community or Q&A forums for customized workflow diagrams.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use SharePoint's 'Column default value settings' for lookup columns?

No. While the 'Column default value settings' feature works well for assigning default values to Choice or Text columns based on the folder path, it does not support dynamically mapping Lookup column values.

Do I need a premium Power Automate license to create this flow?

No. Standard SharePoint connectors, including triggers like 'When a file is created' and actions like 'Update file properties', are included with most standard Microsoft 365 business licenses.

What happens if a file is moved to a different folder instead of being created?

The 'When a file is created' trigger only fires for newly uploaded or generated files. To handle moved files, you will need to add a separate flow or trigger, such as 'When an item or a file is modified', and include a condition to check if the folder path has changed.

Document & File Issues