SharePoint Document Issues

How to Link a SharePoint Person Column to an Email Address

Emma Brown Oct 13, 2026 868 views

Question details

The user wants to automatically populate a SharePoint Person column in a document library based on an email address stored as text in another list.

How to Link a SharePoint Person Column to an Email Address

Product: SharePoint
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Assigning documents or restricting views by matching a document library's Person column with an employee list containing text-based email addresses.
Observed behavior: SharePoint does not natively support using a Person column as a direct lookup target for a text-based email address.

Before you start

Ensure the account creating the Power Automate flow has sufficient permissions to read the source list containing the email addresses and edit items in the destination document library.

Solution 1Recommended

Automate the Column Update Using Power Automate

Since SharePoint lacks a direct text-to-Person lookup feature, you must use a Power Automate flow to resolve the text email address into a user profile and update the column.

SharePoint requires a resolved user object (Claims) for Person columns, which a simple text lookup cannot provide. Power Automate bridges this gap by taking the text email, finding the corresponding user in your directory, and updating the document library accordingly.

Create a new Automated Cloud Flow

Go to Microsoft Power Automate, click on 'Create' in the left sidebar, and select 'Automated cloud flow'.

Set the trigger

Choose the trigger 'When an item is created or modified' and link it to your target SharePoint document library.

Retrieve the email address

Add an action like 'Get item' to fetch the corresponding record from your source list where the employee email addresses are stored.

Update the file properties

Add the 'Update file properties' action for your document library. In the Person column field (often labeled as Claims), input the dynamic content for the email address retrieved from the previous step.

Save and test

Save the flow and test it by creating or modifying a document in the library. Verify that the Person column successfully populates with the correct user.

Automate the Column Update Using Power Automate

Directory Sync Requirement: The text email address must exactly match an active user in your organization's Azure Active Directory; otherwise, the flow will fail to resolve the user.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why can't I use a standard SharePoint Lookup column for the Person field?

SharePoint native Lookup columns only support basic field types like Single line of text, Number, or Date. Person or Group columns are complex object types and are explicitly unsupported as lookup targets out-of-the-box.

Can I use this Person column to restrict document views to specific users?

Yes. Once Power Automate populates the Person column (e.g., 'Assigned To'), you can modify your document library view settings to filter where 'Assigned To' is equal to '[Me]'.

What if the email address in the text column has a typo?

If the email address text does not perfectly match an active user's email address in your organization, Power Automate will be unable to resolve the user, causing the flow to fail or leaving the Person column blank.

Document & File Issues