SharePoint Document Issues

How to Populate SharePoint People Fields with Power Automate

Rana Garcia Oct 10, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs to correctly populate SharePoint People fields (such as Requestor, Owner, and Sponsor) through a Power Automate flow without encountering raw claims values or incorrect user displays.

How to Populate SharePoint People Fields with Power Automate

Product: SharePoint, Power Automate
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Transferring project data between multiple SharePoint lists using a Power Automate flow.
Observed behavior: People-picker fields fail to populate correctly, displaying system claims values or unexpected users instead of the designated person.

Before you start

Verify that the user accounts you are attempting to populate exist within your Microsoft 365 directory, and document the exact column types (single vs. multiple selections) configured in your SharePoint lists.

Solution 1Recommended

Seek Assistance from the Power Automate Community

Because mapping People fields between lists involves complex claims tokens and specific dynamic content structures, requesting help in the official Microsoft community is the most effective approach.

When transferring data between lists, SharePoint expects specific JSON objects or claim tokens (e.g., 'i:0#.f|membership|user@domain.com') for its People fields. If standard dynamic content mapping fails, consulting flow specialists can help you construct the exact data operations needed for your specific column setup.

Access the official community forum

Open your web browser and navigate to the Microsoft Power Automate Community at https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Microsoft-Power-Automate/ct-p/MPACommunity.

Create a detailed support topic

Log in with your Microsoft account, click on 'Start a Topic', and clearly explain that your flow transfers project data between SharePoint lists.

Provide your technical details

To get a quick and accurate response, include your SharePoint column configuration (whether they allow multiple selections), screenshots of your flow actions, the dynamic content parameters you mapped, and the exact claims value error you observed.

Seek Assistance from the Power Automate Community

Information Required: Sharing expanding screenshots of your 'Apply to each' or 'Create item' actions significantly speeds up the resolution process from community experts.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my SharePoint People field show a claims value instead of a name?

SharePoint stores users internally using a claims-based format (such as 'i:0#.f|membership|email'). If Power Automate passes the raw string rather than the expected object or proper Email/Claims token, SharePoint fails to resolve the string into the user's display name.

How do I correctly map a single person field in a Power Automate 'Create item' action?

In the 'Create item' action, append the term 'Claims' to your field name if available. You can typically map the user's email address directly into this field, and SharePoint will automatically resolve it into the correct People object.

Why are multi-select People fields harder to populate than single-select fields?

Multi-select People fields require an array of objects rather than a single string. You must use a 'Select' action or an 'Append to array variable' action in Power Automate to format the claims appropriately before pushing the data into the target SharePoint list.

Document & File Issues