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Fix Power Automate Birthday Flow Sending Duplicate Emails

Phi Hung Vo Sep 28, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs to stop a Power Automate birthday-wish flow from sending duplicate email notifications at the same time.

Fix Power Automate Birthday Flow Sending Duplicate Emails

Product: Power Automate
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Automating birthday wishes via email using an HTML table and conditions.
Observed behavior: The Power Automate flow executes and sends two identical email notifications simultaneously instead of a single message.

Before you start

Before modifying your flow, check the 28-day Run History in Power Automate to determine if the flow was triggered twice simultaneously, or if a single run executed the email action multiple times.

Solution 1Recommended

Check for Multiple Triggers and Review Run History

Use this solution to verify if overlapping events are causing the flow to initiate twice at the exact same time.

The most common cause of duplicate emails in Power Automate is the flow being triggered multiple times simultaneously. Reviewing the run history helps isolate whether the issue is at the trigger level or within the flow's internal logic.

Review run history

Navigate to your flow's details page and check the Run History section. Look for two simultaneous runs that were triggered at the exact same time.

Inspect trigger settings

Click 'Edit' on your flow and select the trigger. Ensure there are no duplicate triggers configured and check if the trigger condition is too broad, causing it to fire twice for a single event.

Check for Multiple Triggers and Review Run History

Trigger Conditions: Adding specific Trigger Conditions in the settings can prevent the flow from firing unnecessarily on minor item updates.

Solution 2

Inspect 'Apply to each' Loops and Conditions

Use this solution if the run history shows only a single run, meaning the duplication is happening inside the flow's logic.

Solution 3

Consult the Power Automate Community

If your logic appears correct but duplicates persist, consult experts in the official Microsoft community.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my Power Automate flow send multiple emails from an HTML table?

This often occurs if the 'Send an email' action is accidentally placed inside an 'Apply to each' loop. Ensure the email action is positioned entirely outside and after the loop that constructs the HTML table.

How can I prevent duplicate triggers in Power Automate?

You can configure Trigger Conditions in the settings of your trigger action to ensure the flow only fires when highly specific criteria are met, which prevents it from running multiple times on generic updates.

Can parallel branches cause duplicate email notifications?

Yes. If multiple parallel branches contain their own 'Send an email' actions and both branches evaluate to true simultaneously, the recipient will receive duplicate notifications.

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