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Fix Power Automate Create Item Invalid Date and Time Errors

WPS Content Manager Oct 9, 2026 870 views

Question details

The user needs to fix an error where a Power Automate flow fails due to an invalid date or time value when transferring responses from Microsoft Forms to a SharePoint list.

How to Fix Power Automate Create Item Invalid Date and Time Errors

Product: Power Automate
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Automating the process of saving Microsoft Forms responses into a SharePoint list using a Power Automate flow.
Observed behavior: The Power Automate flow fails to create the list item, returning an invalid date and time error because of mismatched formats or empty date fields.

Before you start

Ensure you have the necessary permissions to edit the affected Power Automate flow and access the target SharePoint site settings.

Solution 1Recommended

Validate Formats and Handle Empty Values Using Expressions

Configure your flow to process empty date responses accurately and verify that SharePoint's regional settings match the incoming data format.

When a Microsoft Form submits a blank date field, Power Automate often passes an empty string instead of a true null value. Because SharePoint requires a valid date format, this empty string triggers an invalid date and time error. Applying a simple expression can intercept empty strings and convert them to null values acceptable by SharePoint.

Open Your Flow in Edit Mode

Navigate to Power Automate, go to 'My flows', and select the failing flow to open the editor.

Locate the Create Item Action

Find the 'Create item' step in your flow where the Microsoft Forms responses are mapped to the SharePoint list columns.

Apply a Null-Check Expression

Click on the problematic date field, remove the existing dynamic content, and switch to the 'Expression' tab. Enter an expression such as if(empty(outputs('Get_response_details')?['body/Date']), null, outputs('Get_response_details')?['body/Date']) to prevent the error.

Verify Regional Date Formats

Go to your SharePoint site, navigate to Site Settings > Regional settings, and ensure the date format aligns with the data structure generated by Microsoft Forms.

Validate Formats and Handle Empty Values Using Expressions

Need Expert Assistance?: Because this issue directly concerns Power Automate flow mechanics, if the problem continues, consider posting your flow details and error messages in the Microsoft Power Automate Community for expert support.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Power Automate throw an invalid date error when a form field is skipped?

When a respondent skips a date question in Microsoft Forms, Power Automate receives an empty string instead of a null value. SharePoint attempts to read this empty string as a date, fails, and triggers the invalid date error.

How can I format a date in Power Automate before saving it to SharePoint?

You can use the formatDateTime() expression in your flow to convert the incoming date string into an ISO 8601 format ('yyyy-MM-dd') which SharePoint accepts natively.

Can regional settings cause date and time errors in SharePoint lists?

Yes. If your SharePoint regional settings expect dates in DD/MM/YYYY format but the data from Power Automate is supplied as MM/DD/YYYY, SharePoint will reject it as invalid for certain days of the month.

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