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How to Convert SharePoint Person and Choice Fields to Text in Power Apps

Steve K Oct 12, 2026 868 views

Question details

The user needs to convert SharePoint Person and Choice field values into text format within a Power Apps form to successfully send them in an email without type mismatch errors.

How to Convert SharePoint Person and Choice Fields to Text in Power Apps

Product: Microsoft Power Apps
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Using SharePoint data (Person and Choice fields) inside a Power Apps email function.
Observed behavior: Power Apps returns an error stating that text or number values are required when attempting to use complex field types directly in an email.

Before you start

Ensure you have edit permissions for the Power Apps application and access to the connected SharePoint list to safely modify form formulas.

Solution 1Recommended

Extract Text Values from Complex SharePoint Fields

Use dot notation properties to extract the underlying text value from Person and Choice records so they can be parsed by Power Apps email functions.

When connecting Power Apps to SharePoint, Person and Choice fields are imported as complex record objects rather than plain text. Email functions require simple text strings, which causes type mismatch errors if the entire record object is passed.

Convert Person Field

For a Person field, append '.DisplayName' to the field reference (e.g., DataCardValue1.Update.DisplayName) to extract the user's name as a text string.

Convert Choice Field

For a Choice field, append '.Value' to the selected item (e.g., DataCardValue2.Update.Value) to get the plain text string of the user's choice.

Update the Email Formula

Use these extracted text strings within your Office365Outlook.SendEmailV2 formula instead of referencing the whole record object to avoid the 'text or number required' error.

Extract Text Values from Complex SharePoint Fields

Need further help?: Because complex formulas might vary based on your specific SharePoint setup, consider posting intricate formula issues in the dedicated Microsoft Power Apps Community for expert advice.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Power Apps say 'text or number values are required'?

This error occurs because Power Apps is trying to pass an entire record object (like a User profile or a Choice dictionary) into a function like SendEmail, which only accepts flat text strings. Extracting the text value resolves this.

How do I extract the email address from a SharePoint Person field?

You can extract the email address by referencing the field and appending '.Email', for example, YourPersonField.Selected.Email.

Can I concatenate multiple Choice field values into one text string?

Yes, you can use the Concat function in Power Apps to iterate through a multi-select Choice field and combine the '.Value' properties into a single comma-separated text string.

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