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How to Email a Planner Assignee When a Task is Overdue in Power Automate

Adam Davis Oct 1, 2026 868 views

Question details

The user needs to create an automated workflow that identifies incomplete overdue tasks in Microsoft Planner and sends a reminder email to the assigned users without generating duplicate notifications.

How to Email a Planner Assignee When a Task is Overdue in Power Automate

Product: Microsoft Power Automate
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Automating overdue task reminder emails for team members to ensure deadlines are met without causing email fatigue.
Observed behavior: The user requires a scheduled cloud flow that correctly filters for tasks past their due date, verifies they are not yet completed, extracts the assignee's email address, and prevents duplicate reminders on subsequent runs.

Before you start

Ensure you have an active Microsoft 365 license that includes Power Automate and Microsoft Planner, and that you have Owner or Member access permissions to the specific Planner board you intend to query.

Solution 1Recommended

Create a Scheduled Flow to Email Assignees of Overdue Tasks

Build a scheduled Power Automate flow that checks Planner tasks daily, filters out completed and future tasks, and sends a single email reminder to the assignee of any overdue task.

This solution uses a scheduled trigger to run at a specific time each day. It retrieves all tasks from a designated Planner board and utilizes an array filter to isolate tasks that have missed their due date and remain incomplete.

Set up a Scheduled Cloud Flow

Log into Power Automate, click 'Create' on the left menu, and select 'Scheduled cloud flow'. Name your flow, set the starting date and time, configure it to repeat every 1 day, and click 'Create'.

List Tasks from Planner

Click 'New step', search for the 'Planner' connector, and select the 'List tasks' action. Choose the appropriate Group Id and Plan Id from the dropdown menus to retrieve all tasks from your target Planner board.

Filter Overdue and Incomplete Tasks

Add a 'Filter array' action. In the 'From' field, insert the 'value' dynamic content from the 'List tasks' action. Set the condition to check if the 'Due Date Date and time' is less than the expression 'utcNow()', and ensure 'Percent Complete' is not equal to 100.

Check for Empty Results

Add a 'Condition' action to check if the filtered results are empty. Use the expression length(body('Filter_array')) is greater than 0. This ensures the flow only proceeds if there is at least one overdue task.

Send Notifications Without Duplicates

Inside the 'If yes' branch, add an 'Apply to each' loop using the output from the Filter array. Add a 'Send an email (V2)' action, extract the assignee's email address dynamically, and compose your message. To prevent duplicate emails on future runs, add a step to update the Planner task with a specific colored label (e.g., 'Reminder Sent') or update a tracking SharePoint list, and exclude tasks with this tag in your earlier 'Filter array' step.

Create a Scheduled Flow to Email Assignees of Overdue Tasks

Extracting Assignee Emails: Because Planner assignments are stored as an array of objects, you may need to use the 'Get user profile (V2)' action using the Assignee ID to successfully retrieve the exact email address for the 'To' field in your email action.

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Manage Tasks Easily with WPS Spreadsheet

While Microsoft Power Automate is excellent for automating complex cloud workflows, managing daily tasks and deadlines doesn't always require intricate setups. WPS Office offers a free, lightweight alternative to Microsoft Office, providing powerful spreadsheet tools with built-in templates to track tasks and highlight overdue deadlines automatically.

1. Download and Install: Visit the official WPS website to download the free Office suite and follow the straightforward installation prompt.
2. Open a Task Tracker Template: Launch WPS Office, navigate to the Templates library from the homepage, and search for 'Task Management' or 'To-Do List'.
3. Track Deadlines Visually: Use WPS Spreadsheet to input your team's tasks and apply basic conditional formatting rules to automatically highlight overdue items in red.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I send a single summary email for all overdue Planner tasks instead of individual emails?

Yes. Instead of sending an email inside the 'Apply to each' loop, you can append the task details to a string variable inside the loop. Once the loop finishes, add the 'Send an email' action outside the loop and use the concatenated string variable as the email body to send a unified summary report.

How do I get the email address of a Planner task assignee in Power Automate?

Planner tasks store assignments as an object structure rather than a simple email string. To get the email, you must use the 'Get user profile (V2)' action referencing the Assignee ID, or extract the email directly from the task's Assignments array using a 'Select' action before populating the email recipient field.

Why does my Power Automate flow send reminders for tasks that are already completed?

This occurs if your flow does not correctly filter out completed tasks. Ensure that your 'Filter array' action or OData filter query explicitly checks that the 'Percent Complete' field is less than 100 or that the task status is not marked as completed before the email action runs.

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