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How to Notify Specific Users When a Microsoft Planner Task Is Completed

Kushani Nimanthika Oct 16, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs a way to send notifications exclusively to specific individuals, such as the assignee of a dependent task, when a preceding Microsoft Planner task is completed.

How to Notify Specific Users When a Microsoft Planner Task Is Completed

Product: Microsoft Planner
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Setting up automated workflow notifications for dependent tasks without spamming the entire project team.
Observed behavior: Currently, built-in notifications or basic flows send alerts to the entire team or general channel rather than targeting the specific users involved in the next steps.

Before you start

Ensure you have an active Microsoft 365 subscription with access to both Microsoft Planner and Power Automate, and verify that you have the necessary permissions to create automated cloud flows.

Solution 1Recommended

Create a Targeted Power Automate Flow

Use Microsoft Power Automate to detect task completion, identify the correct assignee for the next step, and send a direct message instead of a team-wide broadcast.

Microsoft Planner does not have a native feature to notify the assignee of a dependent task when the preceding task is finished. By leveraging Power Automate, you can extract the completed task's metadata to find the linked dependent task and target only its assignee.

Create a new automated flow

Log into Power Automate, click 'Create' in the left sidebar, and select 'Automated cloud flow'.

Set the Planner trigger

Search for the 'Planner' connector and select the trigger 'When a task is completed'. Choose the appropriate Group and Plan ID from the dropdown menus.

Retrieve task and assignee details

Add the 'Get task details' action to pull metadata from the completed task. Use a mapping table or linked task references to identify the assignee of the dependent task.

Extract the specific user profile

Add an action to 'Get user profile (V2)' or parse the assignee data to extract the specific user's email address or Microsoft Teams User ID.

Send a targeted notification

Add a 'Send an email (V2)' or 'Post message in a chat or channel' action. In the 'To' or 'Recipient' field, use dynamic content to insert the specific user's email or ID, ensuring it is not set to a general team channel.

Test Your Flow: Before rolling it out to the team, test the flow by completing a dummy task. Verify that only the designated individual receives the notification to prevent unnecessary team-wide alerts.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can Microsoft Planner natively notify users about dependent tasks?

No, Microsoft Planner currently lacks a built-in feature to automatically notify assignees of dependent tasks when a prerequisite task is completed. You must use Microsoft Power Automate to create a custom notification workflow.

Why does my current Power Automate flow message the entire team?

This happens if the notification action (like sending an email or posting a Teams message) has the recipient field set to an Office 365 Group, a team channel, or a distribution list. You must change the recipient to the specific user's dynamic email address or User ID.

Can I send these targeted notifications through Microsoft Teams instead of email?

Yes. In your Power Automate flow, instead of using the 'Send an email' action, you can use the Microsoft Teams connector action 'Post message in a chat or channel'. Set 'Post as' to Flow bot and 'Post in' to Chat with the user, then insert the specific user's email into the recipient field.

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