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How to Prevent Power Automate from Creating Duplicate SharePoint Items

Maira Mehtab Sep 20, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs to know how to stop a Power Automate flow from generating duplicate items in a SharePoint list, typically occurring after a throttling event triggers an automatic retry.

Product: Microsoft Power Automate and SharePoint
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Running an 'Apply to each' loop and a 'Create item' action in Power Automate connected to a SharePoint list.
Observed behavior: When SharePoint throttles a request for several minutes, the 'Create item' action automatically retries and creates the same item twice, resulting in duplicate records and unexpected ID gaps in the list.

Before you start

Before modifying your workflow, check your SharePoint list's version history and confirm if the duplicate records share the exact same creation timestamps corresponding to a recent throttling event.

Solution 1Recommended

Seek Expert Assistance in the Power Automate Community

Since this is a platform-specific throttling and retry issue, the official Microsoft community is the best place to report it and find advanced workarounds tailored to your environment.

Throttling is managed at the server level by SharePoint. When a flow triggers too many actions, SharePoint pauses requests, which unfortunately triggers Power Automate's default retry policy before the first request fully fails or completes.

Identify the flow failure

Open your Power Automate run history, locate the instance where the duplication occurred, and note the duration of the 'Create item' action to confirm a throttling timeout.

Visit the Community Forum

Navigate to the official Microsoft Power Automate Community website.

Post your issue details

Create a new topic detailing your 'Apply to each' loop setup, the size of your SharePoint list, and the specific retry behavior causing duplicate IDs.

Solution 2

Implement a Duplicate Check Before Creating Items

Modify your flow logic to verify whether an item already exists in the SharePoint list before executing the 'Create item' action, preventing duplicates during retries.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Power Automate create duplicate SharePoint items?

Duplicate items typically occur when SharePoint throttles a request due to high traffic. The 'Create item' action times out, causing Power Automate's default retry policy to execute the action again, which often results in two identical records being saved.

How can I disable retries on a Power Automate action?

You can change the retry policy by clicking the three dots (...) on a specific action, selecting 'Settings', scrolling to 'Retry Policy', and changing it to 'None'. Be aware that this may cause the flow to fail entirely if a temporary throttling event occurs.

What is SharePoint throttling?

Throttling is a backend mechanism used by SharePoint to maintain optimal performance and reliability. If a user account or an automated flow makes too many requests in a short period, SharePoint temporarily blocks or slows down subsequent requests.

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