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How to Retrieve a Distribution Group Email Address in Power Apps

Rana Garcia Oct 10, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs to retrieve the single email address of a distribution group in Power Apps to send emails to the group as a whole, rather than fetching the individual addresses of all its members.

How to Retrieve a Distribution Group Email Address in Power Apps

Product: Power Apps
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Setting up a combo box or recipient field in Power Apps where the user wants to select a distribution list and extract its specific group email address.
Observed behavior: Power Apps successfully retrieves the distribution group's name and ID from a SharePoint Person or Group column, but fails to expose the single email address that represents the entire distribution group.

Before you start

Ensure you have an active Power Automate environment and that your flow or Azure AD app has the necessary Microsoft Graph API permissions (such as Group.Read.All) to query mail-enabled groups.

Solution 1Recommended

Use Power Automate and Microsoft Graph API to Fetch the Email

Create a Power Automate flow to query Microsoft Graph for mail-enabled groups and return the email property to a custom combo box in Power Apps.

Since SharePoint Online cannot directly synchronize distribution lists into a Person or Group column, the most effective workaround is to query Microsoft 365 directly using the Graph API.

Create a Power Automate Flow

Open Power Automate, create an Instant Cloud Flow, and select 'Power Apps' as the trigger so it can be called directly from your canvas app.

Call Microsoft Graph API

Add an 'HTTP' action or use the 'Send an HTTP request' action. Set the method to GET and the URI to: https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/groups?$filter=mailEnabled eq true.

Filter the Group Results

Add a 'Filter array' action to process the returned JSON body. Set conditions to exclude unwanted Microsoft 365 groups (e.g., filtering out groups where groupTypes contains 'Unified') to isolate standard distribution lists.

Extract the Email Addresses

Use a 'Select' action or loop through the filtered array. Use the expression items('Apply_to_each')?['mail'] to isolate just the group email addresses.

Return Data to Power Apps

Add a 'Respond to a Power App or flow' action. Pass the extracted email addresses back to Power Apps, and configure your combo box's Items property to use this returned data source.

Use Power Automate and Microsoft Graph API to Fetch the Email

Optimization Tip: By filtering on the Graph API side ($filter=mailEnabled eq true), you significantly reduce the amount of data processed by your flow, improving the performance of your Power Apps combo box.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why can't I get a distribution list's email address from a SharePoint column directly in Power Apps?

SharePoint Online's standard Person or Group columns do not fully support synchronizing distribution lists to extract their email addresses, requiring API workarounds to fetch directory data.

Do I need special permissions to query groups with Microsoft Graph in Power Automate?

Yes. Your flow needs appropriate Azure AD permissions, such as Group.Read.All, to successfully call the Graph API endpoint and read the directory properties.

How do I ensure I only get distribution lists and not Microsoft 365 groups?

When evaluating the JSON response from Microsoft Graph, check the 'groupTypes' property. Standard Microsoft 365 groups will have 'Unified' in this array, while traditional distribution lists will not.

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