How to Move Files Between Folders and Create New Folders If They Don’t Exist in Power Automate

In this tutorial, I’ll guide you through using Power Automate to move files from one folder to another in SharePoint. We'll also configure the flow to create a folder if it doesn’t already exist. Let’s get started!

Step 1: Set Up the Automated Cloud Flow

1. Create a new flow:

   • Go to Power Automate and create an Automated Cloud Flow.

   • For the trigger, select When a file is created (properties only).

2. Configure the trigger:

   • Choose your Site Address and Library Name.

   • Optional: Use the Show advanced options to specify a folder path.

   • In this example, I’m selecting the entire library since new files are automatically added here.

Step 2: Define Your Folder Structure

I have a folder named Directory in my SharePoint document library. This is where files will be moved.

• Files coming into the library are named using a specific format:
  NewCore_File_MM_DD_YYYY_
  For example: NewCore_File_09_12_2024_
  The underscores allow us to split the file name and extract the month and year for folder creation.

Step 3: Add the “Move File” Action

1. Search for and add the Move file action (SharePoint connector).

2. Configure the action:

   • Site Address: Select your site.

   • File to Move: Use the Identifier dynamic content from the trigger.

   • Destination Site Address: Select the same site.

   • Destination Folder: Set the folder path:
     Directory/
     We will dynamically add the folder name later.

   • If another file is already there: Select Move with a new name.

3. Rename the action: Change the name to something like Move file into existing folder.

Step 4: Extract Month and Year from the File Name

To create folders dynamically, extract the month and year from the file name using Compose actions and expressions:

1. Compose - Month:

   • Add a Compose action and name it Compose Month.

   • Use this expression to split the file name and extract the month:
     split(triggerOutputs()?['headers']['x-ms-file-name'], '_')[2]

     • Here, the file name is split at each underscore, and position 2 gives the month (e.g., 09).

2. Compose - Year:

   • Add another Compose action and name it Compose Year.

   • Use this expression to extract the year:
     split(triggerOutputs()?['headers']['x-ms-file-name'], '_')[4]

     • Position 4 returns the year (e.g., 2024).

Step 5: Dynamically Set the Destination Folder

In the Move file action, update the Destination Folder:

• Add this dynamic folder path:
  Directory/<Compose Month>_<Compose Year>

• Make sure to keep the forward slashes intact when editing this field.

At this stage, the flow will fail if the folder does not exist. To fix this, we need to add logic to create the folder.

Step 6: Create a Folder If It Doesn’t Exist

1. Add a Create new folder action (SharePoint connector):

   • Site Address: Select your site.

   • Library Name: Use the same library.

   • Folder Path: Dynamically set the folder path:
     Directory/<Compose Month>_<Compose Year>

2. Configure Run After:

   • Go to the Settings of the Create Folder action.

   • Under Run After, configure it to run if the Move File action has failed.

     • Uncheck is successful.

     • Check has failed.

3. Rename the action to Create New Month Folder.

Step 7: Move the File into the New Folder

After creating the folder, add another Move file action:

1. Configure the Move File action again:

   • File to Move: Use the Identifier dynamic content.

   • Destination Folder: Same folder path:
     Directory/<Compose Month>_<Compose Year>

2. If another file exists: Select Move with a new name.

3. Rename the action to Move file into new folder.

Step 8: Test Your Flow

To test the flow:

1. Go to your Test Documents Library.

2. Add a file with the correct naming format, e.g., NewCore_File_09_12_2024_

3. Run the flow:

   • If the folder does not exist, the flow will create a folder named 09_2024 and move the file into it.

4. Check the results:

   • The folder should now exist in the Directory folder.

   • Your file should appear inside the newly created folder.

Final Thoughts

In this tutorial, you learned how to:

• Use Power Automate to move files between folders.

• Dynamically create folders based on file names.

• Configure Run After to handle flow errors.

This approach can be extended to suit more complex folder structures or file organization needs. If you have any questions or feedback, let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for more Power Automate tips and tricks.