PL-900 Demonstrate the capabilities of Power Apps Practice Question
A company has a canvas app that uses a SharePoint list as its data source. The app works fine for most users but a few users report that they cannot submit new items. They receive a generic 'Access denied' error. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse app-level sharing permissions (Can view/Can edit) with data source permissions, assuming that sharing the app with 'Can edit' automatically grants write access to the underlying SharePoint list.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The users lack write permissions on the SharePoint list.
The 'Access denied' error when submitting new items in a canvas app connected to a SharePoint list indicates that the user lacks write permissions on the underlying data source. Even though the app is shared with the user, the SharePoint list itself enforces its own permission model. Without Contribute or Edit permissions on the list, the user cannot create new items, resulting in the generic access denied error.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The connection reference is not shared with the users.
Why it's wrong here
Connection references apply to Power Automate flows, not canvas app data connections, so sharing them does not govern who can submit SharePoint items. It is tempting because connection ownership genuinely blocks flow runs, but canvas apps authenticate each user directly against SharePoint.
- ✗
The SharePoint list has exceeded its item limit.
Why it's wrong here
Exceeding the SharePoint list item limit blocks all users, not a few, and typically surfaces as throttling or view errors rather than 'Access denied'. It is tempting because list limits are a real SharePoint constraint, but the per-user pattern points to individual list permissions instead.
- ✓
The users lack write permissions on the SharePoint list.
Why this is correct
SharePoint enforces its own item-level permissions independently of the Power Apps canvas app. Users without Contribute or Edit rights on the underlying list can read data but cannot create items, producing the generic 'Access denied' error on submit. Granting write permissions on the list resolves the constraint.
- ✗
The app is shared with 'Can edit' permission but not 'Can view'.
Why it's wrong here
Sharing an app with only 'Can edit' still grants viewing, so this cannot produce 'Access denied' for some users. App-level sharing permissions are the tempting focus, but the failure lies in each user's own SharePoint list permissions, which the app inherits at runtime.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PL-900 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the PL-900 exam.