PL-900 Demonstrate the capabilities of Power Apps Practice Question
A user created a canvas app to collect feedback. The app writes data to an Excel file stored in OneDrive. When multiple users submit feedback simultaneously, some entries are lost. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
PL-900 often tests the misconception that Excel is a suitable multi-user database, when the exam expects you to recognize its concurrency limitations and recommend Dataverse or SharePoint instead.
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
✓
Excel is not designed for concurrent multi-user writes
Excel files stored in OneDrive are not designed for concurrent multi-user writes; when multiple users submit simultaneously, the file locking and sync behavior can cause writes to overwrite each other or fail silently, leading to lost entries. This is a fundamental limitation of using Excel as a database for multi-user apps.
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 app has a performance issue
Why it's wrong here
Performance issues cause slow rendering, not lost records. Concurrent writes to an Excel file in OneDrive fail because Excel does not support simultaneous multi-user writes and lacks row-level locking. Storing feedback in SharePoint or Dataverse resolves the concurrency loss.
- ✗
The Excel file is locked by OneDrive sync
Why it's wrong here
OneDrive sync locking is not the mechanism here; Excel Online's connector serialises concurrent writes, so simultaneous submissions overwrite rather than lock. It is tempting because sync conflicts do corrupt files, and OneDrive would be the culprit if the app opened the workbook directly through the sync client rather than the Excel Online connector.
- ✗
A Power Automate flow is delaying the write
Why it's wrong here
A flow delay would slow submissions, not discard them; the stem describes lost entries, which points to Excel Online's lack of row-level concurrency handling. Power Automate is tempting because it is the standard way to write to Excel, and it would be correct if submissions were queued through a flow rather than written directly by the app.
- ✓
Excel is not designed for concurrent multi-user writes
Why this is correct
Excel locks the workbook during each write, so simultaneous submissions collide and later writes overwrite earlier ones, losing entries. This satisfies the stem's concurrency constraint: Excel is a single-user file format, not a transactional datastore. Migrating to Microsoft Dataverse or SharePoint lists would preserve every submission.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Microsoft exam blueprint
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.