SharePoint Trigger When an Item is Created in Power Automate
Your organization uses Power Automate to automate approval workflows in SharePoint. When a user creates a new item in a SharePoint list, an approval request should be sent to their manager. However, some approvals are not being triggered. What is the most likely cause?
Quick Answer
The most telling detail in this scenario is that approvals are only missing sometimes, which points away from a permissions or licensing problem, since those would fail consistently, and toward a trigger configuration issue that only manifests under certain timing conditions. When a SharePoint flow trigger is set to 'When an item is created or modified' instead of the narrower 'When an item is created', the trigger is listening for two different kinds of events at once, and if an item gets modified immediately after being created, for example by a workflow, a calculated column, or a quick follow-up edit, the platform can end up firing on the modification instead of cleanly capturing the original creation event, causing the intended creation-based approval to be skipped. This is a subtle but common misconfiguration because the combined trigger looks like it should catch both cases but can actually cause either to be missed under rapid back-to-back changes. It's also why licensing and permissions can be ruled out here, since those failures would be immediate and total, not intermittent. When a question describes a trigger-based automation that fires inconsistently rather than always or never, look closely at whether the trigger is scoped too broadly, such as created-or-modified, rather than to the single event the scenario actually needs.
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 trigger is set to 'When an item is created or modified' and the item is being created and then modified immediately.
The SharePoint trigger 'When an item is created' must be set to trigger only on new items, not on changes. A common misconfiguration is setting the trigger to 'When an item is created or modified', which can cause missed triggers if the item is created and then quickly modified. Option A is incorrect because SharePoint triggers do not require a premium license for basic actions. Option C is incorrect because permissions to the list do not affect the trigger's ability to fire. Option D is incorrect because the delay is unrelated to the trigger configuration.
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 flow requires a premium Power Automate license.
Why it's wrong here
SharePoint triggers are available with Power Automate per user plan with attended RPA or per flow plan, but basic triggers are included in Office 365.
- ✓
The trigger is set to 'When an item is created or modified' and the item is being created and then modified immediately.
Why this is correct
If the trigger is set to 'When an item is created or modified', a modification after creation could cause the trigger to fire on the modification, but if the modification occurs too quickly, the creation trigger might be skipped.
- ✗
The user does not have permission to view the SharePoint list.
Why it's wrong here
Permissions are checked at runtime, but if the flow owner has access, the flow will run regardless of the triggering user's permissions.
- ✗
The flow has a 'Delay' action before the approval step.
Why it's wrong here
A delay would not prevent the trigger from firing.
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Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on PL-900
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company uses Power Automate to automate approval workflows for expense reports. When an expense report exceeds $5,000, the flow should send an email to the manager and then wait for approval before processing payment. Which type of trigger should be used to start the flow when a new expense report is submitted?
easy- A.When an item is modified trigger
- B.Recurrence trigger
- ✓ C.When a new item is created trigger
- D.Manual trigger
Why C: The 'When a new item is created' trigger starts the flow when a new expense report is submitted. Option A is wrong because 'When an item is modified' triggers on updates, not new items. Option B is wrong because a scheduled trigger runs at specified times, not on item creation. Option D is wrong because a manual trigger requires a user to run the flow.
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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