Skip to content

Let's POWER Automate

From no-code to low-code

Menu
  • Expressions
  • Filters
  • General
  • Problems
  • Triggers
  • Application specific solutions
    • Excel
    • Forms
    • Planner
    • Outlook
    • SharePoint
    • Teams
  • Resources
Menu

What to do when your Power Automate condition always returns false

Posted on September 2, 2020April 14, 2021 by Tom

“The condition in Power Automate always returns false, even when I know it’s true!”

“What value should I put into the condition to make it work?”


The Condition in Power Automate don’t provide much information, you just get ‘true’ or ‘false’ and that’s it. But sometimes it gives you different result than you’d expect. Why and how do you fix it?

There could be multiple reasons. The data is not what you expect. The formatting might be different. Or you’re comparing different types of value, e.g. string with integer.

Check the values

The first step is always to check what values enter the condition by storing them into variables (initialize two variables and store the values into them) update: OR 2 Compose actions. When you run the flow, you’ll see in the run history their values.

While you might feel that you know what values you’re comparing, it’s better to be sure. It might be a problem with the date fields, but also with the choice fields (where you need to use [Field Value] dynamic content and not just [Field]).

In the example below you can see that while we’re comparing the same dates, they’re in a different format = condition returns ‘false’. They have to be formatted into the same format to get ‘true’ result.

Change their type

If the values are the same, the only other problem could be different value type. Here it’s more of a ‘try and see what happens’ situation, but you’ve got basically 2 options if the condition doesn’t work – it’s either string to integer or integer to string comparison. To fix it one of the values has to be converted either to string (I’d try this first):

or to integer (if string didn’t work):


Do you struggle with the various expressions, conditions, filters, or HTTP requests available in Power Automate?

I send one email per week with a summary of the new solutions, designed to help even non IT people to automate some of their repetitive tasks.

All subscribers have also access to resources like a SharePoint Filter Query cheat sheet or Date expressions cheat sheet.

Zero spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Now available:

The Ultimate Power Automate expressions cheat sheet
Equip yourself with the tool to translate your thoughts into Power Automate expressions!

Do you struggle with the various expressions, conditions, filters, or HTTP requests available in Power Automate?

I send one email per week with a summary of the new solutions, designed to help even non IT people to automate some of their repetitive tasks.

All subscribers have also access to resources like a SharePoint Filter Query cheat sheet or Date expressions cheat sheet.

Zero spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Hello and welcome!

My name is Tom and I'm a business process automation consultant and Microsoft MVP living in the Czech Republic. I’ve been working with Microsoft technologies for almost 10 years, currently using mainly Power Automate, SharePoint, Teams, and the other M365 tools.

I believe that everyone can automate part of their work with the Power Automate platform. You can achieve a lot by "clicking" the flows in the designer, but you can achieve much more if you add a bit of coding knowledge. And that's what this blog is about.

To make the step from no-code Power Automate flows to low-code flows: using basic coding knowledge to build more complex yet more efficient flows to automate more of your daily tasks.

  • Format results of date calculation in SharePoint columnJune 29, 2022
  • Why is your Power Automate flow creating duplicatesJune 26, 2022
  • How to create a unique identifier in your Power Automate flowJune 22, 2022
  • How to assign custom SharePoint permission level with Power AutomateJune 19, 2022
  • Remove permissions from a specific SharePoint user with Power AutomateJune 15, 2022

Power Automate blogs worth visiting

Damien Bird
Dennis (Expiscornovus)
Paul Murana

© 2022 Let's POWER Automate | Powered by Superbs Personal Blog theme