How to import Excel file to existing SHP list

SharePoint doesn't provide the out-of-the-box option to import data from Excel file to existing list. There is, however, an interesting workaround which is based on PowerAutomate.

If you want to put some data from Excel to new list using

There is, however, an interesting workaround which is based on PowerAutomate (formerly called MS Flow).

NOTE: There's also

Import Excel or CSV to List

addon which you can use. I learned about it after I finished this article, but I'm leaving it here anyway as it might be useful in some cases.

Let's say that we have an existing list which we'd like to use for our leave request system. It contains 3 fields:

• title (we put user email here, string type)
• quota (number type)
• approver (we choose who will approve requests fot that user, field type is user/group)

Preparing the spreadsheet

If you want to import the spreadsheet, you need to remember that Excel connector for PowerAutomate only supports data from the table. If you're not sure if your data is in the table, click on any cell and you should see additional tab

If you're not seeing it, click Ctrl+t to create new table:

Now put the file in your OneDrive folder (you can also use your MS Group library or SharePoint) and you can start creating a flow.

Creating a flow

We'll be using instant (manually trigered) flow:

We name it and choose

Next action is

We choose the file and proper table.

Then we add

Inside the block we use

For some of the fields, values might not be chooseable. This usually happens for types other than string (for

We can workaround this using the expression:

item()?['PropertyName']

If we save and refresh we'll see that expression converted to the value similar to what we chosen for string-type fields:

Now we can 'test' the flow (be careful as it will create items on the list, so it's more 'test in production')

In top-right corner we choose 'Test' link and specify to perform trigger action manually:

We create manually-triggered flow so the wizard allows us to trigger it straight from the website. After we confirm the connectors being used:

We can click 'Continue':

Aaaaand it runs: