Templates and editing with Copilot

Introduction to Power Automate

Anushika Agarwal

Cloud Data Engineer

Find, preview, connect

Screenshot 2026-06-09 at 11.37.13.png

Find: search the gallery by keyword ("approval", "email notification") or browse by category
Preview: click any template to see its trigger, actions, and connectors. That's your first audit
Connect & Customize: sign in to required connectors → Continue

Always audit before you use

Power Automate template preview showing the flow's structure: a Trigger section with a SharePoint When-an-item-is-created card, then a downward arrow into an Actions section listing Get my profile (Office 365 Users) and Send an email (Office 365 Outlook)

Always audit for:

Hardcoded values that should be dynamic
Deprecated or outdated actions
Missing error handling
Wrong trigger type for your scenario

Templates are starting points, not finished products.

Run Flow Checker

Power Automate designer top toolbar with the stethoscope icon highlighted in a red box, plus the Undo, Redo, Comments, Save, Test, and Copilot icons visible around it

Flow Checker lives in the designer toolbar
The stethoscope icon opens it
Catches missing required fields before you go further

Run Flow Checker

Flow Checker pane open in the Power Automate designer listing errors and warnings for the current flow

Flow Checker lives in the designer toolbar
The stethoscope icon opens it
Catches missing required fields before you go further
Opens a pane listing every error and warning

Edit with Copilot

Power Automate designer top toolbar with the Copilot icon highlighted in a red box, plus the Undo, Redo, Comments, Flow Checker stethoscope, Save, and Test icons visible around it

Open the Copilot sidebar from the designer toolbar
Describe a change → Copilot modifies the flow and tells you what changed
Add a step to get my profile → Copilot adds Get my profile from Office 365 Users
Remove the failure notification action → Copilot removes that step and rewires the flow

Edit with Copilot

Power Automate Copilot side panel cropped to its chat area, showing the Test this flow button above the chat input field, with the input "Ask a question or describe how you want to change this flow" highlighted in a red box

Type your prompt in the chat input at the bottom of the panel
Be specific if multiple similar steps exist, and always review what changed

Copilot: Explain

Ask What does this flow do? → plain-language summary of every step
Useful for auditing templates or understanding a colleague's flow
Can also ask about individual actions

Power Automate Copilot side panel cropped to the question + answer area, with the What does this flow do? question highlighted in a red box at the top and the plain-language explanation paragraph below it highlighted in a green box, summarizing the Vantara Approval Flow

Undo is your safety net

Power Automate designer top toolbar with the leftmost arrow icon highlighted in a red box, plus the Redo, Comments, Flow Checker stethoscope, Save, Test, and Copilot icons visible around it

Copilot changes can be undone, but only before the next prompt
Always review the diff before sending another instruction
Same rule as templates: Copilot is a starting point

Let's practice!

Introduction to Power Automate