Power Apps ComboBox DefaultSelectedItems: Set One or Multiple Default Values

Quick answer: DefaultSelectedItems expects a table of records with the same structure as the ComboBox Items property. Pre-select one item with [LookUp(Choices(YourList.YourColumn), Value = "Option A")], multiple items with Filter(Choices(YourList.YourColumn), Value in ["Option A", "Option B"]), and for a simple text ComboBox [{Value: "Option A"}] is enough. A plain string like "Option A" will not work.

A great summary of how to deal with DefaultSelectedItems in a ComboBox and how to set them using a table/lookup or a manually-created record.

flowchart TD
    A["What kind of column?"] --> B["Plain text"]
    A --> C["Choice, single value"]
    A --> D["Choice, multi-select"]
    A --> E["Lookup"]
    A --> F["Person"]
    B --> B1["[{Value: 'Option A'}]"]
    C --> C1["[LookUp(Choices(List.Column), Value = 'Option A')]"]
    D --> D1["Filter(Choices(List.Column), Value in ['A','B'])"]
    E --> E1["ThisItem.LookupColumn (edit) or a matching record (new)"]
    F --> F1["[{Claims, DisplayName, Email} matching the person schema]"]

Shane Young walks through the ComboBox control’s DefaultSelectedItems property and the type mismatch that trips up most people the first time they use it.

Why it fails silently

DefaultSelectedItems doesn’t take a plain value or list of strings - it takes a table of records with exactly the same shape as whatever the ComboBox’s Items property returns. Pass a bare string and the property just ignores it with no error, which is what makes this so confusing to debug the first time.

The four cases in practice

• Plain text ComboBox: wrap the value as a record matching the Value field, [{Value: "Option A"}].
• Single-select Choice column: look up the matching choice record, [LookUp(Choices(YourList.YourColumn), Value = "Option A")].
• Multi-select Choice column: filter for several matches, Filter(Choices(YourList.YourColumn), Value in ["Option A", "Option B"]).
• Person column: build a record matching the person schema yourself - see the FAQ below for the exact shape.

The diagram and FAQ below cover Lookup columns and the current-user case too.

🛠️ FAQ

1. Why does DefaultSelectedItems not work in my ComboBox?

Almost always a type mismatch: DefaultSelectedItems expects a table of records with the same structure as the ComboBox Items property. Passing a plain text value like "Option A" fails – wrap it as a record: [{Value: "Option A"}].

2. How do I set multiple default values in a Power Apps ComboBox?

Return a table with several records:

Filter(Choices(YourList.YourColumn), Value in ["Option A", "Option B"])
// or a manual table
Table({Value: "Option A"}, {Value: "Option B"})

3. How do I set a default value for a SharePoint Choice column?

// Single-select Choice column
[LookUp(Choices(YourList.YourColumn), Value = ThisItem.YourColumn.Value)]
// Multi-select Choice column (edit form)
ThisItem.YourColumn

4. How do I pre-select the current user in a Person column ComboBox?

[{
    Claims: "i:0#.f|membership|" & Lower(User().Email),
    DisplayName: User().FullName,
    Email: User().Email
}]

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You can see this video here on my blog because I have rated this video with 5 stars in my YouTube video library. This video was automatically posted using PowerAutomate.

🔗 Related Tips

🔸 #PowerPlatformTip 63: ‘Mastering the Lookup Function’ - the LookUp() patterns behind the single-value default formulas above.

🔸 #PowerPlatformTip 64: ‘Comparing Lookup vs First/Filter’ - pick the right retrieval function before you build the default-value formula.