#PowerPlatformTip 122: 'Track Flow Progress in Power Apps'

TL;DR: Generate a GUID() in the app, pass it to the flow, and let the flow create and update a status row with that GUID at each milestone. A Timer in the app refreshes and reads the row every few seconds and stops on a final status such as “Complete” or “Failed”. The full walkthrough with flow screenshots is in How to Track the Current Progress of a Flow in PowerApps.

💡 Challenge

A long flow started from a button leaves the user with a spinner and no idea how far it got. The flow can return a value to the app, but only once, at the end. There is no built-in way to push intermediate steps back to the running app.

✅ Solution

Turn the progress into data. The app creates a unique key, the flow writes its status under that key into a small table, and the app polls that table with a Timer. Any data source the app and the flow can both reach works; a SharePoint list with three columns is enough.

🔧 How It’s Done

1. Create the status table.

🔸 Columns: Title (status text), GUID (single line of text), StateCode (number).

2. Start the flow with a GUID.

🔸 Button OnSelect:

Set(varRunId, GUID());
Set(varState, Blank());
Set(varPolling, true);
wfState.Run(Text(varRunId))

3. Write the status in the flow.

🔸 First action after the trigger: Create item with the GUID from the trigger, StateCode 0 and Title “Flow started”.

🔸 After each milestone: Update item with the next StateCode and text. Add a branch with Configure run after “has failed” / “has timed out” that writes StateCode 9 “Failed”.

4. Poll with a Timer.

🔸 Duration: 3000, Repeat: true, Start: varPolling. Start reacts to the variable on every click, AutoStart only fires when the screen opens.

🔸 OnTimerEnd:

Refresh(StateLog);
Set(varState, LookUp(StateLog, GUID = Text(varRunId)));
If(varState.StateCode = 3 Or varState.StateCode = 9, Set(varPolling, false))

🔸 A label shows varState.Title.

🎉 Result

The user sees “Flow started”, the milestones and finally “Complete” or “Failed” while the flow runs, and the Timer stops on its own.

🌟 Key Advantages

🔸 Real progress: each milestone becomes visible, not just the end.

🔸 One row per run: the GUID keeps parallel runs of several users apart.

🔸 Standard connectors: a SharePoint list and the Power Apps trigger, no premium.

⚠️ Good to Know

🔸 Every Timer tick calls the data source. Use a longer Duration for long flows, and always stop the Timer on the error status too, otherwise it keeps polling after a failed run.

🛠️ FAQ

1. Why not return the progress with “Respond to a PowerApp or flow”?

The response ends the conversation between app and flow. The app receives one result, so it cannot show the steps in between.

2. Why a GUID and not the user’s name?

The same user can start the flow twice, and several users run it at the same time. A new GUID() per click gives every run its own status row.

3. Does it work with Dataverse instead of SharePoint?

Yes. Use a Dataverse table with the same three columns; the app formulas stay the same apart from the data source name. Dataverse is a premium data source, so app users and the flow need the matching licenses.

🔗 Related Tips

• How to Track the Current Progress of a Flow in PowerApps, the full article with flow structure, StateCode icons and sequence diagram.
• #PowerPlatformTip 147: ‘Dummy Patch for Complex Flows’, refresh just the affected record once the flow is done.
• #PowerPlatformTip 117: ‘Optimize Parallel Object Processing’, speed up the long-running part of the flow itself.