#PowerPlatformTip 141 - Text to Array

💡 Challenge

How do you process a copied multiline text block (each line representing a record — e.g., IDs, email addresses, URLs) in a Power Automate flow without manual splitting? Manual steps do not scale and are error-prone.

✅ Solution

Use the split() expression to turn the multiline string into an array. With a simple separator (a line break, comma, or any character), you get an array you can loop through using “Apply to each”.

🔧 How It’s Done

1. Add a Compose action and paste your multiline text into it. Name this action DataInput.
2. Add a second Compose action containing only a line break (press Enter in the input). Name it Separator.
3. Add an Apply to each control.
4. Set the input of the loop to the expression:

   split(outputs('DataInput'), outputs('Separator'))
   

5. Inside the loop, use Current item to process each line (for example: trim, validate, call an API, or create records).

🎉 Result

Your flow now accepts any multiline text block and processes each line as a separate item. No more copy-paste, no manual cleanup — just reliable automation that scales.

🌟 Key Advantages

• Saves time by automating repetitive data preparation
• Flexible: works with lists from Excel, emails, Power Apps, or paste operations
• Reduces human errors from manual handling
• Scales to hundreds or thousands of lines without extra effort

🎥 Video Tutorial

🛠️ FAQ

What if my data is comma-separated instead of line breaks?

• Replace the Separator Compose content with a comma. The same split() expression will produce the array.

Can the text originate from a Power App?

• Yes. Pass a multiline text input from Power Apps into the flow; the split logic remains identical.

How to handle empty lines created by accidental extra newlines?

• Add a condition inside the loop to check if trim(Current item) is not empty before processing.