DateTime Actions in Power Automate Desktop
DateTime actions in Power Automate Desktop are tools that let you work with dates and times. These actions help you:
- Get the current date and time.
- Format dates in a specific way.
- Add or subtract days, months, or years to calculate future or past dates.
- Compare dates to see which one is earlier or later.
In everyday life, we use dates and times all the time—whether it’s checking when something is due, scheduling a meeting, or calculating how much time is left. DateTime actions allow you to automate these tasks and make your workflows smarter.
Common DateTime Actions in Power Automate Desktop
There are several DateTime actions in PAD that you’ll use to manage dates and times. Let’s go through some of the most common ones and explain how they work.
1. Get Current Date and Time
The Get Current Date and Time action is simple but very useful. It gets the current date and time from your computer or system and stores it as a variable. You can then use this date in your automation.
Real-Life Example:
Let’s say you want to log the current date and time every time a new task is completed. You can use the Get Current Date and Time action to capture that moment.
- Action: Get Current Date and Time
- Result:
"2024-11-11 14:30:00"(for example)
You can then store this in a variable called currentDateTime and use it later in your flow.
2. Format DateTime
The Format DateTime action allows you to change how a date or time is displayed. By default, dates are shown in a specific format, like "2024-11-11", but you might want to display the date in a different way, like "11-Nov-2024" or "November 11, 2024". This action lets you control how the date appears.
Real-Life Example:
Imagine you need to send an email that includes the current date in a specific format. You want it to show the date like "November 11, 2024" instead of "2024-11-11". You can use the Format DateTime action to change the format.
- Action: Format DateTime
- Input DateTime:
"2024-11-11" - Format:
"MMMM dd, yyyy" - Result:
"November 11, 2024"
3. Add to DateTime
The Add to DateTime action lets you add days, months, years, hours, minutes, or seconds to a given date and time. This is helpful when you need to calculate future dates or deadlines.
Real-Life Example:
Let’s say a task is due in 5 days. You can use the Add to DateTime action to calculate the date 5 days from today.
- Action: Add to DateTime
- Input DateTime:
"2024-11-11" - Add Days:
5 - Result:
"2024-11-16"(5 days later)
This is useful for calculating things like:
- Task deadlines.
- Event scheduling.
- Follow-up reminders.
4. Subtract from DateTime
The Subtract from DateTime action does the opposite of the Add to DateTime action—it allows you to subtract days, months, years, or even hours and minutes from a date and time. This is useful when you need to calculate how much time has passed or find a past date.
Real-Life Example:
Let’s say you want to calculate the date that was 10 days ago. You can use the Subtract from DateTime action to subtract 10 days from today.
- Action: Subtract from DateTime
- Input DateTime:
"2024-11-11" - Subtract Days:
10 - Result:
"2024-11-01"(10 days earlier)
This is useful for things like:
- Calculating due dates that are in the past.
- Finding the number of days between two events.
5. Compare DateTimes
The Compare DateTimes action lets you compare two dates and determine if one is earlier, later, or equal to the other. It returns a result that shows you the relationship between the two dates.
Real-Life Example:
Let’s say you want to check if today’s date is after a deadline date. You can use Compare DateTimes to make this check.
- Action: Compare DateTimes
- Date 1:
"2024-11-11" - Date 2:
"2024-11-10" - Result: Date 1 is later than Date 2 (because today’s date is after the deadline).
This is useful for:
- Checking if an event is overdue.
- Deciding if a task should be marked as completed or still in progress.
6. Get Day of Week
The Get Day of Week action returns the day of the week for a given date. This is useful when you need to know which day of the week a certain date falls on (like checking if a meeting is on a weekend or weekday).
Real-Life Example:
Let’s say you want to check if a meeting is scheduled on a weekend.
- Action: Get Day of Week
- Input DateTime:
"2024-11-11" - Result:
"Monday"
If the result is "Saturday" or "Sunday", you know the meeting is on the weekend.
Key Differences Between DateTime Actions
Here’s a quick comparison table to help you understand when and how to use each DateTime action in your flows:
| Action | Purpose | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
| Get Current DateTime | Gets the current date and time. | Use when you need the current date/time. |
| Format DateTime | Changes how the date/time is displayed. | Use when you need to display the date/time in a specific format. |
| Add to DateTime | Adds days, months, years, etc., to a date. | Use when you need to calculate a future date/time. |
| Subtract from DateTime | Subtracts days, months, years, etc., from a date. | Use when you need to calculate a past date/time. |
| Compare DateTimes | Compares two dates and tells you which is earlier or later. | Use when you need to compare two dates/times. |
| Get Day of Week | Gets the day of the week for a specific date. | Use when you need to know which day of the week a date falls on. |
Real-Life Example: Automating a Task Deadline
Let’s put all this together with a real-life example. Suppose you’re working on an assignment, and you want to automatically check if the deadline has passed and send a reminder email if the deadline is near.
- Get Current Date and Time: First, get the current date and time.
- Add to DateTime: Add 3 days to the current date to find out the "next deadline."
- Compare DateTimes: Compare today’s date with the calculated deadline to check if it’s close.
- Send Email: If the deadline is within 3 days, send a reminder email.
Conclusion
Date and time are essential parts of our daily lives, and Power Automate Desktop makes it easy to work with them in your automation flows. With DateTime actions, you can:
- Get the current date and time.
- Add or subtract time to calculate future or past dates.
- Format and compare dates for scheduling, deadlines, and reminders.
I hope this post helps you understand how to use DateTime actions in Power Automate Desktop. The ability to automate tasks involving dates and times will make your workflows smarter, faster, and more efficient.
Happy automating! 😊
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