Power Platform Community Forum Thread Details

Hi Team

I’m trying to detect when a file is moved from one folder to another within the same SharePoint document library using Power Automate.However, I don’t see any native trigger that specifically captures a “file moved” event. I understand that moving a file within the same library may only update the file path metadata rather than triggering a create/delete event.

Has anyone successfully implemented a solution to detect file movement?
Is this a product limitation, and if so, what is the recommended workaround?

Thanks in Advance

Categories:

Power Automate Desktop

Hi @AB-16071545-0,

Detecting a file move within the same SharePoint document library is indeed a known limitation in Power Automate because moving a file inside the same library updates only the file’s path metadata and does not trigger a create or delete event.

Recommended workaround:
Use the "When a file is modified" trigger on the document library, then implement logic to compare the current file path with a stored previous path (which you can keep in a custom column or external storage). If the path has changed, treat that as a file move event.

How to implement this:

Add a custom column in your SharePoint library to store the previous folder path or file location.
Create a Power Automate flow triggered by "When a file is modified."
In the flow, compare the current file path (Path or Folder path property) with the stored previous path column.
If they differ, you know the file was moved. You can then update the stored path column to the new path and proceed with your logic.
If they are the same, no move occurred.