One of the best things about Power Automate is how it can take a simple flow and make it feel intelligent. Instead of having a flow do the same thing every time, you can make it behave differently based on inputs, data, or decisions you build right into it. This is where conditions and branching come in.

When I first started building flows, I stuck to linear steps: trigger, do this, then do that. But pretty quickly I ran into scenarios where I needed to say, “If this is true, do one thing; otherwise, do something else.” That’s exactly what conditions are for.

What is a Condition?

In Power Automate, a condition is a control that checks whether something is true or false. Think of it like asking a yes/no question in your flow. For example:

Is the approval outcome equal to 'Approve'?
Does this file have a specific name?
Is the value of this field greater than 100?

When you insert a condition, you get two branches: Yes (if the condition is true) and No (if it's false). You can then add steps under each branch to handle those paths.

How to Add a Condition

Here’s the basic way I set one up:

1. Click the + icon where you want to insert the condition.
2. Search for and add a condition from the actions.
3. Set your condition by selecting a dynamic value (like a field from a previous step), picking a comparison (equals, greater than, etc.), and entering the value you want to compare against.

Then you build out the Yes (True) and No (False) sides with whatever actions make sense.

Branching Beyond Conditions

While conditions are great, sometimes you need more complex decision-making. That’s where Switch and Parallel Branching come in handy.

• Switch: Use this when you want to compare one value against multiple possible values. For instance, if a field could be “Red,” “Blue,” or “Green,” you can handle each case separately using a Switch control.
• Parallel Branching: This is useful when you want two (or more) sets of actions to run simultaneously, regardless of conditions. It’s great for scenarios where you might want to update multiple systems at once.

Tips for Dynamic, Responsive Flows

Here are a few things I’ve learned that can save headaches later:

• Always test each path: Run your flow with data that triggers the Yes path and then test the No path. This makes sure nothing breaks unexpectedly.
• Add comments: Use the built-in notes to remind yourself (or your future self) why you set up a certain condition or branch.
• Keep conditions simple: If a condition is getting too complicated, consider splitting the flow or using multiple conditions instead of one giant logic block.

Wrap Up

Conditions and branching are what make flows dynamic and powerful. They let your automation think a bit before acting. As you build more flows, you'll start seeing conditions not just as an optional extra, but as an essential tool for making things run smoothly.

In the next post of this series, I’ll dive into using variables to make your flows even more flexible.