Top 5 Easy Workflows to Automate in Microsoft 365

How much time do you spend every day on small or repetitive tasks? Checking emails, moving files, chasing approvals – it all adds up. Before you know it, you’ve spent hours on admin work instead of focusing on the tasks that really matter.

But what if those processes could run automatically?

That’s exactly what Power Automate in Microsoft 365 is designed to do. With simple, no-code workflows, you can eliminate manual tasks, reduce errors, and free up valuable time – all without disrupting your workflow.

In this blog, we’ll walk you through five easy yet powerful automation you can set up today to boost productivity and streamline your day-to-day tasks.

 

Get Instant Teams Notifications for Important Emails

Keeping up with important emails can be a challenge, especially when your inbox is overflowing. You might miss a crucial update from a manager, a key client request, or an urgent internal announcement. Instead of constantly checking your inbox, why not let Microsoft Teams notify you when an important email arrives?

With Power Automate, you can create a simple workflow that automatically sends a Teams message whenever you receive an email that meets specific criteria.

How to Set It Up:

1) Log into Power Automate and create a new Automated Cloud Flow.

2) Select “When a new email arrives” as the trigger.

3) Add a condition – for example, only trigger if the email is from a specific sender or marked as high importance.

4) If the condition is met, add an action: “Post a message in a Microsoft Teams channel”.

5) Customise the message so it includes the sender’s name, subject, and a link to the email.

6) Save and test your flow.

The Result: Whenever you receive an important email, you’ll get a real-time Teams notification so you can respond promptly without constantly refreshing your inbox.

 

Streamline Approval Processes in SharePoint

The next workflow to automate… Many businesses rely on approval processes – whether it’s for document sign-offs, expense claims, or holiday requests. Managing approvals manually via email can be time-consuming and prone to delays. Power Automate can handle this seamlessly by automating the entire approval workflow.

How to Set It Up:

1) Create a new flow and choose “When an item is created in a SharePoint list” as the trigger.

2) Add the “Start and wait for an approval” action and assign it to the relevant manager.

3) Define the approval conditions:

• If approved, notify the requester and update the SharePoint item.
• If rejected, send a message requesting additional information.

4) Save and test the flow.

The Result: Instead of manually tracking approvals, this workflow ensures requests are routed, reviewed, and responded to automatically, reducing bottlenecks and improving efficiency.

 

Automatically Save Email Attachments to OneDrive or SharePoint

Do you often receive important files via email that need to be saved and organised? Whether it’s invoices, contracts, or reports, manually downloading and moving attachments can be time-consuming and easy to forget.

With Power Automate, you can automatically save email attachments to OneDrive or SharePoint, ensuring everything is stored in the right place without any manual effort.

How to Set It Up:

1) Create a new flow and set the trigger as “When a new email arrives” in Outlook.

2) Add a condition to filter specific emails – for example:

• Only emails from a particular sender (e.g., your finance team).
• Emails with a specific subject line (e.g., “Invoice”).

3) If the condition is met, add an action: “Create file” in OneDrive or SharePoint.

4) Select the folder where the attachments should be stored.

5) Save and test the flow.

The Result: Attachments are instantly saved and organised, reducing the risk of losing important files and ensuring seamless record-keeping.

 

Convert Flagged Emails into Tasks in Microsoft To Do

Many of us use our inboxes as makeshift to-do lists, but it’s easy to lose track of tasks when emails pile up. Instead of manually copying action items into your task manager, Power Automate can automatically create a task in Microsoft To Do whenever you flag an email.

How to Set It Up:

1) Create a new flow and set the trigger as “When an email is flagged” in Outlook.

2) Add an action: “Create a task” in Microsoft To Do.

3) Map task details from the email, such as:

• Task name (Email subject).
• Due date (Can be set automatically for the next working day).
• Body (Extract email content).

4) (Optional) Add a Teams notification as a reminder.

5) Save and test the flow.

The Result: Every time you flag an email, a task is created instantly in Microsoft To Do, helping you stay organised and on top of your priorities.

 

Get a Daily Summary Email for Teams & SharePoint Updates

With so many platforms to check, Teams, SharePoint, Outlook it’s easy to miss important updates. Instead of manually checking multiple apps, you can set up a Power Automate flow that sends you a daily summary email with key updates.

How to Set It Up:

1) Create a new Scheduled Flow and set it to run every morning (e.g., 8:00 AM).

2) Add an action: “Get messages from a Microsoft Teams channel” (e.g., project updates).

3) Add an action: “List new files in a SharePoint folder” (e.g., recently uploaded reports).

4) Format this information into a structured email.

5) Add an action: “Send an email” to yourself or your team.

6) Save and test the flow.

The Result: You receive a neatly summarised email every morning with the latest updates, so you’re always in the loop without spending time checking multiple platforms.

 

Final Thoughts

Now that you have learnt some great workflows to automate. From automating small, repetitive tasks may seem like a minor change, but over time, it can save hours every week, reduce human error, and improve overall efficiency. Whether it’s streamlining approvals, tracking tasks, or ensuring important updates aren’t missed, Power Automate makes it easy to work smarter.

The best part? You don’t need to be a tech expert to set up these workflows, Microsoft provides a vast library of pre-built templates to get you started quickly.

So why not give it a try? Choose one of the workflows from this list and set it up today, you might be surprised by how much time you save!