Trigger a Power Automate Cloud Flow and Power Automate Desktop Flow using VBA in Excel

 

Trigger a Power Automate Flow Using VBA in Excel

You can trigger a Power Automate Flow from VBA in two ways:

1️⃣ Using an HTTP Request (via Power Automate's HTTP Trigger)
2️⃣ Using Power Automate Desktop (via UI Automation or Command Line Execution)

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1. Trigger Power Automate Flow via HTTP Request

Steps to Follow:

1. Create a Power Automate Flow with an HTTP Trigger

   • Go to Power Automate.
   • Click Create > Automated Cloud Flow.
   • Select "When an HTTP request is received" as the trigger.
   • Click "Save", and Power Automate will generate a POST URL.

2. Copy the HTTP Request URL

   • This URL is needed in VBA to trigger the flow.

3. Use VBA to Call the Power Automate Flow

   • Add this VBA code in your Excel file:

vba
Sub TriggerPowerAutomateFlow()
    Dim http As Object
    Dim JSONBody As String
    Dim URL As String
    
    ' Set Power Automate Flow URL (Replace with your flow URL)
    URL = "https://prod-XX.westus.logic.azure.com:443/workflows/XXXXXXXXXXXXXX/triggers/manual/paths/invoke?api-version=2016-10-01&sp=/triggers/manual/run&sv=1.0&sig=YOUR_SECRET_KEY"

    ' Set JSON payload (optional)
    JSONBody = "{""message"": ""Triggered from Excel VBA""}"

    ' Create HTTP Object
    Set http = CreateObject("MSXML2.XMLHTTP")
    
    ' Send HTTP POST Request
    With http
        .Open "POST", URL, False
        .setRequestHeader "Content-Type", "application/json"
        .send JSONBody
    End With
    
    ' Confirm Flow Triggered
    If http.Status = 200 Or http.Status = 202 Then
        MsgBox "Power Automate Flow Triggered Successfully!", vbInformation
    Else
        MsgBox "Error: " & http.Status & " - " & http.responseText, vbCritical
    End If
    
    ' Clean up
    Set http = Nothing
End Sub

How It Works:

✅ Triggers the Power Automate flow using an HTTP POST request.
✅ Sends JSON data (optional) to Power Automate.
✅ Checks for success or failure (HTTP status 200 or 202).

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2. Trigger Power Automate Desktop (PAD) Flow Using VBA

If you want to trigger a Power Automate Desktop (PAD) flow, you can use a Shell command.

Steps:

1. Create a PAD Flow

   • Open Power Automate Desktop.
   • Create a new flow.
   • Click "Run URL" and copy the PowerShell command.
   • To get "Run URL" click on insist button and you will find the URL.

2. Use VBA to Run Power Automate Desktop

vba

Sub RunPADFlowViaPowerShell()
    Dim shell As Object
    Set shell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
    
    ' Run Power Automate Desktop Flow via PowerShell
    shell.Run "powershell.exe Start-Process 'ms-powerautomate:/console/flow/run?environmentid=Default-0f9f9044-e7d6-4603-b2dc-f0d91fd6ede6&workflowid=77d240b0-00a4-44fe-b948-90b47a51e089&source=Other'", 0, False
    
    Set shell = Nothing
    MsgBox "PAD Flow Triggered!", vbInformation
End Sub

✅ Triggers Power Automate Desktop without an HTTP request.
✅ Good for local automation workflows.

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Which Method is Best?

Method	Use Case	Works on Cloud?
HTTP Request (Method 1)	Best for triggering cloud-based Power Automate flows from Excel	✅ Yes
Power Automate Desktop (Method 2)	Best for triggering local automation tasks on your PC	❌ No