A canvas or a list
Join steps on a canvas, from the start at the top to End, or edit the same steps as an indented list.
Workflows
Automate Routine Microsoft 365 Administration
Build reusable workflows from steps or a sample, and run them manually or on a schedule.
What you get
Values from step to step
Parameters ask for values when the workflow starts, and variables carry what a step found to the steps after it.
Sample workflows
Start from a sample such as Offboard a Leaver or Lock Down Stale User Accounts, then adapt a copy.
Run on a schedule
Run a workflow in Altivane, or from Windows Task Scheduler without a window.
How it works
Build, run, then schedule
Build or pick a sample
Add steps and fill in their settings.
Run it
Every change goes in the change log.
Schedule it
Windows Task Scheduler runs it without a window.
Steps on a canvas, or as a list
Each step does 1 thing, such as getting data, making a bulk change or exporting a file. Connections show the order the steps run in, not their position on the canvas.
- On the canvas, each step is a box joined to the next by a line, numbered in running order. An If step has a Yes line and a No line, a loop's steps sit in a box under it, and every path ends at End.
- The List shows the same steps as an indented list, with a line down from each If and loop to its last step.
- Snap aligns a step with the grid and the steps around it, and Spacing keeps steps from landing too close. Tidy up aligns the whole workflow on a grid, keeping your arrangement.
- Properties shows the settings of the step you select. A required setting left empty is marked in red, and a step that changes the tenant says so.
- Each step has a title, a note and what to do on an error: stop the workflow, or go on to the next step. A step that's turned off is skipped.
- Undo and Redo cover every change, moves on the canvas included.
- Start a workflow empty, or from a change: it reads a CSV file, makes the change for each row and exports the results. Workflows import and export as .json files, and sit in folders of your own.
The steps
Choose a step, then fill in its settings. Steps pass what they find to later steps through variables.
Steps that reach the tenant
- Get data
- Run command
- Bulk change
- Run report
- Back up policies
- Apply a blueprint
Get data runs a read-only Exchange Online cmdlet, such as Get-Mailbox, and saves the results. Run command runs an Exchange Online cmdlet. Bulk change makes any of the changes the Explore pages offer, such as Block sign-in, on a list of targets. Run report saves 1 of a report's tables, and Back up policies saves the tenant's Entra ID and Intune policies as JSON files. Apply a blueprint adds and updates what a blueprint declares, and never removes anything.
Flow
- If
- For each
- Repeat while
- Wait
- Stop
For each runs its steps once for each item in a list, and chooses whether a failed item stops the loop. Stop ends the workflow as succeeded or failed, with a message.
Variables
- Set variable
- Add to list
- Add row
Set a value or the result of an expression, add to a list, or build a table a row at a time.
Data
- Filter list
- Transform list
- Sort list
- Read CSV file
Keep the items that meet a condition, work out a new value from each, sort them, or read a CSV file into rows.
Output
- Write to output
- Export to file
Export to file writes a list to an Excel workbook or a CSV file in the tenant's output folder.
Values from step to step
Parameters ask for values when the workflow starts. Variables carry what a step found to the steps after it.
- A parameter is a value the workflow asks for each time it runs, such as the leaver's name. Its kind is Text, Number, Yes or no, Choice or List, and it can have a default and be required.
- A step that finds something saves it in a variable. A later step uses it in a setting as
{{ shared }}, or a property of 1 item as{{ mb..PrimarySmtpAddress }} - Conditions are written like PowerShell, such as
shared.. Insert, beside a setting, lists the variables you can use, and functions for text, numbers, lists and dates.Count -gt 0 - A run also sets its own variables, such as
tenant,testRun(true in a test run) andlastStatus(the status of the last step).
Run a workflow
A run makes the changes, and the change log records each one.
- Beside the workflow, Variables shows what each step saved, Log sums up the run step by step, and Trace lists every step with its status, item and time.
- Run asks first, naming the steps that make changes and the tenant: always for a step that blocks or removes something, and for other changes when your settings say so.
- Each change goes in the tenant's change log, and exported files go to the Workflows folder in the tenant's output folder.
- Select Stop or press Shift+F5 to end a run. The current step is marked Stopped.
- Without a window,
--workflow "Name"with--applyruns a workflow and makes its changes, and--set Name=Valuesets a parameter. See scheduled runs.
Sample workflows
Many samples find items that need attention and export them to Excel. Some can also make a change when you set a parameter. Duplicate a sample to keep the original.
Leavers and starters
- Offboard a Leaver
- Leaver Lockdown Across Platforms
- Set Up New Starters from a CSV File
- Add Group Members from a CSV File
Accounts and licences
- Lock Down Stale User Accounts
- Review Guests Needing Review
- Reclaim Licences from Disabled Accounts
Mailboxes
- Find and Clear External Forwarding
- Grant Full Access to Shared Mailboxes
- Hide Shared Mailboxes from Address Lists
- Shared Mailboxes Near the Size Limit
- Standardise Room Booking Settings
Devices and security
- Report Stale Managed Devices
- Sync Non-Compliant Devices
- Scan Devices Needing Antivirus Attention
- Resolve Old Informational Incidents
- Back Up Policies
SharePoint and Teams
- Review Inactive SharePoint Sites
- Review Sites Allowing Anyone Links
- OneDrive Storage Watch
- Archive Inactive Teams
- Add a Backup Owner to Teams with 1 or No Owner
- Assign a Teams Policy from a CSV File
Azure
- Close Azure Management Ports Open to the Internet
- Require HTTPS on Azure Web Apps
- Monthly Azure Review