Starting with Power Automate, as an individual, is easy! Before you can create a cloud flow, sign up by using any email address. If you’ve never used an online Microsoft product with that address, you’ll need to take a few moments to register it.
Sign up free
If you haven’t used other online Microsoft products, you’ll need to sign up.
- In Power Automate, select Try free in the upper-right corner.
- Enter your email address.
- Select the right arrow.
Sign in
If you’ve used other Microsoft online products, either for work or yourself, all you need to do is sign in. You can access Microsoft Power Automate in several ways:
- Web Portal: Visit the Power Automate website, select Sign in in the upper-right corner, enter your email address and password. This is the primary way to create, manage, and monitor your flows.
- Desktop Application: Download and install Power Automate Desktop to automate tasks on your computer. This tool is especially useful for robotic process automation (RPA).
- Mobile App: Use the Power Automate mobile app, available for iOS and Android, to manage your flows on the go.
- Microsoft Teams: Integrate Power Automate with Microsoft Teams to create and manage flows directly within the Teams interface.
- Office 365 Applications: Access Power Automate through various Office 365 apps like SharePoint, OneDrive, and Outlook, where you can create flows based on specific triggers and actions within these apps.
Use paid features
Anyone can sign up and get a free plan for Power Automate. If your organization has purchased Microsoft 365 or Dynamics 365, you may already have access to Power Automate. You can also purchase a Power Automate license so that you will have everything you need for this course.
Steps for purchasing a Microsoft 365 subscription:
- Go to Microsoft 365 ( https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365).
- Click “Plans and pricing”.
- Choose between the plans based on your needs. Recommend subscribing to the Microsoft 365 Business Basic plan, which is only $6/month – a small investment with immense value. You can even try it for free for one month.
- If you also want to have the desktop apps for Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, you can try the Microsoft 365 Business Standard plan. But the Microsoft 365 Business Basic plan is more than sufficient for our course.
- Click “Buy now” and let the Microsoft wizard guide you through the purchasing process.
Once done, you can login Power Automate (make.powerautomate.com) with your newly created account.
Troubleshooting
In many cases, you can register for Power Automate by following the simple process described previously in this topic. However, this table summarizes the most common reasons why you might not be able to sign up, and describes available workarounds.
| Symptom / error message | Cause and workaround |
| No Microsoft account created yet You receive a message after entering your email during signup: That Microsoft account doesn’t exist. Enter a different account or get a new one. | You signed up with an email that doesn’t yet have a Microsoft account created for it. Select the Sign up now link on that page and you’ll be able to create a new Microsoft account for your email. You can use your existing email to create a Microsoft account. |
| .gov or .mil email addresses You receive a message like the following during signup: Power Automate unavailable: Power Automate is not available for users with .gov or .mil email addresses at this time. Use another work email address or check back later. | You cannot currently sign up for Power Automate with a .gov or .mil address. Instead, you can sign in with any Microsoft Account email address such as a @outlook.com address. |
| Self-service signup disabled You receive a message like the following during signup: We can’t finish signing you up. Your IT department has turned off signup for Power Automate. Contact them to complete signup. or We can’t finish signing you up. It looks like Microsoft Power Automate isn’t currently available for your work or school. | You have selected Sign up instead of of Sign in. If you select Sign in in the top of the home page you will be able to access Power Automate. |
| Email address is not an Office 365 ID You receive a message like the following during signup: We can’t find you at contoso.com. Do you use a different ID at work or school? Try signing in with that, and if it doesn’t work, contact your IT department. | Your organization uses IDs to sign in to Office 365 and other Microsoft services, and those IDs differ from your email address. For example, your email address might be Nancy.Smith@contoso.com, but your ID might be nancys@contoso.com. To complete signup, use the ID that your organization has assigned to you for signing in to Office 365 or other Microsoft services. |