Consecutive Numbered Naming Conventions for Multiple Attachments from Forms to Lists

[jgoldstein3]

Hello Power Automate Community,

I'm currently working on a flow where I am taking a Form submission, creating a List item and attaching the attachments to the list item. I would like the attachments to be renamed with a consistent naming convention to avoid duplicates. Specifically, I'd like each attachment to have the same beginning of the name, followed by consecutive numbers to differentiate them.

For example, if I have three attachments submitted on the Form, I want them to be named as follows:
- Project_Attachment_1
- Project_Attachment_2
- Project_Attachment_3

Attached is a photo showing my flow and specifically the Create File parameters with my current file name. Could you please guide me on how to achieve this using Power Automate? Any suggestions or insights would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your assistance!

[creativeopinion · Accepted solution]

@jgoldstein3 You'll need to add a Initialize Variable to your flow before the Apply to Each loop (1). You'll want to select Integer for the variable type. Set the variable to 0.

If you run into issues with your flow I would recommend switching to the Classic Designer as the New Designer is still buggy. 

In the Apply to Each loop, you'll need to add an Increment Variable action to your flow (2). Each time the Apply to Each action loops through, it'll increment the variable by 1. 

In your Create File action, insert the variable to the end of your file name.

You might find these YT Tutorials helpful: 

How to Get a Microsoft Form RSVP Response into a SharePoint List

IN THIS VIDEO:

✅ How to get a Microsoft Form Response into SharePoint

✅ How to get a Microsoft Form ID

✅ How to get a Microsoft Form response

✅ How to Build a Microsoft Form with Conditional Fields

✅ How to used Branching in Microsoft Forms

✅ How to format Microsoft Form multiple choice responses for a SharePoint multi-choice column

✅ How to parse a Microsoft Form multiple choice response as string of text

✅ How to convert a text response to a number

✅ How to use the Switch action

✅ How to create a custom email confirmation for a Microsoft Form submission

✅ How to Create a Custom View in a SharePoint list

✅ How to use the Compose Action

✅ How to write Power Automate Expressions

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How to Get Microsoft Form File Uploads Attached to an Email 📧

In this Microsoft Power Automate Tutorial I’m going to cover where file uploads from your Microsoft Forms are saved. I’ll also show you how attach the uploaded files to an email and how to dynamically name the files and customize the recipient of the email based on the selections made in your Microsoft Form. I will also cover how to handle responses that don’t include any file uploads.

IN THIS VIDEO:

‌✅‌ Two types of MS Forms

‌✅‌ Where Microsoft Personal (OneDrive) Form File Uploads are Saved

‌✅‌ Where Microsoft Group Form File Uploads are Saved

‌✅‌ How to Add a File Upload Question to an MS Form

‌✅‌ How to get a Microsoft Form ID

‌✅‌ How to get a Microsoft Form Response

‌✅‌ How to Get the Dynamic Content Microsoft Form File Upload Content

‌✅‌ How to handle Single and Multiple Microsoft Form File Uploads

‌✅‌ How to use a Scope action to Organize and Group Your Flow Actions

‌✅‌ How to Get the File Content from an MS Form File Upload

‌✅‌ How to Collect All Files Uploaded to a MS Form and Attach to an Email

‌✅‌ How to Handle MS Form Response When a File Isn’t Uploaded

‌✅‌ How to Create an Email Key

‌✅‌ How to Send an Email to a Specific Recipient Based on Form Selection

‌✅‌ How to Create a Dynamic Output Based on Form Selection

Hope this helps!

If I helped you solve your problem—please mark my post as a solution ✅.
Consider giving me a 👍 if you liked my response!

👉 Level up your Power Automate skills by checking out my tutorials on YouTube
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[jgoldstein3]

That worked flawlessly. Thank you for the quick reply to this and the helpful links!

[jgoldstein3 · Accepted solution]

I encountered an issue by renaming files within a loop, I inadvertently removed their extensions. This is problematic as the loop iterates through various file types such as PDFs or Excel files. Could someone please advise on how to extract the file extension during the loop for each specific file, and then ensure it is added back to the filename when renaming? Any help or guidance would be appreciated. Thank you!

[creativeopinion]

@jgoldstein3 You can refer to this section of my latest YT Tutorial where I show you how to create a dynamic file name. At this point I show you how to extract the file extension. You can apply this concept to your flow. 

Hope this helps!

If I helped you solve your problem—please mark my post as a solution ✅.
Consider giving me a 👍 if you liked my response!

👉 Level up your Power Automate skills by checking out my tutorials on YouTube
👉 Tips and Tricks on TikTok and Instagram