How to Initialize a Date Variable in Power Automate [With Examples]

In this Power Automate tutorial, I will show you how to initialize a date variable in Power Automate. Then, I will explain how to initialize a Date variable in Power Automate with Today’s Date.

I will also describe how to initialize a Date variable in Power Automate and add days to the current date.

After that, I will show you how to initialize a Date variable in Power Automate date format (Weekday, Month Day, and Year).

I will demonstrate Power Automate how to initialize a date type variable from a SharePoint Online list.

Initialize A Date Variable in Power Automate

Variables are used to store the values and manage data during the flow in Power Automate. Initializing the variable declares the datatype and initial value of the variable.

Initializing a date variable means it will store the date values and can be used to work with date related information during the flow.

Example: Suppose I have initialized the date variable as today’s date in a Power Automate flow, then the variable holds that date value and can be used throughout the flow.

Property	Description
Name	Enter a Name for a variable (Todays Date)
Type	Set the datatype to the variable from available datatypes like String, Integer, Float, Boolean, Array, Object.
Value	This is the optional value.

Initialize a Date Type Variable to Get Current Date in Power Automate

Here, I have created a Power Automate flow that will trigger manually to Initialize a date variable to display Today’s date.

Suppose I give the expression for Today’s date in the value column of an initialized variable; then it displays output as the current date value with (Time in the UTC zone).

To achieve this, follow the below instructions:

• Create a Power Automate Instant cloud flow.
• Then, Click on + New step under Manually trigger a flow and add Initialize variable action.

• Enter the properties of the Initialize variable as mentioned below:
  • Name: It is a mandatory required field.
  • Type: Select the datatype as a string.
  • Value: Provide the mentioned expression.

Expression: formatDateTime(utcNow(),'dd-MM-yyyyTHH:mm:ssZ')

• Add Send an email(V2) action under the Initialize variable and provide To, Subject, and Body in the Email.
  • To: Provide user email.
  • Subject: Enter the subject of the email.
  • Body: Provide the output of the initialized variable.

• After that, Click on Save and select Test.

• In the Test Flow window, Select Manually, and Click on Save &Test.

• Then, the flow will run successfully and send an email to the user as shown below:

This is how to initialize a date variable with Today’s date using Power Automate flow.

Check an article on Get Current Date in Power Automate.

Power Automate Initialize a Date Variable Add Days to Todays Date

I have explained how to initialize a Date variable by adding days to Today’s date through Power Automate.

This example repeats the same steps mentioned earlier but only adds days to today’s Date.

Example: Suppose Today’s date is 14/09/2023; then I will add +7 days to the current date. So that, it will give the output as 21/09/2023 with Hours: minutes format.

• In the Power Automate flow, insert wherever you want to insert the initialized variable.
• In the Initialize variable, enter the properties as mentioned below:
  • Name: It is a mandatory required field.
  • Type: Select the datatype as a string.
  • Value: Give below mentioned expression.

Expression: formatDateTime(addDays(utcNow(),7),'dd-MM-yyyy HH:mm')

• Next, add the “Send an email (V2)” action and provide the following:
  • To: Provide user email
  • Subject: Give subject to the email
  • Body: Give the output of initialized variable from dynamic content.

• Once the flow has been created, Save and Test the flow Manually.
• When the flow runs successfully and sends an email notification to the user that displays adding 7 days to the current date.

This is how to initialize a date variable by adding days to Today’s date using Power Automate flow.

Power Automate Initialize a Date Type Variable (Day of Week, Month Day, and Year)

Now, I will show you how to initialize a date variable in formatdatetime like Day of week, Month Day, and Year.

Example: I was initializing Todays Date i.e.,14/09/2023, then the output will be in the format of Thursday, September 14,2023.

• Create a Power Automate Instant cloud flow and add an “initialize variable” flow action.
• In the “initialize variable” flow action, provide the below properties:
  • Name: It is a mandatory field. Set the name as the Todays date.
  • Type: Select datatype as string.
  • Value: Give the below expression.

Expression : formatDateTime(utcNow(),'dddd,MMMM,dd,yyyy')

• Add send an email (V2) action and provide below details:
  • To: Provide user email.
  • Subject: Enter the subject for the email.
  • Body: Give the output of the initialized variable from dynamic content.

• Once the flow has been created, Click on Save and Test Manually.
• When the flow runs successfully, the user will receive an email notification displaying Today’s date in weekday, month day, and year format.

This is how to initialize a variable with Today’s date, displaying date in the format of Day of week, Month Day, and Year.

Power Automate Initialize a Date Type Variable from a SharePoint List

Now, I will show you how to initialize a date type variable from a SharePoint Online list using Power Automate flow.

For this, I have created a SharePoint Online list named ‘Travel Request‘ with different data types as shown below:

Column Name	Data Type
Trip Title	Title column – Renamed it to Trip Title
Travel Start Date	Date and Time
Travelling Country	Look Up
Days – Time Limit	Number column

Example: Whenever a user creates an item in the SharePoint list with a Travel Start Date, then it will check the maximum Days- Time limit and send an email notification of the Available Travelling Slot Date to the user.

• Create an Automated cloud flow with a trigger “When an item is created“, provide below details:
  • Site Address: Select the SharePoint site address from the drop-down menu.
  • List Name: Select the list name from the drop-down.

• Next, Add Get item action and enter the below details:
  • Site address: Select the SharePoint site address from the drop-down.
  • List name: Give the list name from the drop-down.
  • Id: Select ID from dynamic content.

• After that, add an “Initialize variable” flow action, and then set the below-mentioned details:
  • Name: Set a Name for the Variable
  • Type: Select datatype from the drop-down.
  • Value: Give the below expression.

int(outputs('Get_item')?['body/Days_x002d_TimeLimit'])

• Then, add a compose data operation to bind Travel Start Date [Date column] and output of initialize variable.

Expression : addDays(outputs('Get_item')?['body/TravelStartDate'],variables('Maximum Days Limit'),'dd-MM-yyyy')

• Next, add Send an email (V2) action and Provide To, Subject, and Body as shown below:
  • To: Provide created by email.
  • Subject: Enter subject for an email.
  • Body: Give the output of compose action.

• Once the flow has been created, Click on Save and Test the flow manually.

• Now, add an item to the SharePoint list; when the flow runs successfully, it will send an email notification to the user as shown below:

This is how to initialize a date variable from the SharePoint Online list using Power Automate flow.

Conclusion

Through this Power Automate tutorial, I have explained how to initialize a date variable by using Power Automate flow. Also, I have discussed the below examples on Power Automate Initialize a date variable.

• How to Initialize a Date Type Variable to Get Current Date
• Power Automate Initialize a Date Variable Add Days to Todays Date
• Power Automate Initialize a Date Type Variable (Day of Week, Month Day and Year)
• Power Automate Initialize a Date Type Variable from a SharePoint List

You may also like:

• How to Send Birthday Emails from Excel using Power Automate?
• Initialize String Variable in Power Automate
• Build a Parallel Approval in Power Automate
• Send an Email Notification When an Item is Deleted via Power Automate
• Create an Instant Cloud Flow in Power Automate