Set multiple initial values in a list

Power Automate Desktop provides many actions for working with lists.

However, when you need to define a list and put several initial values in it, building the flow by combining “Create new list” and “Add item to list” makes the flow longer as the number of items grows.

This article explains how to set multiple items as the initial values of a list.

Create a listIn Power Automate Desktop, a variable that can hold multiple values is called a "list". This article shows how to create a list.

Define variablesExplains how to define variables, which you can use to hold and output values in a flow.

The "Set variable" action and data typesIn Power Automate Desktop, you add actions by dragging and dropping them in the GUI, but internally, flows are built in a programming language called Robin.

How to set multiple items as the initial values of a list

The action used here isn’t “Create new list” but “Set variable”.

The action has the following parameters.

Parameter	Value
Variable	The name of the variable to create
Value	The value to store in the variable

In “Value”, you can enter not only text and numbers but also code directly.

By taking advantage of this and passing list data directly to “Value”, you can define a list with multiple initial values.

Implement by copying and pasting

As a sample, here’s a flow that defines a list with three initial items.

Copy the following code and paste it into the Power Automate Desktop flow designer to add the action.

SET InitializedList TO ['itemA', 'itemB', 'itemC']

Implement in Power Automate Desktop

1. In “Search actions”, type “Set variable”.

2. Set the parameters as follows.

   Parameter	Value
   Variable	%InitializedList%
   Value	%[‘itemA’, ‘itemB’, ‘itemC’]%

3. When you run the flow, a list with multiple initial values is defined.