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2 Easy ways to get Environment URL in Power Automate

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After five years, it’s time to update my post “Get CRM URL in Power Automate“…

Cases where you might need to get the Environment URL

  • When you ‘Relate’ or ‘Unrelate’ two records with the Dataverse action
  • For generating a direct link to a specific record for activities or other records
  • If your Flow logic has different branches for the production environment then for the others. For example in approvals processes, for email send outs or or integrations with third-party systems.

Options for retrieving Environment URLs in your Power Automate Flows

1. Environment Variable

Environment Variables are configurable values used within solutions. They follow the KeyValue principle, where the Key is fix defined and the Value can vary between the different environments. The value gets set during the deployment of the containing solution.

Here are two links where you can find informations about Environment Variables and how to use them in Power Automate

2. Previously used Dataverse Action

If you already use a Dataverse Action (not a Dataverse Trigger) in your Power Automate Flow, it might be worth checking out it’s output. Maybe you find there the Environment URL.

Environment URL

It doesn’t play a role for us if the ULR ends behind the domain (.com), or if it has paths (.com/path/subpath) and / or parameters (.com?ad=YourAdPlacement) behind it.
The following expression ignorantes all elements behind the domain and returns a clean URL.

join(take(split(outputs('YOUR_AD_PLACEMENT'), '/'), 3), '/')
Do not forget to replace my example content “outputs(‘YOUR_AD_PLACEMENT’)” with your content.

My preference

As most of my Power Automate Flows operate in Dataverse environment, there is mostly already a Dataverse action where I can pick the URL from. There is also no chance for a human error during setup, compared to Environment Variables.

Copy and paste without formatting

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Copying content from a Word document or from a website into the clipboard, also copies the information of how this content is formatted (font, color, etc.) into the clipboard. When you paste it into a Rich-Text-Editor (WYSIWYG-Editor), most of the editors try to merge it … somehow … and the result looks like an accident.

Paste without formatting

To paste without formatting, you can use simple shortcuts.

  • On Windows
    Shift + CTRL + V
  • On macOS
    Shift + Command + V

Some changes here

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As a loyal recuring visitor, you may have noticed same changes here in the last week.

  • I removed the small little image that indicates about which product a blog entry is written.
    From time to time Microsoft makes some changes on the logos and they have guideline for its usage and I’m
    not interested in taking about care such things anymore, so do without it.

  • The <-more-> TAG has been removed.
    I don’t wan’t to oppress me with my own design rules. Less clicks for you people.

  • I switched from multilingual entries to English only.
    The first time I have only written in German to support and interact with the German community.
    Then I added English to reach more people and have a greater audience. At the end there is no interaction,
    no matter in which language. So I spare me the double work.

Final words

I think you will profit from the restructuring because I will have less work with creating content and
I’m able to “fast publish” posts because I’m not stick at any layout.