format number in Power Automate - SharePoint & Microsoft Power Platform Tutorials

Do you want to format a number in Power Automate? Here, I will explain how to use formatnumber() function in Power Automate to format a number. Then, I will show you how to use the format number Power Automate flow action.

Power Automate provides two ways to format a number inside a flow

formatNumber() function
Format Number action

Let us check with examples.

Table of Contents

formatNumber() in Power Automate

In Power Automate formatNumber() function accepts a number and converts it into the required format; it can be a currency, percentage float, etc.

Here is the formatNumber() expression syntax.

formatNumber(Number, 'format', 'locale')

Number: This is the number you want to format
‘format’: Then the number will get formatted.
Locale: Provide the locale, while formatting the number as currency[optional]

For example, we need to format the decimal number into percentages; for this, we can use the expression below

formatNumber(0.6, 0.00%), it returns 60.00%.
formatNumber(0.6, 0%), it returns 60%.

Now, let’s see how to use the formateNumber function in a flow in Power Automate.

1. Open Power Automate, click on + Create, and then select “Instant cloud flow“

2. Then provide the flow name and select the “Manually trigger a flow” action. Then click on Create.

3. Then click on the +Add an input, then select the Number option, and the Number field is added to the action.

4. Now, we will convert the given decimal number to a percentage. For this, click on Add an action and select Compose action. Then provide the below information:

Inputs: Provide the below expression:

formatNumber(triggerBody()['number'],'0.00%')

5. Now save the flow and run the flow manually, then provide any decimal number. You can see the number is formatted to percentage.

To convert the decimal number 0.6 to percentage 60%, use the below expression in the compose action input field.

formatNumber(0.6, 0%), it returns 60%.

formatnumber function expression power automate

Now, if you run the flow manually and provide the input number as 0.6, you can see the output as 60%.

This is how to use the formatNumber() function in Power Automate.

Format Number action in Power Automate

Here, we will see how to use the Format Number flow action in Power Automate.

The format number action also works in the same way as the formatNumber() function works. The format action also takes the same input i.e. Number, format, and Locale.

Here is an example.

1. Open Power Automate Cloud flow, then select the instant cloud flow.

2. Then, provide the flow name and select the “Manually trigger a flow” action. Then click on Create.

formatnumber expression in power automate

3. Now, we will convert the given decimal number to a percentage. For this, click on Add an action and select Format Number action. Then provide the below information:

Number: Provide the number as 0.6
Format: Provide the format as 0.00%

4. Now save the flow and run the flow manually, then provide any decimal number. You can see the number is formatted to percentage.

To convert the decimal number 0.6 to percentage 60% in Format number action. For this, in the format number action, provide the below information:

Number: Provide the number as 0.6
Format: Provide the format as 0%

Now, if you run the flow manually, you can see the output as 60%.

This is how to use the Format Number action in Power Automate.

List of formats to Format number in Power Automate

Here, we will list some of the formats to format the number in Power Automate

Following format to format number in Power Automate.

1. Format number to decimal

The “D” (or decimal) format specifier is used to convert a number into a string consisting of decimal digits (0-9). If the number is negative, it will be prefixed with a minus sign.

It’s important to note that this format specifier is applicable only to integral types.

The precision specifier plays a role in indicating the minimum number of digits you want in the resulting string.

If necessary, the number will be padded with leading zeros to meet the digit count specified by the precision specifier.

If you don’t specify a precision specifier, by default it will include the minimum number of digits required to represent the integer without any leading zeros.

Number	Format	Expression	Result
234	D	formatNumber(234, ‘D’)	234
234	D4	formatNumber(234, ‘D4’)	0234
234	D8	formatNumber(234, ‘D8’)	00000234
-234	D4	formatNumber(-234, ‘D’)	-0234

2. Format number to Exponential specifier

The Exponential “E” format changes a number into a string that looks like this: “-d.ddd…E+ddd” or “-d.ddd…e+ddd.” Each “d” is a digit (0-9). If the number is negative, it starts with a minus sign. There’s always one digit before the dot.

The precision specifier tells us how many digits we want after the dot. If we don’t say, it’s six by default.

The format specifier’s capitalization decides whether we use “E” or “e” for the exponent part. The exponent always has a plus or minus sign and at least three digits. If needed, zeros are added to make it three digits long.

Number	Format	Expression	Result
234	E	formatNumber(234, ‘E’)	2.340000E+002
234	E4	formatNumber(234, ‘E4’)	2.3400E+002
234	E8	formatNumber(234, ‘E8’)	2.34000000E+002
-234	E8	formatNumber(-234, ‘E8’)	-2.34000000E+002

3. Format number to Fixed point specifier

The Fixed Point “F” format takes a number and turns it into a string that looks like this: “-ddd.ddd…”. Each “d” is a digit from 0 to 9. If the number is negative, it starts with a minus sign.

The precision specifier tells us how many digits we want after the decimal point.

Number	Format	Expression	Result
234	F	formatNumber(234, ‘F’)	234.00
234	F4	formatNumber(234, ‘F4’)	234.0000
234	F8	formatNumber(234, ‘F8’)	234.00000000
234	F0	formatNumber(234, ‘F0’)	234
-234	F4	formatNumber(-234, ‘F4’)	-234.00000000

4. Format number to General Format

The General “G” format changes a number into a shorter version, either with a fixed number of decimal places or in scientific notation. Which one it picks depends on the number and any instructions you provide.

If you specify a precision (how many important digits to keep), it will follow that. Otherwise, it uses a default precision based on the type of the number.

Number	Format	Expression	Result
234.56	G	formatNumber(234.56, ‘G’)	234.56
234	G2	formatNumber(234, ‘G2’)	2.3E+02
000.234	G7	formatNumber(000.234, ‘G7’)	0.234

5. Format number as Percentage Format

The Percentage “P” format takes a number, multiplies it by 100, and turns it into a string that shows it as a percentage. The precision specifier tells us how many decimal places we want to include in that percentage.

Number	Format	Expression	Result
234.56	P	formatNumber(234.56, ‘P’)	23,456.00 %
.23456	P with locale ‘hr-HR’	formatNumber(.23456,’P’,’hr-HR’)	23,46%
.234	P2	formatNumber(.234, ‘P2’)	23.40%

6. Format Number as hexadecimal

The Hexadecimal “X” format accepts a number and turns it into a string which is of hexadecimal digits. These are the characters 0-9 and A-F (or a-f).

Also, you can choose whether you want the letters to be in uppercase (“X”) or lowercase (“x”). For example, “X” gives you “ABCDEF,” and “x” gives you “abcdef.”

This format only works for whole numbers. The precision specifier tells us how many digits you want in the string. If you need more digits, zeros are added to the beginning of the string to match the specified number.

Number	Format	Expression	Result
234	X	formatNumber(234, ‘X’)	EA
234	x	formatNumber(234,’X’)	ea
23456	X2	formatNumber(23456, ‘X2’)	5BA0

7. Format Number as Currency

The Currency “C” format changes a number into a string that looks like a currency amount. It’s like writing money values, with a symbol like “$” or “€”. The precision specifier tells us how many decimal places you want in that money amount.

Number	Format	Expression	Result
50	C	formatNumber(50,’C’)	$50.00
50	C0	formatNumber(50,’C0′)	$50
50	C1	formatNumber(50,’C1′)	$50.0
12345	C2	formatNumber(12345,’C2′)	$12,345.00
12345	C3	formatNumber(12345,’C3′)	$12,345.000
12345	C with locale ‘de-de’	formatNumber(12345,’C’,’de-de’)	12.345,00 €

8. Custom Numeric string format

You can create your own custom numeric format string, which is made up of one or more custom numeric specifiers. This specifier will format the number and how we want to display the number.

Number	Format	Description	Expression	Result
23.45	0	Replace the zero in the output string with the appropriate digit if it exists; else, zero is displayed.	formatNumber(23.45,’0’)	23
23.89	#	if a digit is available, replaces the “#” symbol with it; else, the returned string contains no digits.	formatNumber(123.89,’#’)	124
12389	##-##		formatNumber(12389,’##-##’)	123-89
0.6	%	multiplies a value by 100 and appends a localised percentage symbol to the output string.	formatNumber(0.6,’0.00%’)	60.00%
123567	,	The comma (‘,’) has two roles. First, it separates groups of numbers with a symbol that matches your location. Second, it acts as a way to scale numbers down by a factor of 1000 for each comma you use.	formatNumber(123567,’##,##’)	123,567

This is the list of formats available to format the number in Power Automate. To learn it in more detail, refer to the Standard numeric and Custom numeric formats.

Conclusion

I hope you got an idea of how to use the Power Automate formatNumber() function to format a number to different formats like decimal, currency, etc.

I have also explained how to use the format number flow action in Power Automate. Finally, I have listed down the formats available in the formatNumber() function in Power Automate.