Move Files to Different Sites Based on Metadata using Flow

Question

I want to be able to upload a batch of documents to a folder, tag them with client names and document type, and have a flow move each file to a specific client site where they can only see files associated with them. Is this possible with a flow? It is worth noting we have our Document library set up with a folder structure that has multiple levels. Would that make this more challenging?

An example would be Daniel receives documents for two clients, Chris and Mike. Daniel drags the files to a SharePoint folder that corresponds with where the files are coming from, tags one file as type="Financial" and client="Mike" and the other as type="Personal" client="Chris" - a flow then moves these files based on the tags... Later that day Chris logs on and sees the file that was uploaded as well as the type of file that it is. Chris only sees his files, he does not see files tagged for Mike.

Please let me know if any additional details are needed. our folder structure is sorted by business we get the documents from --> type ---> year if that makes sense.

Thank you for reading.

Answer 1

Habibur's reply is great. One more thing you need to consider in Flow is the site address in copy file action. According to your description, the files shall be copied to specific sites according to the name tag. So if you have a bunch of users to handle, if condition or switch control will not be a doable approach. The copy file action needs a destination site address.

So if all the user sites have a shared format of URL with their name, it may be possible to use the custom value in site address for you to construct a common URL for all the users. Or, it will be a bit hard for you to handle.

If your final goal is to make the file only accessible for certain user, maybe just create unique permission for the file is an option. However, too many files with unique permission will have great impact on performance.

Here is an example:https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/Power-Automate-Community-Blog/Microsoft-Flow-to-Provide-Item-Level-Permission-on-SharePoint/ba-p/351195

Answer 2

Yes, this is possible using the Microsoft flow. Before starting this, you should create all mapping metadata in the target site document library which at present is being used in folder structure. So, first you need to define the source and target metadata mapping.

Then the as usual way move document from folder to target respective library but before that in the flow check add the if condition with the logic source and target metadata mapping - this will define which document should go to where.

For the permission handling, after moving the document, break the inheritance then only have the required permissions, rest all remove, these all can be handled through the flow.

For sample document moving you may refer to the below articles :

Move a Document From One SharePoint Library to Another Using Flow

How to Copy Files in SharePoint Using Microsoft Flow