Power Automate: Efficiently Retrieve Dataverse Lookup Values Using Expand Query
Introduction When building Power Automate flows with Microsoft Dataverse, retrieving lookup column data is a very common requirement. However, many flows are designed in a way that retrieves only lookup GUIDs , forcing additional Dataverse calls to fetch related data. This approach increases complexity, execution time, and API usage. In this article, we’ll see how to efficiently retrieve lookup values in a single call using the Expand Query option in the Dataverse List rows action. The Challenge with Lookup Columns Consider a Dataverse table cs_ticket that has a lookup column cs_CustomerContact pointing to a Contact table. When you retrieve rows using List rows without an expand query, the lookup column returns only the GUID . Sample output "_cs_customercontact_value" : "7c8ffb96-00a7-47c0-b587-a6c652d66b34" Problems with this approach You cannot access contact details like email or contact number You need an additional “Get a row by ID” action Flow becomes...