Overview of cloud flows

Create a cloud flow when you want your automation to be triggered either automatically, instantly, or via a schedule.

This video gives an overview of cloud flows.

Flow type	Use case	Automation target
Automated flows	Create an automation that is triggered by an event such as arrival of an email from a specific person, or a mention of your company in social media.	Connectors for cloud or on-premises services connect your accounts and enable them to talk to each other.
Instant flows	Start an automation with a click of a button. You can automate for repetitive tasks from your desktop or mobile devices. For example, instantly send a reminder to the team with a push of a button from your mobile device.	Wide range of tasks such as requesting an approval, an action in Teams or SharePoint.
Scheduled flows	Schedule an automation such as daily data upload to SharePoint or a database.	Tasks that need to be automated on a schedule.

Find your flows easily

You might have a need to find a flow within a large number of flows. Finding your flows is easy—just use the search box on the Cloud flows, Desktop flows, or Shared with me tab to display only flows that match the search terms you enter.

Note

The search filter finds only flows that have been loaded into the page. If you don't find your flow, try selecting Load more at the bottom of the page.

More options to find your flow

If you can't find your flow, try one of the options in the following table.

Scenario	Solution
The flow might be in a different environment.	To change environments, go to Environment information and settings.
The flow was shared.	Check the Shared with me tab in My Flows menu option. (For an example, refer to the screenshot in Find your flows easily in this article.)
You might have been removed as an owner of the flow.	Contact the flow owner to be re-added. To find out if you’re an owner of the flow, go to Remove an owner.
The flow might have been deleted.	To restore the flow, go to Restore deleted flows.

Related information

• Training: Describe building automation with Microsoft Power Automate (module)
• Training: Create and Manage Automated Processes by using Power Automate (learning path)
• Training: Automate a business process using Power Automate (learning path)