Move File with Replace setting in power automate will appear as MoveFrom in some tenants' library activity while appear as delete/create on others

Question

I am doing this exact activity inside 2 different SharePoint online tenants:-

1. Use power automate to get files from modern team site, which have not been modified since 5 year
2. Use power automate to move the file with Replace settings to a document center site

Now on the first tenant, this activity appear inside the library's Activity panel as Delete then Create inside the document center in case the file exists, while appear more conceptual inside the other tenant as MoveFom activity even if the file also already exists. so why we have these differences ? i am a bit confused.

Answer 1

Hi @john john Pter 

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum. 

The differences you are seeing are expected and relate to how SharePoint Online records file moves internally. The Move file action in Power Automate uses SharePoint’s REST API, and depending on your tenant, the logging follows one of two models: 

-In the older model, a move is treated as a copy followed by a delete. If the “Replace” option is enabled and a file already exists at the destination, SharePoint deletes the existing file, creates the new one, and then deletes the source. This sequence appears in the Activity panel as separate Delete and Create events. 

-In the newer model, Microsoft introduced an optimized approach where the move is captured as a single MoveFrom event with an overwrite flag. This makes the Activity panel cleaner and easier to interpret. 

Currently, some tenants still use the older detailed logging while others have the updated model. The actual move operation works the same in both cases. The only difference is how the Activity panel displays the action. 

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Answer 2

The behavior you're observing regarding the file movement in Power Automate may be attributed to differences in how SharePoint Online handles file operations across different tenants. Specifically, the way file moves are logged can vary based on the configuration and version of SharePoint being used in each tenant.

In some cases, moving a file with the Replace setting may be recorded as a "Delete" followed by a "Create" action when the file already exists in the destination library. This is likely due to how the underlying SharePoint infrastructure processes the move operation, especially if it involves metadata or versioning considerations.

On the other hand, in some tenants, the operation may be logged more conceptually as "MoveFrom" when the file is moved successfully without needing to delete and recreate it. This could be influenced by the specific settings, features, or updates available in that tenant's SharePoint environment.

These discrepancies can also be affected by factors such as tenant-specific configurations, the version of SharePoint being used, or even the specific Power Automate flow configurations. It’s advisable to check the settings and configurations in both tenants to understand the differences better.