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Create a canvas app with data from Microsoft Lists

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In this topic, you'll use Power Apps to create a canvas app based on items in a list created using Microsoft Lists. You can create the app from within Power Apps or SharePoint Online. From within Power Apps, you can create the app based on a list in an on-premises SharePoint site if you connect to it through a data gateway.

The app that you create will contain three screens:

  • In the browse screen, you can scroll through all items in the list.
  • In the details screen, you can show all information about a single item in the list.
  • In the edit screen, you can create an item or update information about an existing item.

You can apply the concepts and techniques in this topic to any list in SharePoint. To follow the steps exactly:

  1. In a SharePoint Online site, create a list named SimpleApp.
  2. In a column named Title, create entries for Vanilla, Chocolate, and Strawberry.

The principles of generating an app won't change even if you create a list that's far more complex, with many columns of various types such as text, dates, numbers, and currency.

Important

Power Apps doesn't support all types of SharePoint data. For more information, see Known issues.

Watch this video to learn how to create a canvas app from a list:

Create an app from within Power Apps

  1. Sign in to Power Apps.

  2. Under Start from, select SharePoint.

    Select SharePoint under Start from.

  3. If you don't have a SharePoint connection already created, you'll be prompted to. In that case, select Create SharePoint Connection.

  4. With the Connect directly option selected, select Create.

    Create SharePoint connection.

  5. Enter an app name.

  6. Select your SharePoint site, and list.

  7. Select Create.

    Create app.

    After a few minutes, your app opens to the browse screen, which shows the items that you created in your list. If your list has data in more columns than just Title, the app will show that data. Near the top of the screen, a title bar shows icons for refreshing the list, sorting the list, and creating an item in the list. Under the title bar, a search box provides the option to filter the list based on text that you type or paste.

    Browse screen.

    You'll probably want to make more changes before you use this app or share it with others. As a best practice, save your work so far by pressing Ctrl-S before you proceed. Give your app a name, and then select Save.

Create an app from within SharePoint Online

If you create an app of a list from the SharePoint Online command bar, the app appears as a view of that list. You can also run the app on an iOS or Android device, in addition to a web browser.

  1. In SharePoint Online, open a list, and then select Integrate > Power Apps > Create an app.

    Create an app.

  2. In the panel that appears, type a name for your app, and then select Create.

    Name the app.

    A new tab appears in your web browser that shows the app that you created based on your list. The app appears in Power Apps Studio, where you can customize it.

    Default app.

  3. (optional) Refresh the browser tab for your list (by selecting it and then, for example, pressing F5), and then follow these steps to run or manage your app:

    • To run the app (in a separate browser tab), select Open.

    • To let others in your organization run the app, select Make this view public.

      To let others to edit your app, share it with Can edit permissions.

    • To remove the view from SharePoint, select Remove this view.

      To remove the app from Power Apps, delete the app.

Note

Apps created from the list currently do not show in the Power Apps Mobile.

Next steps

In this topic, you created an app to manage data in a list. As a next step, create an app from a more complex list, and then customize the app (starting with the browse screen) to better suit your needs.

Customize a default browse screen

See also