Introduction

  • 3 minutes

In addition to storing data, some key benefits of using a database such as Microsoft Dataverse are the ability to easily use your data in applications and share it with others through standardized documents. Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel templates in Dataverse can be used for scenarios like:

  • Providing a work order detail to a field technician.

  • Generating an insurance policy certificate for a customer.

  • Sharing a prospect list with a colleague.

Use Word templates in Power Apps

After creating a Word template in Dataverse, a model-driven app's users can generate a standardized document that's populated with selected data.

Use Excel templates in Power Apps

Similarly, after creating an Excel template in Dataverse, a model-driven app's users can view selected data within a standardized report.

Enable templates in Power Apps

To use the native Word and Excel templates integration with Dataverse, you'll need to first enable the integration through the Power Platform admin center. To proceed, follow these steps:

  1. Sign in to the Power Platform admin center.

  2. Select the Environments tab, and then select an environment where you want to enable integration.

  3. Select Settings from the command bar.

  4. In the Settings screen, expand the Templates section.

  5. Select Document templates. A separate browser tab will open.

    Screenshot of the Advanced settings module. Focus is on the Templates option.

  6. The first time you access the Document Templates section, a confirmation message will display. Select Try it out to proceed.

    Screenshot of the confirmation message. Focus is on the Try it out option.

Once you've opted to Try it out, you'll see an Available Templates View, which will be empty until you've created a template. You'll also be re-directed here after you select Document templates from the Settings page for your environment.

For this module, we'll focus on creating templates from Dataverse based on a specific table. You can use the skills you learn here for more complex scenarios in the future.

Next steps

Now that you've learned the fundamentals of templates for Dataverse and enabled the feature, you'll learn how to create a dynamic Word document based on a Dataverse record.