Start Power Apps
To get started with Microsoft Power Apps, sign in using your organizational Microsoft 365 account. Then, in your web browser, go to make.powerapps.com. This site opens the Power Apps Maker portal, where you can begin building your apps.
The left-hand menu includes key navigation options, and the Copilot text input field appears at the top center. Copilot provides a way to describe app functionality using everyday language. Apps created using Copilot are built on Microsoft Dataverse, which may incur additional licensing costs not included in most plans. If Dataverse isn't available in your plan, consider starting with a data source that is included at no extra cost.
To begin building an app using any supported data source, select Create from the left-hand menu. On the Create your apps page, look across the top to see that you can start with Copilot, connect to data, use a page design, or choose a blank canvas.
The Do more with your apps section includes options to create Copilot agents, automate workflows using Power Automate flows, build websites, or enhance apps using AI Hub.
Scroll down on the App from templates section to view available templates. Templates provide examples of how apps work with data, but it’s not recommended to use these templates with your own data.
To return to the home page, select Home in the left-hand menu. At the bottom of the home page, you'll find the Learning for every level section. Select See all to open a page with links to Microsoft training resources, blogs, discussion forums, how-to articles, and instructional videos.
The Apps tab shows a list of your existing apps and includes buttons to start new apps, similar to those found on the Create tab.
This overview covers basic navigation in the Power Apps Maker portal. In the next unit, you'll create your first app using an Excel spreadsheet stored in OneDrive. This app is designed for use on a mobile device.
To access OneDrive, select the app launcher (waffle icon) in the top-left corner of the Maker portal, next to the Power Apps title. Then select OneDrive to open it in a new browser tab. Use the + Add new button to upload a file from your computer. This file is used as the data source in this learning module.
If you plan to use a mobile device, download the free Power Apps Mobile app from your device’s app store. Sign in using your Microsoft 365 credentials. Power Apps Mobile enables you to run any canvas app directly from your device.
Let’s continue to the next unit to create your first app.