Prior to the release of PowerApps, SharePoint forms were commonly customized using a Microsoft Product called Infopath. Infopath was released as part of the Office 2003 family. For many years Infopath served as a reliable tool for users to make design (and some code) changes to SharePoint forms. Many Infopath forms have been in use for over 15 years!
These forms would often find a home in Office 365 when on-premise SharePoint deployments were migrated. Infopath does exist in Office 365 currently, but Infopath Forms are expected to be out of support by July of 2026. Power Apps has replaced the functionality provided by Infopath Forms. However, many SharePoint customers have large investments in Infopath and will not be able to convert their complex forms immediately or do not want to assume this effort in addition to a migration. They will need to continue using these forms until a future conversion plan can be executed.
Another challenge introduced by Infopath forms was the format used by Infopath. Simple customized list forms convert very well to Office 365. The more complex Infopath forms that use a form library and store in XML are not always cleanly migrated over. These forms may have additional processes attached to them via SharePoint Designer Workflows, Nintex Workflows, or custom code stored in the form. Migrating these capabilities to the cloud can be challenging and can even cause organizations to abandon migration efforts.
We have found a great solution to this challenge using another Office 365 tool, PowerAutomate. This tool is a replacement to 2010 and 2013 SharePoint Designer workflows. PowerAutomate also replaces work done with Nintex Workflows. It contains the actions to read, parse, and replace XML content, allowing you to replicate actions done in Infopath code or Nintex Workflow processes.
In our most recent project we have found great success replacing complex Infopath logic with PowerAutomate processes. We have created PowerAutomate flows to execute, via trigger conditions, upon Infopath form actions. We have also created PowerAutomate flows to perform mass updates to large Infopath form libraries, in support of migration efforts. These flows have allowed us to correct migration errors in user fields or even replace form templates. We have even used PowerAutomate to support repeating table functionality in an Infopath form.
Using PowerAutomate to support Infopath application has proven to be a working combination to buy organizations time and conserve resources on difficult migration projects. In many cases, these Power Automate jobs can be utilized to work with the future PowerApps forms. Feel free to contact us to learn more and see how we can help you with this goal.