sharepoint update item with blank value

[Sandervk]

When using Sharepoin Update Item actions, does anyone know how to remove the current value meaning the new value should be blank or empty?

[v-monli-msft]

Hi @Sandervk,

If the column is not a required one, meaning there is no red tag beside the field, then you could just leave the field blank when creating the flow.

Regards,

Mona

[Sandervk]

Hi @v-monli-msft,

Thanks you for you reply.

I thought that was the case. However if you leave them blank when updating a record. they will not be updated at all. That why I was wondering how to remove existing value. I can ofcourse enter a <space> however that I can later on not check wheter this field is empty. I tested this with the Item Update shown below. The empty ones will not be emptied when running this. Only the one at the bottom will get updated. 

[MrtnM]

I have the same question: I am trying to build a Flow that sends an email with options, and if Option "Delete" is chosen, one field is supposed to be emptied. But I can't make it work, so for now I must settle with "update with <space>" but that is not what want to do. Looking forward to a solution 🙂

[nikelly]

Instead of checking for empty spaces, you could always check for spaces that equal " " since it's replacing the deleted item with a blank space. 

[martinav]

This is a really old post, but I am trying to do this as well.  I do not believe leaving a field blank in an Update Item will remove the contents.  No value simply passes over the field and does not update it.  Anyone else have this experience?

[Stroos]

I've experienced this as well.  Leaving it blank simply leaves the data that is in the list and doesn't wipe it.  I want to wipe a numerical column from whatever data it contains back to blank each day.  Currently I use "0" but my users find it hard to view hte list and would prefer it to be emptied if possible.  Is this possible?

[martinav]

I have tried the expression null(), and that did not work for Sharepoint people fields.  I did not try it for numerical.

[Stroos]

Sweet!!  Null worked for numerical field.  Thanks for hte heads up martinav.

[ONYXJas]

To clear the current value from a field when using SharePoint Update item, select the dynamic content option, click on the Expression tab and select the Null function, then click OK.  This clears the current value and sets the field to null.

[ONYXJas]

Maybe that's changed, I've successfully used Null to clear people fields

[GabrielStJohn]

Hello, @Sandervk!

Have you had an opportunity to apply @ONYXJas‘s recommendation to adapt your Flow? If yes, and you find that solution to be satisfactory, please go ahead and click “Accept as Solution” so that this thread will be marked for other users to easily identify!

Thank you for being an active member of the Flow Community!

-Gabriel

Flow Community Manager

[ONYXJas]

...except I now find that this technique does not seem to work for person or group email claims fields - it throws a [400] error -"Unknown recipient" 😞

[Anonymous]

I too tried to use Null to blank the People column in my flow but the flow failed with the message "recipient is invalid".

Please advice. 

[Anonymous]

I was able to set the People column to blank using 'Send an HTTP request to SharePoint' action. It is working fine.

[martinav]

Nice one, @Anonymous.  I'll definetely stash this one in my bag of tricks.  I dont know how some of y'all come up with these solutions.  If its anything like me, its a very time consuming and cumbersome trial and error process.

[Anonymous]

Gabriel,

I've been looking for hours for a solution to this. I should not have to set up an HTTP Post action just to clear a user/group field. This is an incredibly frustrating limitation, and would like to see some type of update or acknowledgement from MS for this shortcoming. Can you provide any updates on this? We need the ability to clear person fields with the update item action. EVERY OTHER field type you can user null, or -1 for choice fields. I would take either for person fields. 

Please respond!!

[mbntech]

how about initialize a string variable but leave it blank then use that as the dynamic expression?

[Bob_Taylor]

@Anonymous Thank you for this post. I've been looking for this for a bit now. I'm new to this and programing, so I have a question on field name in the body. The internal field name in my SP list is Support_Resource and it is displayed at Support Resource Name. I've tried all combinations of this in the Body of the request and I keep getting an error saying "The property 'whatever I usedStringID' does not exist. I've tried the following:

'Support_x005f_ResourceStringID', 'Support_ResourceStringID', 'Support_x0020xResource_x0020NameStringID', 'Support_x005f_Resource_x0020_StringID', 'Support Resource NameStringID', and 'Support_x0020_Resource_x0020_Name_x0020StringID' 

All of these return the same error. Any suggestions?

[dee2005]

Hi @Bob_Taylor ,

Did you try Support_Resource? Nonetheless if you have this problem again I suggest you put a get items or a when an item is created trigger referencing the list you want to update, then in your update item just set the field you want to update to a dynamic value and search for that very same field from the previous step, after you have selected the field hover over it to see how it is referenced you will find it in ['yourfield']. 

Step using when item is created:

Steps using get items (this will add an apply to each):