How To Format A Number In Power Automate [Many Examples]

The way numbers need to be displayed varies on the context. Prices with different currencies need a different format than serial numbers with leading zeros. The Power Automate Format Number action and the interchangeably usable Power Automate formatNumber function simplifies formatting numbers.

How To Use The Power Automate Format Number Action

power automate format number

Power Automate FormatNumber Function

The formatDate function does the same as the Format Date action. A given number is formatted based on a format and a locale to formatted string.

Syntax

formatNumber(number : number, format: string, locale?: string)

Parameters

• number (required): The number that needs to be formatted.
• format (required): The format that should be applied to format the number.
• locale (optional): The locale that is used to format the number.

Return value

• Returns the formatted number as a string that is formatted based on format and locale.

Power Automate Format Number Patterns

To format a number you need to provide a format. Formulating this format is for sure the hardest part.

We will show you the options you have for formulating formats and provide a lot of examples.

To define the number format you can use:

• Standard formats for Currency, Digits, Exponential, Float, Hexadecimal, Number or Percent
• Custom format

Below you will find explanations and examples of each format.

In most cases the Power Automate Format Number examples below are self-explanatory.

Currency

To define the format of for a currency there is the standard C format. Simply use C followed by the number of decimal places you need.

If you only provide C as format you will get the default format C2.

Provide a locale to formatNumber to get the correct currency and format for the given locale.

Examples: Format number as currency

Format	Expression	Number	Result
C	formatNumber(12345,’C’)	12345	$12,345.00
C0	formatNumber(12345,’C0′)	12345	$12,345
C1	formatNumber(12345,’C1′)	12345	$12,345.0
C2	formatNumber(12345,’C2′)	12345	$12,345.00
C3	formatNumber(12345,’C3′)	12345	$12,345.000
C with german locale	formatNumber(12345,’C’,’de-de’)	12345	12.345,00 €

Digits

It is quite common to have numbers that need to have certain number of digits. To provide the needed number of digits leading zeros are often used to fulfil the needed length. The standard format D followed by the number of digits you need ensures the rigth number of digits.

Examples: Format number with leading zeros

Format	Expression	Number	Result
D	formatNumber(123,’D’)	123	123
D3	formatNumber(123,’D3′)	123	123
D4	formatNumber(123,’D4′)	123	0123
D6	formatNumber(123,’D6′)	123	000123
D8	formatNumber(123,’D8′)	123	00000123

Exponential

To format a number in exponential notation use the standard format E.

Examples: Format number in exponential notation

Format	Expression	Number	Result
E	formatNumber(12345,’E’)	12345	1.234500E+004

Float

You want to format a number with predefined number of decimal places, use the standard format F followed by the needed number of decimal places.

Examples: Format number as a float

Format	Expression	Number	Result
F	formatNumber(12345,’F’)	12345	12345.00
F0	formatNumber(12345,’F0′)	12345	12345
F1	formatNumber(12345,’F1′)	12345	12345.0
F2	formatNumber(12345,’F2′)	12345	12345.00
F3	formatNumber(12345,’F3′)	12345	12345.000

Hexadecimal

To format a number in hexadecimal use the standard format X.

Examples: Format number hex string

Format	Expression	Number	Result
X	formatNumber(987,’X’)	987	3DB

Number

To format a number with a thousand separator and a configurable number of decimal places use the standard format N.

Examples: Format number with thousand separator

Format	Expression	Number	Result
N	formatNumber(12345,’N’)	12345	12,345.00
N0	formatNumber(12345,’N0′)	12345	12,345
N1	formatNumber(12345,’N1′)	12345	12,345.0
N2	formatNumber(12345,’N2′)	12345	12,345.00
N3	formatNumber(12345,’N3′)	12345	12,345.000

Percent

The standard format P lets you display a number as a percentage.

Examples: Format number to percentage

Format	Expression	Number	Result
P	formatNumber(0.5,’P’)	0.5	50.00%
P0	formatNumber(0.5,’P0′)	0.5	50%
P1	formatNumber(0.5,’P1′)	0.5	50.0%
P2	formatNumber(0.5,’P2′)	0.5	50.00%
P3	formatNumber(0.5,’P3′)	0.5	50.000%

Custom Format

Sometimes the standard formats do not fit your needs. This is where custom formats come in.

By combining multiple placeholders you can define your own format.

Here is a list of the most common placeholders.

Placeholder	Description
0	A digit if present, if there is no digit a 0.
#	A digit if present, if there is no digit nothing is displayed.
.	Use a decimal separator and a fixed number of decimal places.
,	Use thousands separator.
%	Multiplies the number by 100 and appends a % symbol.
;	Define three sections with separate format strings for values greater than 0, less than 0 and equals 0

You might wonder how to use them. Below there is at least one example for every placeholder.

0 – Zero Placeholder

Format	Expression	Number	Result
00000000	formatNumber(12345,’00000000′)	12345	00012345
00.00	formatNumber(12345,’00.00′)	12345	12345.00

# – Digit Placeholder

Format	Expression	Number	Result
########	formatNumber(12345,’########’)	12345	12345

. – Decimal Point Placeholder

Format	Expression	Number	Result
#.00	formatNumber(12345,’#.00′)	12345	12345.00

, – Thousands Separator

Format	Expression	Number	Result
#,#	formatNumber(12345,’#,#’)	12345	12,345

% – Percent

Format	Expression	Number	Result
#00.##%	formatNumber(0.1234,’#00.##%’)	0.1234	12.34%

; – Section Separator

Format	Expression	Number	Result
+0.00;-0.00;0	formatNumber(1234,’+0.00;-0.00;0′)	1234	+1234.00