The smartsheet power automate 'insert row' function treats numbers as text

teresahoes

I am pulling data from an erp system an pushing it into a smartsheet using PowerAutomate and the available PowerAutomate connector action 'Insert Row' -- the input data to that function is numeric but it is showing up in Smartsheet as text. is there anyway to get it to populate as numeric or do we have to do a formula on the smartsheet side to get the value?

Andrée Starå

Hi @teresahoes

I hope you're well and safe!

Do the numbers begin with 0 (Zero)?

I hope that helps!

Be safe, and have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

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teresahoes

they do not begin with zero - if they do will they come over as numbers?

Andrée Starå

@teresahoes

No, it's the other way around. It will be read as text if it starts with 0.

Can you share some screenshots? (Delete/replace any confidential/sensitive information before sharing) That would make it easier to help.

teresahoes

Here you can see the inputs to the Insert Row action in Power Automate - note the parameters related to quotes are numeric in the json - not text.

Here is the output from the insert row process - you can see it is being returned as text in the json - and thus shows in the smartsheet column as text (with the apostrophe in front of it). I am unsure whether this Insert Row action is the culprit (bug or whatever) - or if there is something that can be done on the smartsheet side to ensure incoming numbers are retained as numbers.

Mike Clarke

I'm having this exact same issue! Was there a resolution to this or maybe you tried another method to import the data into Smartsheet?

TIA!

Mike_Rackspace

Has there been any progress made here?? I'm having the same issue and it's quite annoying!

John Sauber

@teresahoes Thanks for providing this documentation. I reached out to Smartsheet support, and they mentioned Microsoft owns the connector and manages it. They could probably make the update easily, if only there was a way to let (Microsoft) know. For what it's worth, I created a case for this in case they can bring up the enhancement request.

CuriousAnomaly

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/comment/457522#Comment_457522

Has Microsoft responded to your case? I have been experiencing the same issues as are being discussed in this thread and it has made my automation efforts difficult 😅

jessica.smith

I have experienced the same issue using the API in Bridge.

To resolve, instead of referencing displayValue, reference value and do not put the relative reference in ""

Smartsheet will then treat the value as a number instead of as a string and will not include the '

If the value field is blank, this will cause an error. To resolve, add || to your relative reference, followed by the text you want Smartsheet to include if value is empty

Example: {{states.startstate.smartsheet.get_row.row.cells.DEC.value||0}}

Full HTTP Request Body looks like this:

{
"cells":
[
{"columnId":6493121134415748,"value":{{states.startstate.smartsheet.get_row.row.cells.DEC.value||0}}
}
]
}

Eric Helal

It's still doing this in 2025. Insert Row even when I encapsulate my value in int() is making text for number strings that do not begin with 0. I suppose I can do the HTTP call directly but then what is the point of the connector!