Power Automate ‘Add a Row’ sends numbers as text in Smartsheet
I’m using Microsoft Power Automate’s “Add a Row” action to populate a Smartsheet. Everything comes through correctly except the numeric fields I need to total later:
- In Smartsheet the values arrive as
'1(text with a leading apostrophe) instead of1(numeric). - Because they’re stored as text, my column
=SUM()formula ignores them.
What I’ve tried
- Casting the value in Power Automate with int(), float(), and plain numeric literals.
- Wrapping the expressions in string() and concat() to remove stray characters.
- Sending a blank cell first and then updating it with the number.
No matter what, Smartsheet still treats the incoming value as text (either '1 or "1"), so the SUM doesn’t update.
Has anyone found a reliable way to make Power Automate insert a true number into Smartsheet, so the column’s SUM formula recognizes it?
Tips on expression formatting, column settings, or any intermediate steps that worked for you would be greatly appreciated!
Answers
-
@randallschaad I completed a series of power automates yesterday, everything was working fine when I finally decided to call it a day. This morning I came to my desk and ran my power automates and I am experiencing the exact issue you have described. My values have arrived with a preceding apostrophe - which of course will not play nicely with subsequent formulas.
Hopeful there is an answer to this one. -
@randallschaad
I actually found the answer. @Paul Newcome ALWAYS has the formula answers.
Check out this post https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/109640/number-values-containing-apostrophe-after-being-imported-from-excel
You need to use VALUE function
