Tired of chasing updates across Planner boards or manually sending task lists every week?
In this tutorial, I'll show you how to use a built-in Power Automate template to automatically send a summary of your Microsoft Planner tasks by bucket straight to your inbox (or someone else's).
It's a simple automation that can be used for personal task management, project updates, manager reporting, or team accountability. Once it's set up, Power Automate will generate and email a scheduled Planner summary automatically, saving you from digging through boards and compiling updates yourself.
*This video was originally created for Thrive Academy, my members-only Microsoft 365 training library. The Academy is now being retired, so I'm bringing some of the most practical lessons onto YouTube for everyone to access.*
In this tutorial you'll learn how to:
✅ Find a Planner summary email template in Power Automate
✅ Schedule automatic daily or weekly task summaries
✅ Connect the flow to a specific Microsoft Planner board
✅ Get the automation to group tasks by Planner bucket
✅ Customise recipients, notification settings, and email options
✅ Test the flow before turning it on
✅ Customise the automation further using filters and conditions
This is particularly useful for Executive Assistants, Operations Managers, Project Coordinators, Admin Professionals, and anyone using Microsoft Planner to manage recurring work.
CHAPTERS
0:00 Introduction
1:13 Finding the Power Automate template
2:24 Building the flow
2:39 Changing the schedule to weekly
3:43 Connecting your Planner board
5:50 Configuring the email summary
7:20 Testing the flow
8:21 Reviewing the completed email
9:28 Additional customisations
10:00 Wrap up
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