Power Apps Dropdown Values Not Showing [How to Overcome]

When working with Power Apps dropdown controls, you might notice that some SharePoint column values don’t show up as expected. This usually happens because not all SharePoint column types are handled the same way in Power Apps.

Common column types that can cause issues include:

• Choice
• Date and Time
• Currency
• Person or Group
• Yes/No
• And more…

Don’t worry, this is a common problem, and it’s fixable.

In this tutorial, I’ll walk you through simple tricks and step-by-step methods to correctly retrieve and display all SharePoint column values in a Power Apps dropdown control.

Power Apps Dropdown Values Not Showing [From SharePoint List]

While I was trying to retrieve SharePoint choice values in a Power Apps dropdown, the values were not displayed correctly. Then, I researched and found a tricky way to do it. Let’s discuss clearly.

Example:

1. I have a SharePoint list, [Project Tracker], which contains the fields below.

2. In Power Apps, there are two dropdown controls, and I have used the code below in the Items property of the Power Apps dropdown to retrieve SharePoint column values.

Items = 'Project Tracker'.Title                      // For Text Field Values

Items = 'Project Tracker'.ProjectStatus     // For Choice Field Values

Where,

• ‘Project Tracker’ = SharePoint Online List
• Title, ProjectStatus = SharePoint List Columns

3. Here, the first dropdown displays the SharePoint list text values; I tried to display the SharePoint choice field in the second dropdown. However, as shown below, it will not retrieve the values of the choice field.

4. Also, I encountered a Delegation warning: “The columns produced by this rule are all nested tables or records. However, the property expects at least some columns of simple values (such as text or numbers).”
5. This delegation warning clearly states that the dropdown control will only accept Text/Number columns, not all remaining columns.

6. To resolve this, I added the code below to the Power Apps Dropdown’s Items property. Then, it displayed all the SharePoint choices, as shown below.

Items = Choices([@'Project Tracker'].ProjectStatus)

Where,

ProjectStatus = SharePoint Choice Column

This is how to display the SharePoint choice field values in the Power Apps dropdown control.

Power Apps Dropdown is Not Working in Edit Form

Next, we will see why the Power Apps dropdown is not working in the SharePoint edit form and how to resolve this using the example below.

Example:

1. In this example, I will take the SharePoint list [Project Tracker].
2. In Power Apps, I have an edit form that connects to the SharePoint list. Whenever you connect the SharePoint list to the Power Apps edit form, the SharePoint choice field is displayed on the Combo Box control.

3. But it is not the right way to display the SharePoint choice field. The SharePoint choice field values should be displayed on the Power Apps dropdown control.

Refer to the image:

To work around this example, follow the below steps. Such as:

4. On the Power Apps Screen -> Insert an Edit form [frm_Projects] and set its DataSource as:

DataSource = 'Project Tracker'

5. To display SharePoint list fields in the form control, click Edit fields, then add fields as needed.
6. To get the Edit Form to a New form, just set the Default mode as “New” as in the screenshot below.

7. Select the Combo Box control -> Copy the DataCardValue & Items property -> Remove the combo box control.

DatacardValue = DataCardValue3

Items = Choices([@'Project Tracker'].ProjectStatus)

Where,

• DataCardValue3 = Combo Box Control DataCardValue
• Choices([@’Project Tracker’].ProjectStatus) = SharePoint List Choice Field

8. Now, insert the Dropdown control in the ProjectStatus_DataCard -> Set its DataCardValue and Items property to replace the position of the combo box control.

DataCardValue = DataCardValue3

Items = Choices([@'Project Tracker'].ProjectStatus)

9. Save, Publish, and Preview the app. The dropdown control will display each record from the SharePoint list choice field, as in the screenshot below.

This is how to display the SharePoint choice field values in the Power Apps dropdown using the edit form.

Conclusion

This Power Apps tutorial taught detailed information on why the Power Apps dropdown does not show values and discussed some of the tricks and steps for retrieving all the SharePoint column values in the dropdown with various examples like:

• Power Apps dropdown not showing values from a SharePoint choice field
• Power Apps dropdown control is not working in edit form

Moreover, you may like some more Power Apps tutorials:

• Validate Power Apps Dropdown Control
• No Item to Display in Power Apps
• Display SharePoint Person Column in Power Apps Dropdown
• Filter Power Apps Gallery Based On Combo Box Selection
• Expected Record Value in Power Apps

Preeti Sahu

Preeti Sahu is an expert in Power Apps and has over six years of experience working with SharePoint Online and the Power Platform. She is the co-author of Microsoft Power Platform: A Deep Dive book. As a Power Platform developer, she has worked on developing various tools using Power Apps and Power Automate. She also makes Microsoft 365 videos and shares them on YouTube.