How to Understand GUID in Power Apps and Power Automate

Introduction

GUID stands for Globally Unique Identifier.

A GUID is a unique value used to identify a record, transaction, or process.

Example:

3f2504e0-4f89-11d3-9a0c-0305e82c3301

You don't need to remember or manually create this value. Power Apps and Power Automate can generate GUIDs for you.

Why Do We Need GUID?

Imagine 100 users are using the same application and creating records at the same time.

If we use names, there can be duplicates:

Ketan

John

A GUID provides a unique identifier for each record:

Ketan → 3f2504e0-4f89-11d3-9a0c-0305e82c3301

John → 8a7c1e45-6f23-4c92-bf11-7e9d2a4c8b31

Even though the names are the same, the GUIDs are different.

GUID in Power Apps

Power Apps provides the GUID() function.

Create a new GUID

Set(
    varGUID,
    GUID()
)

Now varGUID contains a new GUID.

Example

Set(
    varCorrelationID,
    GUID()
);

Notify(

"Correlation ID: " & varCorrelationID,

NotificationType.Information

)

GUID in Power Automate

Power Automate provides the guid() expression.

You can use it in a Compose action:

guid()

Every time the flow runs, it can generate a new GUID.

For example:

6c4e8a17-0d92-4c61-b7f5-1a9e83d64210

Power Apps + Power Automate Example

GUIDs are very useful when Power Apps calls Power Automate.

For example, when a user clicks an Approve button:

Set(
    varCorrelationID,
    GUID()
);

ApprovalFlow.Run(
varCorrelationID,
SelectedInvoiceDetailRecord.ID,
"Approved"
)

Power Automate receives:

Correlation ID

Invoice ID

Action

The flow can save the same Correlation ID in an audit log.

Example:

Correlation ID:

6c4e8a17-0d92-4c61-b7f5-1a9e83d64210

Invoice ID:

1254

Action:

Approved

Now, if something goes wrong, you can search the audit log using the Correlation ID and trace the complete process.

GUID in Dataverse

Dataverse uses a unique identifier for each row.

For example:

Invoice	Record ID
INV-1001	`3f2504e0-4f89-11d3-9a0c-0305e82c3301`
INV-1002	`8a7c1e45-6f23-4c92-bf11-7e9d2a4c8b31`

The user normally sees the invoice number, while Dataverse uses the unique identifier internally.

GUID in SharePoint

SharePoint normally uses a numeric ID for list items:

ID = 1254

SharePoint also has a GUID-based UniqueId.

So don't confuse:

SharePoint ID     → 1254

SharePoint UniqueId → GUID

The numeric ID is unique within the SharePoint list, while the UniqueId is a GUID.

GUID vs ID

ID	GUID
`1254`	`3f2504e0-4f89-11d3-9a0c-0305e82c3301`
Easy to read	Difficult to read
Usually system/list specific	Designed for global uniqueness
Good for user-facing numbers	Good for system identification
Common in SharePoint	Common in Dataverse

GUID vs Numeric ID

Feature	Numeric ID	GUID
Example	`1254`	`6c4e8a17-0d92-4c61-b7f5-1a9e83d64210`
Human-readable	Easier	Difficult
Scope	Often system/list specific	Designed for global uniqueness
Size	Small	Larger
Good for	Internal record numbering	Distributed systems/integrations
Collision risk	Depends on implementation	Extremely low
Common in Dataverse	No, primary key is GUID-based	Yes
Common in SharePoint	Yes	Yes, via UniqueId

When Should We Use GUID?

GUID is useful when you need:

A unique identifier
Power Apps → Power Automate tracking
Audit logging
Correlation IDs
API integration
Parent-child record tracking
Unique transaction identification

Simple Real-World Example

Suppose an invoice approval process looks like this:

Power Apps
    ↓
Approve Invoice
    ↓
Generate GUID
    ↓
Power Automate
    ↓
Child Flow
    ↓
Audit Log

Example:

Correlation ID:

6c4e8a17-0d92-4c61-b7f5-1a9e83d64210

The same GUID can be stored in every related log entry.

This makes it easy to answer:

Which flow executions and audit records belong to this approval request?

Conclusion

A GUID is simply a unique identifier used by applications and systems.

In Power Platform:

Power Apps       → GUID()

Power Automate → guid()

Dataverse → GUID-based record identifier

SharePoint → Numeric ID + GUID UniqueId

The easiest way to remember it is:

ID helps identify a record. GUID helps provide a highly unique identifier that can be safely used across systems and processes.