🚀 Master Automation with 6 Power Automate Date Time Actions

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6 Power Automate Date Time Actions can completely transform the way your business handles time-based data automation. This is the third post in our Power Automate Built-in Tools Series, following our previous tutorials on Control actions and Data Operation actions.

Whether you’re scheduling reports, formatting timestamps, or calculating deadlines — these Date Time actions will help you automate time like a pro.

📚 What Are Power Automate Date Time Actions?

Power Automate Date Time actions are built-in tools designed to manipulate and format date and time values in your flows. These actions are essential when working with schedules, reminders, reports, or any process involving time-based data.

Here are the 6 Power Automate Date Time Actions you’ll learn to master:

6 Power Automate Date Time actions

🌍 What is UTC (Coordinated Universal Time)?

UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) is the world’s main time standard. It shows the current time at a place called Greenwich, near London in the UK.

Because UTC is the same everywhere, computers and automation tools like Power Automate use it to avoid confusion with different local times.

  • If the UTC time is 9:00 PM in Greenwich, then in the USA (Eastern Time Zone, UTC-4 during daylight saving time), the local time is 5:00 PM on the same day.
  • So, UTC time doesn’t show your local time unless you convert it.

⏰ Check the Current UTC Time

You can always check the current UTC time anytime at this reliable website:
https://www.utctime.net/

This helps you compare UTC with your local time for better understanding.

⏱️ Add to Time

Use: Add seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, or years to a specific datetime.

📌 Use Case: Add 7 days to a due date to set a new deadline.

🔧 How to Use:

  • Action: Add to time
  • Parameters:
    • Base time: Click inside the field, then click the “fx” icon, enter utcNow(), and click the “Add” button.
    • Interval: Enter 7 or any other number in the Interval field.
    • Time unit: Select Day, Hour, or any other available option from the dropdown.
Add to time action

✅ Result Example:
If today is July 17, 2025, the output will be something like 2025-07-24T00:00:00Z, which includes both the date and time.
To display only the date, add a Compose action below it and use the formatDateTime() function like this:

formatDateTime(outputs('Add_to_time'), 'yyyy-MM-dd')

🧠 Convert Time Zone

Use: Change the time zone of a datetime value.

📌 Use Case: Convert UTC to Eastern Standard Time for localized reporting.

🔧 How to Use:

  • Action: Convert time zone
  • Parameters:
    • Base time: Click inside the field, then click the “fx” icon, enter utcNow(), and click the “Add” button.
    • Source time zone: (UTC) Coordinated Universal Time
    • Destination time zone: In this field, type “Eastern Standard Time” and select Use “Eastern Standard Time” as custom value — or choose any other time zone you are in or want to convert to. You can also select a time zone directly from the dropdown list..
    • Format string: In this field, type "yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ss" and select Use “yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ss” as custom value.
Convert time zone action

✅ Result Example:
2025-07-16T17:46:43

📆 Current Time

Use: Insert the current time into your flow.

📌 Use Case: Timestamp when a form was submitted or an item was added.

🔧 How to Use:

  • Action: Current time
Current time action

✅ Result Example:
Returns the current UTC time in ISO 8601 format:
2025-07-16T21:50:28.7666486Z

🔍 Format Breakdown:

  • 2025-07-16 → Date in YYYY-MM-DD format
  • T → Separator between date and time
  • 21:50:28 → Time in HH:MM:SS (24-hour format)
  • .7666486 → Fractional seconds (precision beyond seconds)
  • Z → Indicates UTC time (Zulu time)

🔁 Get Future Time

Use: Quickly get a future date by setting an offset.

📌 Use Case: Automatically calculate expiry or renewal dates.

🔧 How to Use:

  • Action: Get future time
  • Parameters:
    • Interval: 90
    • Time unit: Day
Get future time action

✅ Result Example:
Returns a datetime 90 days ahead:
2025-10-14T22:00:06.7415744Z

🔁 Get Past Time

Use: Quickly get a past date by setting an offset.

📌 Use Case: Automatically check if a deadline has passed.

🔧 How to Use:

  • Action: Get Past time
  • Parameters:
    • Interval: 90
    • Time unit: Day
Get past time action

✅ Result Example:
Returns a datetime 90 days ago, e.g.:
2025-04-17T22:17:59.3925373Z

⌛ Subtract from Time

Use: Subtract time units from a given datetime.

📌 Use Case: Find out what the date was 30 days ago.

🔧 How to Use:

  • Action: Subtract from time
  • Parameters:
    • Base time: utcNow()
    • Interval: 30
    • Time unit: Day
Subtract from time action

✅ Result Example:
Returns a datetime by subtracting the specified interval from the base time:
2025-06-16T22:22:05.5165162Z

🔍 Why Mastering These 6 Power Automate Date Time Actions Matters

Mastering 6 Power Automate Date Time Actions gives you precise control over many important automation scenarios. By using these 6 Power Automate Date Time Actions, you can streamline processes such as:

  • Sending timely reminders and notifications exactly when needed
  • Scheduling recurring reports automatically based on dynamic dates
  • Creating detailed logs and audit trails with accurate timestamps
  • Calculating due dates dynamically to avoid missed deadlines
  • Converting time zones effortlessly for teams working across the globe

When you master these 6 Power Automate Date Time Actions, your workflows become smarter, faster, and more reliable — saving you time and reducing errors.

🧪 Try This Example Flow Using 6 Power Automate Date Time Actions

Goal: Send a reminder email 2 days before a task deadline using the 6 Power Automate Date Time Actions.

1️⃣ Start your flow with a trigger like “When a task is created.”
2️⃣ Use the Subtract from time action (one of the 6 Power Automate Date Time Actions) to subtract 2 days from the task’s due date.
3️⃣ Use the Send an email (V2) action with a dynamic message that includes the calculated reminder date from the 6 Power Automate Date Time Actions.

🎯 Result: Thanks to mastering these 6 Power Automate Date Time Actions, you’ll get automatic reminders ahead of schedule — no manual checking needed!

💡Bonus Resources

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