#PowerPlatformTip 154 – ‘Preserve Author, Editor & Dates on Copied SharePoint Files’

Sometimes a straight Copy file isn’t possible and you have to recreate a document with Create file + Delete file. The problem: the new file gets you as author, today as the created date, and loses the original history. With a single REST MERGE call you can write the original AuthorId, EditorId, Created and Modified values back onto the new item — so the migrated file is indistinguishable from the source.

💡 Challenge

You migrate or rebuild files across libraries where Copy file won’t work (different site, content type change, etc.), so you use Create file + Delete file. The recreated item now shows the flow’s identity as Created By / Modified By and the current timestamp as Created / Modified. Audit trails, “sort by newest” and compliance views are all broken.

✅ Solution

Author and Editor are person fields you set via their ID columns AuthorId and EditorId; Created and Modified are date fields you set directly. Read these values from the source item before deleting it, then write them onto the new item with a MERGE request via Send an HTTP request to SharePoint. MERGE only touches the fields you send, so nothing else changes.

🔧 How it’s done

1. Capture the original metadata before deleting the source.

🔸 From Get files (properties) / Get item keep: Author (Claims/Email), Editor, Created, Modified.

2. Resolve the user to a numeric ID. AuthorId/EditorId need the site user ID, not the email.

🔸 Send an HTTP request to SharePoint → Method POST, Uri:

_api/web/ensureuser

Header Content-Type: application/json;odata=verbose, Body:

{ "logonName": "i:0#.f|membership|jane.doe@contoso.com" }

🔸 Read the returned Id (e.g. body('Ensure_Author')?['d']?['Id']). Repeat for the editor.

3. Get the target library’s entity type once:

_api/web/lists/getbytitle('Documents')?$select=ListItemEntityTypeFullName

🔸 e.g. SP.Data.DocumentsItem.

4. Add the MERGE request on the new item.

🔸 Method POST, Uri _api/web/lists/getbytitle('Documents')/items(ID)

🔸 Headers:

Accept: application/json;odata=verbose
Content-Type: application/json;odata=verbose
IF-MATCH: *
X-HTTP-Method: MERGE

🔸 Body — dates in ISO 8601 UTC:

{
  "__metadata": { "type": "SP.Data.DocumentsItem" },
  "AuthorId": 12,
  "EditorId": 15,
  "Created": "2022-03-14T08:15:00Z",
  "Modified": "2022-06-01T10:42:00Z"
}

5. Run this MERGE last. Any later write to the item resets Modified/Editor to now.

🔸 A 204 No Content response means the metadata was applied. Verify in the library’s Created / Modified columns.

🎉 Result

The recreated file shows the original Created By, Modified By, Created and Modified — exactly like the source. Audit trails stay intact, chronological sorting is correct, and compliance views remain trustworthy, even though the file was rebuilt via create-and-delete.

🌟 Key Advantages

🔸 Faithful migration: original author, editor and timestamps are preserved.

🔸 Standard action only: Send an HTTP request to SharePoint — no premium connector.

🔸 Selective by design: MERGE writes only the four metadata fields, leaving everything else untouched.

🛠️ FAQ

Q1: Why AuthorId instead of Author?

Author and Editor are person/lookup fields. Via REST you set them with the numeric site user ID on the AuthorId / EditorId columns, which you get from _api/web/ensureuser.

Q2: What date format do Created and Modified expect?

ISO 8601 in UTC, e.g. 2022-03-14T08:15:00Z. Convert your source values with formatDateTime(..., 'yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ssZ') if needed.

Q3: My Modified date keeps resetting to today — why?

Any subsequent update to the item overwrites Modified and Editor. Make this MERGE the last write to the item so your values stick.

Q4: Does this need special permissions?

The connection must have permission to write to the library. Setting Author/Editor requires the account to be able to update those fields (site member/owner-level access).

🔗 Related Tips

• #PowerPlatformTip 153 – Rename a SharePoint File with Power Automate — the companion rename trick using FileLeafRef.
• #PowerPlatformTip 133 – SharePoint Updates with Power Automate — updating only the fields you need.
• #PowerPlatformTip 47 – Batch-Method within SharePoint — bulk REST operations for large migrations.