Power Apps Notify Function: Success, Error, Warning and Info Messages

A help desk user clicks Save on a request form and nothing seems to happen. So they click again, and now the Service Requests list has two copies of the same printer ticket.

In this tutorial, we’ll use the Power Apps Notify function to tell users what just happened: a green banner when a save works, a red one when it fails, and a warning that stays until they close it. I built every example in a real canvas app and show the result of each one.

Quick answer: Put Notify("Request saved", NotificationType.Success) in a button’s OnSelect property. The second argument picks the type (Success, Error, Warning or Information, the default) and an optional third argument sets how long the banner stays, in milliseconds. The default is 10 seconds, and 0 keeps it until the user closes it.

How the Notify function works

Notify shows a banner across the top of the screen, both while you edit the app and when people use it. It’s a Power Fx function, the formula language of canvas apps, and you’ll find the other functions in our Power Apps tutorials hub. Here’s the syntax:

Notify( Message [, NotificationType [, Timeout ] ] )

Argument	Required?	What it does
Message	Yes	The text in the banner, up to 500 characters
NotificationType	No	Error, Information (default), Success or Warning. It sets the color and icon
Timeout	No	Milliseconds before the banner closes. Default 10,000 (10 seconds); 0 means until the user closes it

Three more rules from Microsoft’s reference matter in practice. Notify only works in behavior formulas, the ones that run on an action such as OnSelect. It always returns true. And it used to be called ShowError, back when it could only show errors.

Build the Demo App Step by Step

You don’t need any data for Notify, just a screen with a text box and a few buttons. Here’s how I set up the Service Desk Demo app from scratch.

1. Open the maker portal. Go to make.powerapps.com, stay on Home and select Start with design:

2. Start a blank canvas app. A canvas app is one where you place every control yourself. On the Create an app page, select Create from blank:

3. Pick the layout. Choose Tablet. Power Apps Studio, the app editor, opens with a blank screen. I renamed mine scrNotify in the Tree view on the left:

4. Add the controls. Open Insert and add a Text input named txtNtfTitle (Default “Printer jam on floor 3”) and seven buttons. Our guide to the Power Apps text input control covers its other settings:

5. Learn the three moves. Select a control, pick the property in the dropdown to the left of fx, then type the formula in the formula bar. To test, select Play at the top right, or hold Alt and click a button. Press Ctrl+S to save. More on clicks in the Power Apps button OnSelect property post.

Show a success message after a save

Select btnNtfSuccess, pick OnSelect in the property dropdown and enter this formula. The & operator joins the fixed text with whatever is in the text box:

Notify(
    "Request saved: " & txtNtfTitle.Text,
    NotificationType.Success
)

Long formulas are easier to read on several lines. Select Format text under the formula bar and Studio splits the Notify arguments for you:

Press Play and click Success. A green banner with a check mark appears across the top of the app:

Error, warning and information notifications

The other three buttons only change the second argument. In my test each type got its own color and icon, and clicking a new button replaced the banner that was showing, so users only see one message at a time.

Error is for anything that failed. Notify("Could not save the request. Try again.", NotificationType.Error) shows a red banner with an X icon:

Warning is for something the user should check before going on. My test banner came out yellow:

Information is the default, so Notify("The help desk replies within 1 business day") gives the same gray banner. Need buttons, styled text or a choice? Build a custom popup message in Power Apps instead.

Validate input before saving

This is where Notify earns its keep. Wrap it in If() with IsBlank() so a blank title gets an error instead of a saved record. The Power Apps If statement examples post has more conditions you can use here:

If(
    IsBlank(txtNtfTitle.Text),
    Notify("Enter a request title first", NotificationType.Error),
    Notify("Request saved: " & txtNtfTitle.Text, NotificationType.Success)
)

I cleared the text box and clicked Save (validate). The red banner asked for a title and nothing else ran. For required fields, number ranges and email checks, see our Power Apps form validation examples.

Set the Notify timer: how long the message stays

The third argument is the timeout in milliseconds, so 5000 is 5 seconds. Without it, the banner closes after 10 seconds, or sooner if the user closes it. My Show for 10 s button passes 10000, which matches the default but makes it obvious to the next maker.

A timeout of 0 keeps the banner open until someone clicks the X at its right edge. I use it for errors people must read. The Stay until closed button runs Notify("Closes only when you click X", NotificationType.Warning, 0), and the banner was still there after 15 seconds:

One catch: Microsoft notes that the default type and timeout can differ in custom pages and Power Fx commands in model-driven apps. Pass both arguments when the same formula runs in more than one place.

Notify after Patch or SubmitForm

A banner that says “saved” should only appear when the save worked. With the Patch function, wrap the call in IfError(): the second argument runs on a failure and the third runs when there’s no error:

IfError(
    Patch('Service Requests', Defaults('Service Requests'), {Title: txtNtfTitle.Text}),
    Notify("Could not save the request. Try again.", NotificationType.Error),
    Notify("Request saved: " & txtNtfTitle.Text, NotificationType.Success)
)

With an Edit form, put the messages in the form itself. Set OnSuccess to Notify("Request saved", NotificationType.Success) and OnFailure to Notify(frmRequest.Error, NotificationType.Error). That way a failed save keeps what the user typed. The steps are in submitting a form to a SharePoint list.

Common errors and limits

• Notify in a Text or Visible property: it only runs in behavior formulas such as OnSelect, OnChange, OnSuccess or OnVisible. To show a message that follows the data, use a label instead.
• Long messages: Microsoft sets a 500-character limit for the message. One short sentence reads best in a banner anyway.
• Can’t change the font size, color or position: Notify has no style arguments, so the banner always looks the same. Use a custom popup when you need your own design.
• Expecting a phone push notification: Notify only shows inside the open app. Push notifications are a separate feature.
• Writing the type as text: use NotificationType.Error, not "Error".

If you’re adding more feedback and logic to your app’s buttons, these guides pick up from here:

• How to Add Comments in Power Apps Canvas App?
• How to Clear a Text Input in Power Apps [4 Easy Methods]
• Power Apps Modern Information Button Control [Complete Guide]
• Power Apps Global vs Context Variables (and Collections): When to Use Each

Frequently Asked Questions