How to Use dayOfWeek Function in Power Automate?

I encountered an interesting requirement last week when working with a client. They wanted to automate a process based on the day of the week in Power Automate. Precisely, they needed to trigger different actions depending on whether it was a weekday or a weekend.

Luckily, Power Automate provides built-in functions that make it easy to determine the current day. In this tutorial, I will tell you how to use dayOfWeek function in Power Automate and apply the conditions to execute different actions based on the day in Power Automate.

Power Automate dayOfWeek() function

The dayOfWeek() function in Power Automate tells you which day of the week a given date falls on.

It returns a number:

• 0 for Sunday
• 1 for Monday
• 2 for Tuesday
• 3 for Wednesday
• 4 for Thursday
• 5 for Friday
• 6 for Saturday

Syntax:

dayOfWeek(timestamp)

Where: timestamp (Required) – A date value in string format (e.g., “yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ssZ”) or a dynamic date value like utcNow()

Example:

If today is March 21, 2025, you can use:

dayOfWeek(utcNow())

If March 21, 2025, is a Friday, this will return 5.

Check IF Day of the Week in Power Automate

Suppose your company has a Task Tracker SharePoint list where new tasks are added daily. The tasks should be auto-assigned to team members based on the day of the week:

• Monday & Wednesday: Assign tasks to Lidia Holloway
• Tuesday & Thursday: Assign tasks to Miriam Graham
• Friday: Assign tasks to Patti Fernandez
• Saturday & Sunday: No tasks should be assigned

Now follow the below steps:

1. Create an automated cloud flow. Give the flow name and select the trigger When an item is created. Also, provide the Site Address and List Name.

2. Add a compose action, which is to check the day of the week using the below expression:

dayOfWeek(utcNow())

3. Then add Switch Condition to Assign the Task.

• On: Take the Output of the Compose action from the dynamic content.

4. Click + Add case to add the first switch case. Manually enter the value 1 (Monday) inside the Equals parameter.

5. Add the Update item action inside the case, providing the Site Address and List name. Then, expand Advanced parameters and provide Assigned To Claims as Lidia Holloway.

6. In the same way add Case 2(Tuesday) and Add an Update item action.
Then Set Assigned To = Miriam Graham.

7. Same way do Case 3(Wednesday), Case 4(Thursday), and Case 5 (Friday) where:

• Case 3 Assigned To = Lidia Holloway
• Case 4 Assigned To = Miriam Graham
• Case 5 Assigned To = Patti Fernandez

Now, save the flow. Then, go to the SharePoint List and add an item.

After the flow runs successfully, go to the SharePoint list and refresh it. You will see that the assigned person is set to Patti Fernandez because today is Friday.

Check the Day of the Week from the Date in Power Automate

I use the same SharePoint list to check this, but the requirements differ. I want Power Automate to check if the Due Date falls on a Saturday or Sunday. If it does, an email notification will be sent.

To do this, follow the below:

1. Browse Power Automate, then provide your Microsoft credentials. On the Power Automate Home page, tap +Create. Select Instant cloud flow. Provide a flow name and select trigger Manullay trigger a flow. Tap the Create button.

2. Add a ‘Get items‘ action and provide the site address and list name. Since I do not want to send an email if the task status is ‘Completed,’ expand the Advanced parameters, click on ‘Filter Query,’ and provide the following parameters:

TaskStatus ne 'Completed'

3. Add a compose action and provide the below expression:

formatDateTime(items('For_each')?['DueDate'],'dddd')

4. Then add a condition action and provide the below :

• Left side: Output of the Compose action
• Operator: is equal to
• Right side: Saturday

Click “Add Row” in the condition and add another check:

• Left side: Output of the Compose action
• Operator: is equal to
• Right side: Sunday

5. In the true section, add a send an email action and provide below parameters:

• To: Provide the Assigned to email address.
• Subject: Task Due on a Weekend – Adjust Your Schedule!
• Body: Provide the below:

Your task '@{item()?['TaskName']}' is due on a weekend (@{formatDateTime(items('For_each')?['DueDate'],'dddd')}). Please plan accordingly!"

Save the flow and run it manually. After the flow runs successfully, you will see that if the due date falls on any assigned people, they will receive an email like the one shown below.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we explored how to check the day of the week in Power Automate using the dayOfWeek() function and formatDateTime(). We learned how to automate task assignments based on weekdays and send email notifications if a task is due on the weekend. By following these steps, you can ensure tasks are assigned efficiently and that team members receive timely alerts.

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