New way to add the Attachment Control in Power Apps

Ready to have your mind blown? That may be a little much, but we are pretty excited for this and think you will be as well.

Let’s start with a quick look at how we used to add the Attachment control.

Previously, adding the Attachment control involved multiple steps, such as adding a data source, inserting an Edit form, adding the Attachment field, and then manually copying the control outside the form to configure it. That worked for years, still does, and there’s nothing wrong with that approach. Maybe a little excessive on the steps, but hey, it works.

But what if I told you there was an easier way to add the Attachment control (or any other control for that matter) in your Power Apps. Odds are if you’re reading this, you are at least somewhat interested ha.

You can do this with any existing app or start with a blank app, it’s up to you.  For our example we will be using a blank app to keep things simple.

1. From the Power Apps editor, click the Ellipses at the top and select Settings.

   

2. On the Settings window, click Support.

   

Make note of the Authoring version, it’s probably 3.25061.7. We need to change that.

3. Below Authoring version, click Edit.

   

4. Then, under Authoring version, click the drop-down and select 3.25063.5. (Your version may be different, but you just want to select the newest version.)

   

5. Once selected, click Reload + apply version.

   

Power Apps is then going to reload your app and reopen. It’s always a good idea to double-check that your changes were saved and your Authoring version was updated. So, take a moment to confirm your Authoring version now shows as 3.25063.5 or again the version you selected.

It’s also important to note that, as a rule of thumb, we don’t recommend doing this in any other cases, as it can get people in trouble. BUT if you need the attachment control working again, you will need to update the Authoring version. And hey, Shane said it’s ok, so it must be alright 😊

Now that the version is updated, you can simply copy and paste the YAML code for the attachment control right into your app. If you’re thinking to yourself, What is YAML code? Let me assure you, it’s fine, you are not alone either 😊. We aren’t even going to get into it, just know that code is what allows you to paste these controls into your apps.

Let’s check out how it works.

So, from my text editor, you can see the YAML code and properties for the Attachment control.

I’ve also included the YAML code below so you can copy and paste it into your app.

- Attachment1:

Control: Attachments

Properties:

BorderColor: =Color.Purple

BorderThickness: =5

Fill: =RGBA(169,169,169,.5)

Height: =268

MaxAttachments: =1

Size: =18

Width: =402

X: =60

Y: =111

6. All I have to do is copy the code, go into Power Apps, and paste it.

7. Boom! You will see the attachment control is now there and configured with the properties specified in the code.

   

Again, this will work with any of your controls. If you want to get the YAML code for a control, you can add it to your app, right-click on the control, and select View code.

If you want to watch the video where Shane walks through these steps, check out the video below.

Whether you are new to Power Apps or an experienced builder, everyone runs into roadblocks. If it happens, just know we are here to help however we can. Just click here, send us a message, and we will be in touch soon.