InfoPath Forms Migration Guide: InfoPath to Power Apps¶

Status: Authored 2026-04-30 Audience: SharePoint administrators, Power Platform developers, and business analysts migrating InfoPath forms to Power Apps or SharePoint Online list forms. Scope: Form complexity assessment, Power Apps patterns for common InfoPath scenarios, data connection migration, and form library conversion.

1. InfoPath migration overview¶

InfoPath Designer 2013 is the last version of InfoPath, and Microsoft has confirmed it will not receive further development. InfoPath Forms Services, which renders InfoPath forms in the browser on SharePoint Server, is not available in SharePoint Online. All InfoPath forms must be migrated to alternative technologies before moving to SPO.

Migration target options¶

2. InfoPath form inventory¶

Automated form discovery¶

# Find all InfoPath forms across the farm
Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell

$infoPathForms = @()

Get-SPSite -Limit All | ForEach-Object {
    $_.AllWebs | ForEach-Object {
        $web = $_

        # Check for InfoPath form libraries
        $_.Lists | Where-Object { $_.BaseTemplate -eq 115 } | ForEach-Object {
            $infoPathForms += [PSCustomObject]@{
                SiteUrl       = $web.Site.Url
                WebUrl        = $web.Url
                ListTitle     = $_.Title
                Type          = "Form Library"
                ItemCount     = $_.ItemCount
                ContentTypes  = ($_.ContentTypes | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Name) -join "; "
                LastModified  = $_.LastItemModifiedDate
            }
        }

        # Check for lists with InfoPath form customization
        $_.Lists | Where-Object {
            $_.ContentTypes | Where-Object { $_.DocumentTemplate -like "*.xsn" }
        } | ForEach-Object {
            $infoPathForms += [PSCustomObject]@{
                SiteUrl       = $web.Site.Url
                WebUrl        = $web.Url
                ListTitle     = $_.Title
                Type          = "List with InfoPath Form"
                ItemCount     = $_.ItemCount
                ContentTypes  = ($_.ContentTypes | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Name) -join "; "
                LastModified  = $_.LastItemModifiedDate
            }
        }
    }
}

$infoPathForms | Export-Csv -Path "C:\Migration\infopath-inventory.csv" -NoTypeInformation
Write-Host "Total InfoPath forms found: $($infoPathForms.Count)"

Form complexity assessment¶

For each InfoPath form, assess complexity by examining:

Complexity scoring¶

3. Power Apps patterns for common InfoPath scenarios¶

Pattern 1: Simple data entry form (Tier 1)¶

InfoPath: Basic form with text fields, dropdowns, date pickers, and a submit button connected to a SharePoint list.

Power Apps (SPO list form customization):

1. Navigate to the SharePoint list in SPO
2. Click Integrate > Power Apps > Customize forms
3. Power Apps opens with a form pre-connected to the list
4. Customize field layout, add validation, configure conditional visibility
5. Save and publish -- the form replaces the default SPO list form

Key Power Fx formulas:

// Conditional visibility (show field only if Type = "Other")
If(DataCardValue_Type.Selected.Value = "Other", true, false)

// Field validation (require email format)
IsMatch(DataCardValue_Email.Text, Match.Email)

// Default value (current user)
User().FullName

// Default value (today's date)
Today()

Pattern 2: Multi-view form (Tier 2)¶

InfoPath: Form with multiple views (e.g., "New Request" view, "Approval" view, "Summary" view) that switch based on user role or form status.

Power Apps (canvas app):

1. Create a canvas app from blank
2. Add multiple screens (one per InfoPath view)
3. Use navigation to switch between screens based on status

// Navigate based on form status
Switch(
    ThisItem.Status,
    "New", Navigate(Screen_NewRequest),
    "Pending Approval", Navigate(Screen_Approval),
    "Approved", Navigate(Screen_Summary),
    Navigate(Screen_Default)
)

// Role-based view selection
If(
    LookUp(ApproversList, Email = User().Email, Count(1)) > 0,
    Navigate(Screen_Approval),
    Navigate(Screen_ReadOnly)
)

Pattern 3: Repeating table/section (Tier 2-3)¶

InfoPath: Repeating table for line items (e.g., expense report with multiple line items).

Power Apps equivalent:

1. Create a child SharePoint list for line items (parent-child relationship via lookup column)
2. Use a Gallery control in Power Apps to display and edit line items
3. Use a "+" button to add new line items

// Add new line item to child list
Patch(
    ExpenseLineItems,
    Defaults(ExpenseLineItems),
    {
        Title: TextInput_Description.Text,
        Amount: Value(TextInput_Amount.Text),
        Category: Dropdown_Category.Selected.Value,
        ExpenseReportID: ThisItem.ID
    }
);
Reset(TextInput_Description);
Reset(TextInput_Amount)

// Calculate total from child items
Sum(
    Filter(ExpenseLineItems, ExpenseReportID = ThisItem.ID),
    Amount
)

Pattern 4: Data connection to external system (Tier 3)¶

InfoPath: Form with data connections to SQL Server, web services, or other external systems.

Power Apps equivalent:

1. For SQL Server: Use the SQL Server connector (standard connector)
2. For REST APIs: Use Power Automate with HTTP action, called from Power Apps
3. For legacy SOAP services: Use Power Automate with HTTP action + XML parsing

// Call a Power Automate flow from Power Apps to fetch external data
Set(
    varExternalData,
    GetExternalData.Run(TextInput_EmployeeID.Text)
);

// Use the result
Label_EmployeeName.Text = varExternalData.name;
Label_Department.Text = varExternalData.department

Pattern 5: Approval form with status tracking (Tier 2-3)¶

InfoPath: Form submitted for approval, with status tracking and email notifications.

Power Apps + Power Automate:

1. Power Apps form submits data to SharePoint list
2. Power Automate flow triggers on list item creation
3. Flow starts approval process, sends notifications
4. Flow updates list item status based on approval response
5. Power Apps form reads status and adjusts view accordingly

4. Data connection migration¶

InfoPath data connection types and Power Apps equivalents¶

On-premises data gateway for hybrid scenarios¶

If Power Apps forms need to access on-premises SQL Server or file shares during the migration transition:

# Install the on-premises data gateway
# Download from https://aka.ms/on-premises-data-gateway-installer

# After installation, register the gateway in Power Platform admin center
# Then configure SQL Server connections in Power Apps using the gateway

5. Form library conversion¶

InfoPath form libraries store XML data files rendered by InfoPath Forms Services. These have no direct equivalent in SPO.

Conversion strategies¶

Extract data from InfoPath XML files¶

# Extract data from InfoPath XML files in a form library
$web = Get-SPWeb "https://sp2016.contoso.com/sites/hr"
$library = $web.Lists["Leave Requests"]

$formData = @()

$library.Items | ForEach-Object {
    $file = $_.File
    $xmlBytes = $file.OpenBinary()
    $xml = [System.Xml.XmlDocument]::new()
    $xml.Load([System.IO.MemoryStream]::new($xmlBytes))

    # Define namespace manager for InfoPath namespace
    $nsm = [System.Xml.XmlNamespaceManager]::new($xml.NameTable)
    $nsm.AddNamespace("my", $xml.DocumentElement.NamespaceURI)

    $formData += [PSCustomObject]@{
        FileName       = $file.Name
        EmployeeName   = $xml.SelectSingleNode("//my:EmployeeName", $nsm)?.InnerText
        StartDate      = $xml.SelectSingleNode("//my:StartDate", $nsm)?.InnerText
        EndDate        = $xml.SelectSingleNode("//my:EndDate", $nsm)?.InnerText
        LeaveType      = $xml.SelectSingleNode("//my:LeaveType", $nsm)?.InnerText
        Status         = $xml.SelectSingleNode("//my:Status", $nsm)?.InnerText
        Created        = $_.File.TimeCreated
        Modified       = $_.File.TimeLastModified
    }
}

$formData | Export-Csv -Path "C:\Migration\leave-requests-data.csv" -NoTypeInformation

Import extracted data to SPO list¶

# Create the target list in SPO and import data
Connect-PnPOnline -Url "https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/hr" -Interactive

# Ensure the target list exists with matching columns
$csvData = Import-Csv "C:\Migration\leave-requests-data.csv"

foreach ($row in $csvData) {
    Add-PnPListItem -List "Leave Requests" -Values @{
        "Title"          = $row.EmployeeName
        "StartDate"      = $row.StartDate
        "EndDate"        = $row.EndDate
        "LeaveType"      = $row.LeaveType
        "Status"         = $row.Status
    }
}

6. InfoPath features with no direct Power Apps equivalent¶

7. Migration execution plan¶

Recommended sequence¶

1. Tier 1 forms first (simple list forms): Convert during site migration
2. Tier 2 forms second (multi-view, repeating): Build canvas apps in parallel with content migration
3. Tier 3 forms third (external connections): Requires Power Automate; build after connectors are configured
4. Tier ⅘ forms last (enterprise/custom): Longest lead time; start design early

Per-form migration checklist¶

• Document current form fields, views, and rules
• Document data connections (source, type, credentials)
• Document submission behavior (where data goes, what notifications fire)
• Identify the Power Apps target (list form, canvas app, model-driven)
• Create the SPO list or Dataverse table with matching schema
• Build the Power Apps form
• Recreate data connections as Power Apps connectors or Power Automate flows
• Recreate validation rules as Power Fx formulas
• Recreate conditional visibility as Power Fx If() statements
• Test with sample data
• Migrate historical data from InfoPath form library
• User acceptance testing
• Deploy and decommission InfoPath form

8. Power Apps licensing for InfoPath replacements¶

If the InfoPath form only reads/writes SharePoint list data, the Power Apps replacement is included in M365 licensing at no additional cost. Only forms that connect to external databases, web services, or require Dataverse need premium licensing.

References¶

• Power Apps documentation
• Customize SharePoint list forms with Power Apps
• Power Apps formulas reference (Power Fx)
• InfoPath retirement FAQ
• On-premises data gateway
• Power Apps pricing

Maintainers: csa-inabox core team Last updated: 2026-04-30