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Modern business runs on data scattered across dozens of apps — your inbox, your CRM, your spreadsheets, your databases. The Power Platform’s superpower is that it can pull all of these together without you writing a single line of integration code. The piece that makes this possible is the connector.

What Is a Connector?

A connector is a pre-built bridge that lets Power Apps, Power Automate, Copilot Studio, and Azure Logic Apps talk to an outside service. Technically, it is a wrapper around that service’s API, so the platform can read or write data, listen for events, or trigger actions on your behalf.

Microsoft and its partners maintain a library of more than 1,000 ready-to-use connectors — everything from Microsoft 365 services like SharePoint, Outlook, and Teams to third-party platforms such as Salesforce, Dropbox, and SAP. If your service is not on that list, you can build a custom connector to fill the gap.

Triggers and Actions

Every connector exposes two kinds of operations. Triggers are events that start a flow — for example, “when a new email arrives” or “when a SharePoint item is created.” Actions are the work the flow performs once it runs — for example, “send an approval,” “create a row,” or “post a Teams message.” In Power Automate, a flow typically begins with one trigger followed by one or more actions, and those actions can come from many different connectors stitched together.

Standard, Premium, and Custom Connectors

Connectors are typically grouped into three buckets that affect both functionality and licensing:

• Standard connectors — included with most Microsoft 365 plans. Common examples are SharePoint, OneDrive, Outlook, Excel, Teams, and Forms.
• Premium connectors — require an additional Power Apps or Power Automate license. Common examples are Dataverse, SQL Server, Salesforce, and the HTTP connector.
• Custom connectors — built by makers or developers to wrap a public or private REST API the platform doesn’t already support out of the box.

Authentication and Connections

A connector by itself does nothing. To use it, a maker creates a connection — a stored, authenticated link to a specific account or environment. Many Microsoft data sources support automatic single sign-on, while others prompt the user to sign in or supply an API key. The same connector can have multiple connections (for example, two different Outlook mailboxes).

Custom Connectors for Tailored Scenarios

When no prebuilt connector fits, makers can build a custom connector by importing an OpenAPI definition, a Postman collection, or by configuring it manually. Custom connectors look and behave just like prebuilt ones — same triggers, same actions, same authentication options — and can be shared across an environment.

Where Connectors Are Used

The same connector ecosystem is shared across the platform. You can use a connector in a canvas Power App to display contacts from SharePoint, in a Power Automate cloud flow to copy SharePoint files to OneDrive, in Copilot Studio to ground an agent in real-time data, or in an Azure Logic App for enterprise workflows.

NOTE: If a question hints at extra cost, on-premises systems, or non-Microsoft enterprise apps (Salesforce, SAP, Dataverse, SQL), the answer usually involves a premium or custom connector — not a standard one.

The Business Value

• Removes silos — connectors bring data from cloud and on-premises systems into one solution.
• Speeds up delivery — makers reuse prebuilt integrations instead of writing custom API code.
• Empowers low-code makers — non-developers can wire up enterprise services with a few clicks.
• Extensible — custom connectors cover anything the prebuilt library doesn’t, including in-house APIs.
• Governable — admins use Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policies to control which connectors share data.
• Consistent across products — the same connector works in Power Apps, Power Automate, Copilot Studio, and Logic Apps.

Common Use Cases

Scenario	Solution Using Connectors
Approve expense claims via email	Outlook + Approvals + SharePoint connectors in a Power Automate cloud flow
Show Salesforce contacts in a canvas app	Salesforce premium connector inside Power Apps
Sync customer data between systems	Dataverse connector paired with a SQL Server or third-party CRM connector
Notify a team when a file is uploaded	OneDrive or SharePoint trigger plus the Microsoft Teams action
Connect to an internal company API	A custom connector built from the API’s OpenAPI definition

Quick Reference

Feature	What to Know
Definition	A wrapper around an API that lets Power Platform services talk to an external system.
Library size	1,000+ prebuilt connectors maintained by Microsoft and certified partners.
Triggers	Events that start a flow, for example “when a new item is added.”
Actions	Operations a connector performs, for example “create a file” or “send an email.”
Standard tier	Generally included with Microsoft 365 — covers SharePoint, Outlook, OneDrive, Teams, Excel.
Premium tier	Requires extra licensing — covers Dataverse, SQL, Salesforce, HTTP, and many third-party apps.
Custom connectors	Built from a REST API (OpenAPI / Postman) for services without a prebuilt connector.
Where they work	Power Apps, Power Automate, Copilot Studio, and Azure Logic Apps.
Governance	Admins control connector usage with Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policies.

Summary

Connectors are the integration glue of the Power Platform — they let low-code solutions reach almost any service, cloud or on-premises, without custom development.

Keep going on your PL-900 journey If this helped, save it for revision and explore the rest of the series. #PL900   #PowerPlatform   #Connectors   #LowCode   #MicrosoftLearn

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