Fixed: Power Apps Avatar Shows a Grey Person Icon Instead of Initials

The modern Avatar control is supposed to show a person's initials when they have no photo. With its default settings, for a user without a photo, it showed a grey person silhouette instead. The cause is User().Image, which returns a default picture rather than nothing. One check with Office 365 Users brings the initials back.

The Problem

The Avatar's defaults are Image = User().Image and Name = User().FullName. For the example's admin account, which has no photo, it showed this:

The Name has a value, so initials were expected.

Why It Happens

Microsoft's Avatar documentation describes the order: the control shows the image in Image, falls back to initials from Name when there's no image, and shows a generic person icon only when neither is available.

But User().Image wasn't empty. The preview strip showed an image even for this account:

So the Avatar did what it was told: it displayed the image it was given, a default silhouette.

Diagnosis: Does the User Have a Photo?

The Office 365 Users connector has Get user photo metadata, which says whether a photo exists:

Text control → Text

Office365Users.UserPhotoMetadata(User().Email).HasPhoto

false: no photo, yet User().Image returned a picture.

The Fix: Only Use the Image When There's a Photo

Set the Avatar's Image to use User().Image only when HasPhoto is true:

avtMeHS → Image

If(Office365Users.UserPhotoMetadata(User().Email).HasPhoto, User().Image)

An If without an else returns blank when the condition is false, so for people without a photo, Image is blank and the Avatar falls back to initials:

People who do have a photo still see it.

Prerequisites for the Fix

• The Office 365 Users data source in the app. It's a standard connector; see Part 3 of the Career Development Plan series.

Common Mistakes

Mistake	What happens	Do this instead
Setting Image to Blank() for everyone	Nobody sees their photo	Check HasPhoto first
Checking IsBlank(User().Image)	It isn't blank	Use UserPhotoMetadata
Calling the photo check in many gallery rows	One connector call per row	Use it for the signed-in user, or accept the extra calls

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
Still a silhouette	Image still User().Image alone	Apply the formula above
A generic person icon even after the fix	Name is empty too	Set Name, for example to User().FullName
Office365Users is unknown	The connector isn't added	Add Office 365 Users in Data

FAQ

What else does UserPhotoMetadata return?

HasPhoto, Height, Width, ContentType and ImageFileExtension, according to the connector reference.

Does this work for other people's avatars?

Yes. Pass their user principal name or ID instead of User().Email, and use their photo from Office 365 Users.

Where do the initials come from?

From Name. With User().FullName, it's the first letters of the first and last names.

Conclusion

User().Image returns a default silhouette for people without a photo, so the Avatar never reaches its initials fallback. Wrap it in If(Office365Users.UserPhotoMetadata(User().Email).HasPhoto, User().Image) and the Avatar shows a photo when there is one and initials when there isn't.

Additional Resources

• Avatar modern control: the image, initials and icon fallbacks.
• Office 365 Users connector: Get user photo metadata.
• User function: User().Image.

Related

• How to Add an Avatar Control in Power Apps
• How to Get the Current User in Power Apps with the User Function