How to Keep Several Fields from Each Item with Select in Power Automate

SharePoint items come into a flow with dozens of fields. Select with Map in key and value mode builds a new object for each item with only the fields you list, under names you choose. Send that to an app, and it gets what it needs and nothing else.

Microsoft's data operations article describes it: Use the Data Operation – Select action to change the shape of objects in an array. For example, you can add, remove, or rename elements in each object in an array. Keeping one field, with Map in text mode, is in How to Pick One Field from Each Item with Select in Power Automate.

The example is Get Waiting Approvals, a flow of the Overtime Timesheet app. It returns the overtime entries waiting for an approver, and the app shows seven things about each.

Prerequisites

• An array of items. Here, the filtered entries from Entries waiting for the caller (How to Filter an Array by Two Conditions in Power Automate).

Step 1: Add Select and Choose the Array

Add Select under Data Operation. I named it Waiting entries. In From, pick the Body of Entries waiting for the caller.

Step 2: Add One Row per Field

Leave Map in key and value mode. In each row, type a key on the left, the name the field gets in the new object. On the right, insert an expression that reads the field from the current item, item() (How to Add an Expression in Power Automate):

Key	Value (expression)	What it is
id	item()?['ID']	The item's ID
employee	item()?['Author']?['DisplayName']	Who logged the overtime (Created By)
department	item()?['Department']	The department's name
startTime	item()?['StartTime']	When the shift started
endTime	item()?['EndTime']	When it ended
breakMinutes	item()?['BreakMinutes']	The unpaid break
savedOn	item()?['Modified']	When it was last saved

The designer showed each expression as a token named after its field:

The keys are short and start in lower case, the way the app reads them. Created By, whose internal name is Author, is a Person field, so the row reads one part of it, the display name.

Step 3: Check Code View

Code view shows exactly what each key reads:

Waiting entries → Code view (inputs)

{
  "from": "@body('Entries_waiting_for_the_caller')",
  "select": {
    "id": "@item()?['ID']",
    "employee": "@item()?['Author']?['DisplayName']",
    "department": "@item()?['Department']",
    "startTime": "@item()?['StartTime']",
    "endTime": "@item()?['EndTime']",
    "breakMinutes": "@item()?['BreakMinutes']",
    "savedOn": "@item()?['Modified']"
  }
}

It's worth checking. While I built the action, one token on the pane was labelled Approvers Depa… although it read item()?['Department']. Code view showed the truth, and after the flow was saved and opened again, the labels matched.

Keep Only What's Needed

At first, the action also had a reason key, the entry's free-text reason. The screen doesn't show it, so I removed the row and published the flow again. Every field a flow returns to an app travels to the person's device, so returning only what the screen shows keeps the rest in SharePoint.

The Result

Each item became an object with seven fields, which the flow returned to the app (How to Return a Table from a Flow to Power Apps as JSON in Power Automate). One card on the app's screen uses all of them except id:

Common Mistakes

Mistake	What happens	Do this instead
Returning whole SharePoint items	Dozens of fields reach the app	Select the fields it uses
Picking Created By itself for a name	The value is an object, not text	Its DisplayName
Trusting the token labels on the pane	A label can name the wrong field	Check Code view
Changing keys after the app uses them	The app reads a field that no longer exists	Change the app at the same time

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
A key is empty in the output	The value's field name doesn't match	Compare with the input in the run
The output has one string per item	Map is in text mode	Switch back to key and value mode
A token shows another column's name	A designer label	Read Code view

FAQ

Can a key read a nested field?

Yes. item()?['Author']?['DisplayName'] reads DisplayName inside Author. Add ? before each step, so a missing field gives an empty value instead of an error.

Can I compute a value in a row?

Yes. A row's value can be any expression, such as toLower(item()?['Department']).

Conclusion

Select with Map in key and value mode turns each item into an object with only the fields you list, under your own names. Check Code view, and return to an app only what it shows.

Additional Resources

• Use data operations: Select

Related

• How to Pick One Field from Each Item with Select in Power Automate
• How to Return a Table from a Flow to Power Apps as JSON in Power Automate
• How to Filter an Array by Two Conditions in Power Automate