How do I upload images using OneDrive and Power Automate?

Last updated: June 8, 2026

If you take a lot of photos of receipts and invoices, uploading them through OneDrive is a great hands-off option. Photos go straight into a OneDrive folder — they are not saved to your phone's camera roll — and you can capture several in one go. A Power Automate flow then watches that folder and automatically emails each new file to your Briefcase forwarding address, so documents flow into Briefcase with no manual forwarding.

Please note: This isn't an officially supported upload method, so we can't guarantee support for issues with your OneDrive or Power Automate setup. Some features — such as adding notes / "user context" or merging pages — aren't available either. For the full experience, use a supported channel: WhatsApp, Email or Web App.

How it works

  1. You take or add photos into a dedicated OneDrive folder.

  2. A Power Automate flow detects each new file in that folder.

  3. It automatically emails the file to your Briefcase forwarding address.

  4. Briefcase processes it like any other emailed document — including duplicate checks and multi-page invoice splitting.

Before you start

You will need your unique Briefcase forwarding email address. Open the client account, go to Business Settings on the left navigation bar, and copy the address (it looks like your.company.name.1234@briefcase.to).

📄 Email Upload

Step 1: Upload images to OneDrive

  1. Install the OneDrive app on your phone and sign in with your Microsoft account.

  2. Create a folder for your documents (e.g. "Briefcase receipts").

  3. Add photos to that folder — use the OneDrive app's built-in camera to capture one or several pictures in one go, or upload existing photos from your gallery.

Because you photograph straight into OneDrive, the images are not saved to your phone's camera roll — handy for keeping personal photos and business receipts separate.

Step 2: Set up the Power Automate flow

Power Automate is Microsoft's automation tool and is included with most Microsoft 365 accounts. No code is required.

  1. Go to make.powerautomate.com and sign in with your Microsoft account.

  2. Click Create → Automated cloud flow and give it a name (e.g. "Email new OneDrive receipts to Briefcase").

  3. For the trigger, search for and select When a file is created. Choose the OneDrive for Business version for a work account, or OneDrive for a personal account.

  4. Click the folder icon and point the trigger at the folder you created in OneDrive.

  5. Add a new step and choose Send an email using the Outlook connector.

  6. In the To field, enter your Briefcase forwarding address.

  7. Click advanced parameters and add an attachment, setting the attachment content to the trigger's File Content field and the attachment name to the File name field. Add a subject (e.g. the file name).

  8. Save the flow, then test it by adding an image to your OneDrive folder.

Important: When attaching the file, use the trigger's File Content output — not the file path. Using the path is the most common reason an attachment arrives blank or "cannot be read".

Uploading to more than one organisation? Create a separate OneDrive folder for each organisation, then set up one Power Automate flow per folder, each sending to that organisation's Briefcase forwarding address. Documents are routed to the right organisation based on the folder you drop them into.

Once set up, every new picture added to the folder is automatically forwarded into Briefcase and processed like any other emailed document.