Power Automate (WDL) function
utcNow — Power Automate (WDL) function reference
Current UTC timestamp.
Syntax
wdl
utcNow(['format'])
Examples
wdl
utcNow()
→ ISO 8601 string
The format argument avoids a separate formatDateTime() wrapper.
wdl
utcNow('yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ssZ')→ A custom-formatted current UTC timestamp
wdl
ticks(utcNow())
→ The current timestamp as a tick count, for elapsed-time math
Common mistakes & gotchas
- utcNow() takes an optional format string directly — you do not always need formatDateTime(utcNow(), ...).
- The value is evaluated at the moment each expression runs, so referencing utcNow() in several actions across the same flow run can yield slightly different values seconds apart — capture it once near the top of the flow if you need one consistent "run time".
Related Workflow Definition Language functions
From Date & time