Navigating Power Apps Studio

1. Navigating Power Apps Studio

Now that you know what Power Apps is, let's get inside the studio where the building happens. This video walks through what you need to know to build a canvas app from scratch: where to create one, how the editor is organized, and how to preview your work.

2. The maker portal

Power Apps lives at make dot powerapps dot com. Sign in with your work account and you land on the maker portal. The left navigation gets you anywhere: Home for an overview, Create for new apps, Apps for the ones you've already built, Tables and Flows for the data and automation side. Everything you build in this course lives behind that left nav.

3. Creating a blank canvas app

To start, click Create in the left navigation, then Blank app, then Blank canvas app. Pick a format. Tablet gives you a wider canvas, Phone gives you a taller one. Power Apps then opens the Studio editor, which is where all the building happens. It won't ask for a name yet. You give the app its name later, the first time you save it. Modern controls are on by default in new apps, so you don't need to switch anything.

4. Inside the studio editor

Before we start adding things, let's get oriented. The Studio editor has four main areas. The Tree View on the left lists every screen and control. Click to select, double-click to rename; this is where you find things. The canvas in the center is where you arrange controls visually. The Properties panel on the right shows settings for whatever is selected. And the formula bar at the top is where you write Power Fx expressions. Everything you configure in this course goes through one of these four areas.

5. Adding controls

To add something, click + Insert at the top. A panel opens listing every control you can drop onto a screen, text labels, text inputs, buttons, and more. Click one, it lands on your canvas. To change what a control does or looks like, select it and use the Properties panel on the right or the formula bar at the top. That's the core loop, insert a control, then change its properties.

6. Press F5 to run

The single most useful shortcut in Power Apps Studio is F5. Press F5 and the app runs right inside the editor. You can click buttons, type into inputs, and navigate between screens. Press Escape to return to editing. Get into the habit early: build a small thing, F5, see it, tweak it.

7. Save vs publish

Two actions to know: Save and Publish. Save preserves your work while you're building. Publish makes it live to anyone you've shared the app with. For now, just save. We'll cover publishing in Chapter 4.

8. Containers come later

One thing you'll notice, we're starting on a completely blank screen. No layout helpers, no containers, no grid. That's deliberate, it makes each control easier to see while you're learning. In Chapter 4 we'll switch to layout containers, which is how you'd start a real production app, and your screen will become responsive across phone and tablet. For now, don't worry about pixel-perfect alignment.

9. What you'll build

In the exercises you'll start building a two-screen app for a community library. You'll create the app, add and rename screens, drop in your first controls, and preview with F5. That covers the essentials of working inside the Studio editor.

10. Let's practice!

Time to get hands-on. You'll land right inside Power Apps Studio ready to look around and try things out.

Create Your Free Account

By continuing, you accept our Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy and that your data is stored in the USA.