Summary

This article shows you how to set up a basic document approval workflow in SharePoint using Power Automate. Approval workflows automate the process of requesting, tracking, and recording sign-off on documents — so nobody has to remember who was asked, or when. For a single one-off sign-off, there is no flow worth building: How to Use the Approvals App in Teams covers the faster route.

Before You Start

• A Microsoft 365 account with access to SharePoint Online and Power Automate.
• A SharePoint document library where you want to request approvals.
• Permission to create flows in Power Automate (most M365 users have this by default).
• This guide builds the flow in Power Automate. The separate Configure page approval flow command is a different feature: it appears on a site's Site Pages library only, under Automate > Power Automate, and it needs SharePoint site admin rights. It is not on a document library or a list, so nothing below depends on it.

Instructions

1. Understand How Document Approval Workflows Work

An approval workflow watches a library, asks a named person to decide, and records the answer — four stages, and knowing them tells you which one broke.

1. A user uploads or modifies a document in a SharePoint library.
2. Power Automate detects the change and automatically sends an approval request to the designated approver(s).
3. The approver receives the request in email, Teams, or the Approvals app in Teams and can approve or reject with comments.
4. The workflow records the decision and optionally updates the document's status in SharePoint.

2. Create a Document Approval Flow from a Template

A built-in template arrives with the SharePoint trigger and the approval action already wired together, which makes it the fastest route to a working document approval.

1. Go to https://make.powerautomate.com and sign in with your work account.
2. Click Templates in the left sidebar.
3. Search for "SharePoint approval".
4. Select the template named Start approval when a new file is added. If the gallery shows a different set, pick any template whose title contains both approval and SharePoint — the trigger and the approval action you configure below are the same in all of them.
5. Power Automate shows the connections required (SharePoint, Approvals, Outlook). Click Continue.
6. Configure the trigger:
   • Site Address — Select your SharePoint site from the dropdown.
   • Library Name — Select the document library to monitor.
7. Configure the approval action:
   • Approval type — Choose Approve/Reject – First to respond (any one approver can decide) or Approve/Reject – Everyone must approve (all must agree).
   • Title — Enter a descriptive title (e.g., "Please review: [Document Name]"). Use dynamic content to include the file name.
   • Assigned to — Enter the email address(es) of the approver(s).
   • Details — Add context for the approver (e.g., "A new document has been uploaded to [Library Name] and requires your approval."). Include a link to the file using dynamic content.
8. Configure the follow-up actions (what happens after the decision):
   • Click + New step under the approval action, search for Condition, and select it. Set the left-hand box to the Outcome value from the dynamic content panel, leave the operator on is equal to, and type Approve in the right-hand box. Two branches appear underneath, labelled If yes and If no — the approved path goes in the first, the rejected path in the second.
     • If yes → Send a confirmation email to the uploader and set a SharePoint column to Approved.
     • If no → Send a rejection email carrying the approver's comments.
9. Click Save. The flow is now active.

3. Add an Approval Status Column to Your Library

Adding a status column lets you see the approval state of every document at a glance.

1. Go to your SharePoint document library.
2. Click + Add column > Choice.
3. Name the column Approval Status.
4. Add the following choices:
   • Pending
   • Approved
   • Rejected
5. Set the default value to Pending.
6. Click Save.
7. In your Power Automate flow, add an Update item (or Update file properties) action after the approval decision to set this column to "Approved" or "Rejected" based on the outcome.

4. Respond to an Approval Request

An approver can answer from Outlook, from the Approvals app in Teams, or from Power Automate, and all three write to the same record.

From Email

1. Open the approval email in Outlook.
2. Click Approve or Reject directly in the email (actionable message).
3. Optionally, add comments explaining your decision.
4. Click Submit.

From Teams. Every approval a flow raises also lands in the Approvals app's Received tab, where you can respond with comments — see How to Use the Approvals App in Teams.

From Power Automate

1. Go to https://make.powerautomate.com.
2. Click Approvals in the left sidebar.
3. Find the pending request and respond.

5. Monitor and Manage Your Flows

Once your approval flow is running, you can monitor it and troubleshoot issues.

1. Go to https://make.powerautomate.com.
2. Click My flows in the left sidebar.
3. Click the flow name to see its details.
4. Click Run history to see every time the flow ran, whether it succeeded or failed, and the inputs/outputs of each step.
5. If a run failed, click on it to see which step failed and the error message — this helps you debug the flow.

6. Common Approval Flow Patterns

Five flow shapes cover almost every approval a team actually needs, from a single approver to a two-stage chain with a deadline.

Scenario	Flow Design
Single approver for all documents	Trigger on new file → Start approval (one person) → Update status column
Manager approval based on uploader	Trigger on new file → Get user profile (uploader) → Start approval (uploader's manager) → Update status
Sequential approval (two stages)	Trigger → First approval (department head) → If approved → Second approval (director) → Update status
Approval with deadline	Trigger → Start approval with a due date → If no response within 3 days → Send reminder → Escalate
Content approval for SharePoint pages	Trigger on page modification → Start approval (site owner) → If approved → Publish page

7. Best Practices

Five habits that keep an approval flow working after the person who built it has moved on.

• Keep flows simple — Start with a basic approve/reject flow. Add complexity (parallel approvals, conditions, escalations) only when needed.
• Use meaningful titles — Include the document name and library in the approval request title so approvers know what they are reviewing without opening the email.
• Include a link to the document — Always add a direct link to the file in the approval details so the approver can review it with one click.
• Set up notifications for failures — In Power Automate, configure the flow to send you an email if a run fails, so you can fix issues promptly.
• Test before going live — Upload a test document to verify the flow works end-to-end before announcing it to your team.

Build it once and the chasing stops. Every document from here arrives with the question already asked and the answer already written down.

Troubleshooting

TIP

If your approval flow is not triggering, the most common cause is that the SharePoint trigger is checking for changes every few minutes (not instantly). Wait 5–15 minutes after uploading a document before assuming the flow is broken.

Symptom / Error	Potential Cause	Solution
Flow does not trigger when a file is uploaded	Trigger delay or wrong library selected	Wait 5–15 minutes. Verify the correct SharePoint site and library are selected in the trigger.
Approver does not receive the request	Wrong email address or email went to junk	Verify the approver's email in the flow. Check their Junk/Spam folder. They can also check the Approvals app in Teams.
"Approve" button in email does not work	Actionable messages blocked by email client	Use the Approvals app in Teams or respond via Power Automate instead.
Flow fails with "Access Denied"	Flow creator does not have permissions to the library	Your account needs at least Edit permission on the library the flow reads. Open the library, click the gear icon at the top right > Library settings > Permissions for this document library to see who owns it, then ask that person: "My Power Automate flow on [library name] fails with Access Denied. Please give my account Edit permission on that library so the flow can read and update items." If nobody is listed, send the same request to IT with the site URL.
Approval status column does not update	"Update item" action is missing or misconfigured	Edit the flow and verify the Update item action is correctly mapping the approval outcome to the Approval Status column.
Too many approval emails	Flow triggers on every file edit, not only new files	Change the trigger from "When a file is modified" to "When a file is created" to avoid duplicate approvals.

Related Articles

• How to Use the Approvals App in Teams — the faster route when you need one sign-off rather than an automated flow
• How to Manage Files in SharePoint Document Libraries
• How to Use Power Automate Basics in Microsoft 365
• How to Use SharePoint Sites and Pages for Team Collaboration
• Understanding File Sharing and Permissions in Microsoft 365
• How to Create and Use a List in Microsoft Lists

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