Permission & Access Issues

How to Lock SharePoint Fields After an Item Is Approved

Olivia Miller Oct 10, 2026 868 views

Question details

The user needs to automatically make individual fields or items read-only in SharePoint once an approval status changes to approved.

How to Lock SharePoint Fields After an Item Is Approved

Product: SharePoint Online
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Managing an approval process where users should not be able to edit specific fields or the entire item after a manager approves it.
Observed behavior: SharePoint Online lacks a built-in setting to automatically lock individual fields or switch them to read-only based on changes to another column's value.

Before you start

Ensure you have list owner permissions in SharePoint to adjust access rights and an active Microsoft Power Automate license to create automated workflows.

Solution 1Recommended

Use Power Automate to Copy Approved Items to a Restricted List

Create a flow in Power Automate that moves the item data to a separate, read-only list once it is approved, preventing further modifications by standard users.

Since SharePoint Online does not provide an out-of-the-box feature to automatically lock individual fields based on a column value, you can use Power Automate to handle the post-approval actions.

A practical and secure workaround is to maintain two separate lists: one for submissions and one for approved records. The flow will copy the data upon approval.

Create a secondary read-only list

In SharePoint, create a new list with the exact same columns as your submission list. Go to 'List settings' > 'Permissions for this list', break the permission inheritance, and grant standard users 'Read' access while keeping 'Edit' access for managers.

Create a new Power Automate Flow

Log into Power Automate and create an 'Automated cloud flow'. Choose the SharePoint trigger 'When an item is created or modified' and link it to your primary submission list.

Add a Condition for Approval Status

Click 'New step' and add a 'Condition' control. Set it to check if the 'Approval Status' value is equal to 'Approved'.

Configure the 'If yes' branch to copy data

Inside the 'If yes' branch, add a SharePoint 'Create item' action. Select your secondary read-only list and map the dynamic content from the original item to the corresponding fields.

Delete or flag the original item

Add a final action in the 'If yes' branch to either 'Delete item' (removing it from the primary list) or update a hidden column to hide it from standard views, ensuring the approved record only exists in the locked list.

Use Power Automate to Copy Approved Items to a Restricted List

Need help designing workflows?: For complex workflow designs and templates, you can ask for expert guidance in the Microsoft Power Automate Community at powerusers.microsoft.com.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does SharePoint have a built-in feature to lock specific fields?

No. SharePoint Online does not currently offer an out-of-the-box feature to dynamically make individual fields read-only based on the value of another column (like an approval status).

Can I change item-level permissions after approval?

Yes. Instead of copying to a new list, you can use a Power Automate flow with the 'Stop sharing an item or a file' action, followed by 'Grant access', to assign 'Read' permissions to the creator and 'Edit' permissions to managers once approved.

Can I use Power Apps to lock SharePoint form fields?

Yes. If you choose to customize your SharePoint list form with Power Apps, you can set the 'DisplayMode' property of specific data cards to 'DisplayMode.View' based on a formula that checks if the item's status is 'Approved'.

Document & File Issues