How to Approve New SharePoint List Items Without Reapproving Edits
Question details
The user wants to configure SharePoint list approval settings so that items are only approved once upon creation, and subsequent edits do not reset the item's status back to pending.
- Product
- Microsoft SharePoint
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Managing list item approvals in SharePoint where subsequent version edits should not trigger re-approval.
- Observed behavior
- Native SharePoint approval settings treat version changes independently, returning previously approved items to 'Pending' status upon being edited.
Ensure you have the necessary permissions to create and edit Power Automate flows for your SharePoint list, and verify that you have Owner or Full Control access to modify the list columns.
Use Power Automate for One-Time List Item Approval
By creating a custom workflow in Power Automate, you can trigger the approval process strictly when a new item is created, bypassing SharePoint's native behavior of re-triggering upon edits.
SharePoint's native content approval feature is designed to track every version change, which is why edits cause items to revert to Pending. To solve this, you must disable the native approval feature and build a custom approval logic using Microsoft Power Automate.
Go to your SharePoint List settings, navigate to 'Versioning settings', and select 'No' under 'Require content approval for submitted items'.
Add a new 'Choice' column to your SharePoint list named 'Approval Status'. Add choices such as 'Pending', 'Approved', and 'Rejected', and set the default value to 'Pending'.
Open Microsoft Power Automate, click 'Create', and select 'Automated cloud flow'. Choose 'When an item is created' as the trigger and point it to your specific SharePoint site and list.
Add a new step and search for 'Start and wait for an approval'. Choose the approval type (e.g., 'Approve/Reject - First to respond') and assign it to the appropriate user's email.
Add a 'Condition' step based on the approval outcome. In the 'If yes' branch, add an 'Update item' action to change the custom 'Approval Status' column of that specific item to 'Approved'. Since the flow trigger is only 'When an item is created', subsequent edits will not re-trigger this process.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why does SharePoint change approved items back to pending after an edit?
By default, SharePoint's native 'Require content approval' setting tracks versions independently. Any change made to an approved item creates a new version, which triggers the system to return the item's status to pending until the new changes are reviewed.
Can I use SharePoint out-of-the-box features to stop edits from triggering re-approval?
No, SharePoint does not natively support locking the approval status while allowing further edits. You must turn off native content approval and use a custom Power Automate flow paired with a custom status column to achieve this behavior.
Will users be notified when the custom Power Automate approval is completed?
Yes, within your Power Automate flow, you can easily add an action such as 'Send an email (V2)' immediately after the condition branch to automatically notify the item creator of the final approval or rejection result.
