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How to Track Approval Responses in Real Time with Power Automate

Guest Writer Oct 10, 2026 868 views

Question details

The user wants to track individual approval responses in real time before all approvers have responded in a workflow.

How to Track Approval Responses in Real Time with Power Automate

Product: Power Automate
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Monitoring a multi-user approval workflow to identify exactly who has approved, rejected, or not yet responded in real time.
Observed behavior: The 'Start and wait for an approval' action configured to 'Everyone must approve' pauses the flow until all responses are collected. Additionally, a 'Pending' response only records users who explicitly selected that option, rather than identifying non-responders.

Before you start

Check your Microsoft Power Platform licensing, as utilizing Dataverse to store approval records often requires a premium license.

Solution 1Recommended

Use Separate 'First to Respond' Approval Actions

Replace the single 'Everyone must approve' block with independent approval actions to track each user's status individually in real time.

Because the 'Everyone must approve' action blocks the flow from moving forward until all responses are in, you cannot track intermediate progress easily. By separating the approvals, the flow can evaluate each approver's response as soon as it is submitted.

Remove the blocking action

Open your flow in the Power Automate designer and delete or disable the existing 'Start and wait for an approval' action that is set to 'Everyone must approve'.

Create parallel branches

Add parallel branches in your flow for each required approver to allow the actions to run simultaneously.

Configure independent approvals

In each branch, add a new 'Start and wait for an approval' action. Set the Approval type to 'First to respond' and assign it to a single specific approver.

Track individual outcomes

Add a condition after each approval action to log the individual result (e.g., updating a SharePoint list or sending a notification) immediately after that specific user responds.

Use Separate 'First to Respond' Approval Actions

Handling Majority Approvals: If you need to determine if a majority approved the request, you can initialize an integer variable at the start of the flow, increment it upon each positive response, and check the final value once all parallel branches merge.

Solution 2

Store Approval Records in Standard Connectors

Use standard data sources like SharePoint Online instead of Dataverse to log real-time approval status without needing a premium license.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my Power Automate flow pause on the approval step?

When the approval type is set to 'Everyone must approve', the 'Start and wait for an approval' action intentionally halts the flow's progression until every assigned user has submitted their response.

What does a 'Pending' response mean in an approval flow?

A 'Pending' status generally indicates that a user explicitly opened the approval and selected 'Pending' as their custom response. It does not automatically represent users who have ignored or not yet responded to the request.

Does using Dataverse in Power Automate require an extra fee?

Yes, Dataverse is generally classified as a premium connector. Using it as a data source to store approval logs in Power Automate or Power Apps typically requires a premium Power Platform license.

How can I see who hasn't responded to an approval request?

You cannot easily see this within a single 'Everyone must approve' action. You must split the approval into separate 'First to respond' actions for each user and log their individual statuses to an external list or database as they happen.

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