SharePoint 2013 workflow initiator is System Account and the Task emails are not working

Question

Here’s the scenario:

I have a RunWithElevatedPrivileges method that adds a list item to my custom list. The custom list is associated with a workflow that gets triggered on Item Added. I have noticed that the workflow has the initiator set as ‘System Account’. I believe this is cause of the RunWithElevatedPriviledges.

Here’s the catch:

I have around 4 Tasks created in the workflow that are assigned to SPGroups. All of these tasks are not sending task assigned emails since the initiator is System Account. The individual user tasks are working fine though. When I start the workflow manually via a site collection admin account, the initiator is not System Account and the task emails are sent without any issues.

How can I get my workflow working with my task emails?

Answer 1

Inside RunWithElevatedPrivileges you should impersonate current user. Something like

var userToken = SPContext.Current.Web.AllUsers["domain\\user"].UserToken;
using(SPSite site = new SPSite(SiteURL, UserToken))

    list.Update(); //Will save the record as the selected user.