Approval status doesn't change

Question

I created new documents library in the Sharepoint online Site and new approval flow for the documents in this library.

I see in the flow's history that it ran successfully, but it doesn't change approval status of the document from Pending to Approved.

I tried to approve document from the email I got in the Outlook.

Could you please explain me, how can I fix it.

Thanks

Answer 1

I've had conversation with Microsoft support. They explained me, that default template doesn't change approval status. The solution is to add a field "Approval status 2" to the document library and add 2 operations to the Microsoft flow (one to the Yes branch and one to the No branch of the Condition). Operation should change "Approval status 2" to the Approved or Rejected.

Thank you all for your help

Answer 2

The "Start Content Approval" action (which I assume you are using) doesn't actually modify the approval status on an item. All it does is send out the email/notification, as well as gather a bunch of useful information from the responder(s).

The next thing you need to add is a condition that checks the outcome of your action (that is, so you can branch between Approved or Rejected response from the approver).

Based on this condition, you can then add new "Set Content Approval Status" actions. This action can be used to update to the item's approval status, based on the output of the previous "Start Content Approval" action (and yes, you will need one of these actions to approve, and one to reject).