Document approval in SharePoint: built-in approval or a flow?

Short answer: SharePoint has three ways to approve a document. The simplest is built-in Approvals: turn it on with Configure Approvals in the library's Integrate menu, then select a file and choose Request approval. The library setting "Require content approval for submitted items" hides unapproved files until someone with approve rights signs off, but it sends no request. A Power Automate approval flow ("Start and wait for an approval") sends a request to named people, waits, and can then do more work, and it can be joined with content approval. Microsoft's retired SharePoint 2013 workflow is not an option.

At a glance

Swipe sideways to see all columns.

Item	Number	What it means for you
File upload limit	250 GB	Each file in a library can be this large, so size rarely blocks an approval.
File path length	400 characters	Folder path plus file name. Long names in deep folders can fail.
Items before you cannot break inheritance	100,000	Above this, you cannot give a library or folder its own permissions. Plan access first.
Unique permissions in one library	50,000 (5,000 advised)	Giving many files their own access slows the library. Microsoft advises staying near 5,000.
Versions kept per file	50,000 major, 511 minor	Each approval round can add a version, so history is not likely to run out.

The three options in plain words

Option 1 is built-in Approvals. You turn it on in a library, pick a file and ask named people to approve it. No flow is needed.

Option 2 is content approval. It is a setting on a library. Once it is on, each new or changed file gets an approval status. The status decides who can see the file. It does not send anyone a message by itself.

Option 3 is a Power Automate approval flow. It is a small automation. When something happens, such as a file being added, the flow sends a request to the people you choose. They answer Approve or Reject. The flow then waits for the answer and does the next thing.

Content approval is about visibility. The other two are about asking people. Keep that in mind and the choice gets easier.

What the built-in setting does

Microsoft says that when you turn on content approval, items have these statuses: Pending, Approved and Rejected.

Pending: the item was submitted and is waiting. Microsoft says it is usually seen only by the person who created it and by people who can manage lists and libraries.
Approved: anyone who can view the library can see it.
Rejected: it stays in the library until the person who created it, or someone with the right permissions, deletes it.

The same page has a setting called Draft Item Security. It lets you choose who can see draft items:

Users who can read items in the library
Only users who can edit items in the library
Only users who can approve items in the library, and the item author

Note the words. The page uses "Pending", "Approved" and "Rejected" as statuses. "Draft" is the name of a visibility setting, not a fourth status. Exact names may differ in your version of SharePoint.

Who can turn it on and who can approve

Microsoft says only people with Full Control or Design permissions can change library settings. To approve or reject an item, a person needs at least the Manage Lists permission level. Check what your own people have before you promise anyone that they can approve.

If your approvers do not have that permission level, the built-in setting will not work for them as is. A flow can ask a person to approve who does not have that level. The Power Automate page says you can assign approvals to users in your environment or your Microsoft Entra tenant, including guest users and Microsoft 365 groups, with some tenant limits.

Two cautions about the built-in setting

Existing files. Microsoft says that when you turn approval on in a library that already has items, those items are marked Approved automatically. Review the library first so you do not approve something by accident.
Read access. Microsoft warns that if your site security lets any user read items, anyone with Read permission to the site can see all items, whether or not they are Approved. Content approval is not a lock. If a file is sensitive, fix the permissions too. Also, a view or filter that hides Pending files is not security.

Also, Microsoft says that if you turn the requirement off later, everyone who can view the library can see everything, including pending and rejected items.

Built-in Approvals: the simplest way to ask

Microsoft's page "Approvals in Lists & Document Libraries" describes a newer feature, separate from content approval. Microsoft says it lets you "create approval requests for list items or files, respond to approval requests, and view the approval status." No flow is needed.

To turn it on, Microsoft's steps are:

In the library command bar, open the Integrate menu and select Configure Approvals. The same page calls this the Automate menu when you turn it off, so look for either name.
Turn on Enable Approvals and select Apply. You can also set default approvers here.

To ask for a sign-off:

Select the file, then choose Request approval from its menu.
Enter one or more approvers and any details. Microsoft says that by default, one approval from any approver grants the request, and a toggle can require a response from all approvers.

Approvers answer in the same dialog in the library, or in the Approvals app in Microsoft Teams.

Limits Microsoft lists for this feature:

Saving changes to a file cancels its approval in progress. While a request is open, the file opens view-only in Word, Excel and PowerPoint for the web.
A request does not share the file. If the approver cannot open it, give them access yourself.
The Approval status column shows only the latest activity. The full history is in the Teams Approvals app.
Microsoft says "Content approval or request sign-off is not integrated with modern approvals." So do not plan on this feature hiding drafts for you.

Microsoft's 2013 retirement page (below) also points to this feature for basic approval needs. Our advice, not a Microsoft rule: start here when you only need a yes or no from named people and nothing has to happen after the answer.

What a Power Automate approval flow does

The Power Automate page lists approving documents that need sign-off as one use. When a flow submits an approval, the approvers are told and can respond.

The action called Start and wait for an approval is the quick way to begin. The flow starts, sends the request and waits for the answer before it moves on. Microsoft's page lists several approval types, including Approve/Reject, custom responses and sequential approval. The next section covers the ones that matter when more than one person signs off.

Microsoft says approvers can respond from an Outlook email, a Microsoft Teams adaptive card or the Power Automate action center, if they have the right license. The page names the Power Automate, Office 365 and Dynamics 365 licenses that grant this. Check with your admin about what your people have.

The page also says the approvals connector is a standard connector and that any license that grants standard connectors is enough to create approval flows. It names the licenses, so check which one your organization has with your admin.

Several approvers

In "Start and wait for an approval", Microsoft's approvals page lists these types. "Approve/Reject - Everyone must approve": a response is needed from each approver, and the next actions run after all respond or when a single rejection occurs. "Approve/Reject - First to respond": approval or rejection by any approver completes the request. Sequential approval asks one person at a time in a set order. Microsoft also has tutorials for sequential approvals and parallel approvals. Built-in Approvals has a simpler switch: any one approver by default, or a toggle to require all.

SharePoint 2013 workflows are retired

Microsoft's retirement page says SharePoint 2013 workflow "will be fully retired as of April 2, 2026" and that there is no option to extend it beyond that date. The same page names Power Automate as the Microsoft solution for workflow orchestration and says "If basic approval functionality is needed, then the Approvals in Lists & Document Libraries are also a good choice." Build new approvals with a Power Automate flow or the settings above.

Joining the two: flow plus content approval

The two options can work together. The SharePoint connector has an action called "Set content approval status". Microsoft describes it this way: it sets the content approval status for an item in a list or library that has content approval turned on, and for pages and files you must give an ETag, which you can get from the Get File Metadata action.

A simple design looks like this:

Turn on content approval in the library, with drafts visible only to approvers and the author.
A flow starts when a file is added or changed.
The flow sends an approval request to the right people.
If they approve, the flow sets the file to Approved. If they reject, it sets it to Rejected and tells the author.

Then the people who decide are not limited to those with the Manage Lists permission level, and staff still see only approved files. One way to start: build the flow with a single approver first and add steps later.

Which one to use

Use built-in Approvals when:

You need a named person to say yes or no to a file.
Nothing has to happen after the answer.
You do not need drafts hidden from readers.

Use content approval alone when:

You only need to hide drafts until a few trusted people approve.
Your approvers already have the needed permission level.
You do not need a record of who was asked or when.

Use a flow when:

The approver is a manager or a group that does not manage the library.
More than one person must sign off, or they must sign off in order.
You want the request to arrive in email or Teams, with a reminder if nothing happens.
You want to do something after the answer, such as send a message or update a register.

Use a flow and content approval together when you want approved-only visibility and a proper request to the right people.

Step by step: turn on content approval

Menu names change. These steps follow the Microsoft page. Exact names may differ.

Open the library.
Select Settings (the gear icon), then Library settings. If you do not see them, select Library, then Library settings.
Under General Settings, select Versioning settings.
In the Content Approval section, choose Yes for "Require content approval for submitted items?"
In the Draft Item Security section, pick who can see drafts.
Select OK.

Before step 4, open the library and look at what is in it. Everything already there will turn Approved.

Step by step: add a request by flow

Go to Power Automate and start a new cloud flow. You can also search the approval templates first. Microsoft suggests this as a starting point.
Pick a trigger that fits, such as a file being created in your library. Microsoft's library article uses the template "Start an approval for new file to move it to a different folder", whose steps are Get File Content, Start and wait for an approval, a Condition on the answer, then actions that move the file.
Add the action Start and wait for an approval.
Choose an approval type. For one approver, "Approve/Reject, first to respond" is the simplest.
Fill in the title, the approvers and a short message with a link to the file.
Add a condition on the answer. On Approve, use Set content approval status to approve the file. On Reject, set it to Rejected.
Test with a sample file and a real approver before you tell the team.

Do not skip the test. Watch what the approver sees, and what the author sees if the file is rejected.

What to avoid

Do not treat Pending as secret. Site Read permission can still show it.
Do not turn on approval in a full library without checking it first. Old files become Approved.
Do not make the flow the only record. Make sure the file shows a clear status in the library too.
Do not add five approvers on day one. One person who answers fast beats five who do not.
Do not leave a rejected file in the library. Tell the author why, and delete or fix it.
Do not mix up approval and version control. This guide is about who says yes. For keeping one current copy, an owner and review dates, see "SOP version not current: how to find and keep the right one".

Honest limits

Approval adds a short delay to every change. Agree in advance who can approve fast for urgent fixes. A flow needs an owner too, because someone must fix it when it fails or when an approver leaves. For approvals in email versus Teams, see "Teams approvals vs email approvals".

When to get help

You can build all of this yourself in Microsoft 365. If you would rather have it built and tested for your team, I do that. A tracker like this is a fixed price: $5,000 for one, built in 2 weeks. See "What a SharePoint tracker costs to build". Bring one example of the problem to a free call.

Tell me what's still manual

I am Al Davies. I run 250 High Street LLC and build SharePoint trackers and Power Automate flows for operations teams. I work remotely. The first call is free, and I will not try to sell you anything.

See trackers I built: Tools I built

FAQ

Updated 2026-10-27.

Is content approval the same as a Power Automate approval?

No. Content approval is a library setting that controls who sees a file until it is approved. A Power Automate approval sends a request to chosen people and waits for their answer. They can be used together. Built-in Approvals is a third option that asks people without a flow.

Can I ask for approval in SharePoint without Power Automate?

Yes. Microsoft's built-in Approvals lets you turn on Configure Approvals in a list or library, then select a file and choose Request approval. Approvers answer in the library or in the Approvals app in Teams. It does not work with the content approval setting.

How do I get several approvers on a SharePoint document?

In "Start and wait for an approval", choose "Approve/Reject - Everyone must approve" so each approver must respond, or "Approve/Reject - First to respond" so any one answer completes it. Sequential approval asks one person at a time.

How do I build a document approval flow in Power Automate step by step?

Microsoft's template "Start an approval for new file to move it to a different folder" runs Get File Content, Start and wait for an approval, a Condition on the answer, then moves the file.

Is the SharePoint 2013 approval workflow still available?

No. Microsoft's retirement page says SharePoint 2013 workflow "will be fully retired as of April 2, 2026". Use Power Automate instead.

Who can see a Pending file?

Microsoft says usually the person who created it and people who can manage lists and libraries. You can choose who sees drafts in Draft Item Security. If your site lets everyone read all items, people with Read permission can still see them.