How to move OneNote section tabs and pages to the left (updated June 2023)

Back in 2018, I wrote about the only way to move section tabs to the left at the time and, unfortunately, it meant that you’d have sections on the left AND the top. Now, thanks to continuing development of OneNote, we have a new view setting called Tabs Layout that fixes the issue and moves your notebook, section, and page navigation panels to the left of your OneNote desktop app.

Now it’s simple, and you don’t even have to open the Options menu. Here’s how to move your section tabs and pages to the left:

  1. Select the View ribbon menu
  2. Select Tabs Layout and then
  3. Choose Vertical Tabs or Horizontal Tabs (default).
Tabs Layout options in the OneNote desktop app | Click to enlarge

Here’s a video demonstration of these steps with additional info:

It’s worth noting that if you select Vertical Tabs, your display settings (File | Options | Display) are restricted since it cancels out other options. For example, pages can’t be moved back to the right side.

And, lastly, f you don’t want to move pages to the left or if you ONLY want to move pages to the left, please check out my previous post for instructions on that setting.

How to add and remove page numbers in Microsoft Word documents

lots of numbers

Page numbers are an important part of many documents that span multiple pages. They help readers navigate through the document and keep track of where they are, as well as communicate clearly with others about references. In this blog post, I’ll cover adding and removing page numbers in a Microsoft Word document.

Let’s begin with adding page numbers in Word documents.

Adding page numbers to Microsoft Word documents

  1. Select the Insert tab in the upper left corner of the window.
  2. Select Page Number in the Header & Footer section.
  3. Choose where you want the page numbers to appear in your document.
Steps to add page numbers to Word documents | Click to enlarge

Notice that once you add page numbers, your ribbon menu shows additional settings for the header or footer (wherever you placed the page number). You could, for instance:

  • Have a cover page without a page number by selecting Different First Page and/or
  • Have odd pages’ numbers aligned left, and even numbered pages aligned right
Header and footer settings that can affect page numbers | Click to enlarge

You might also wish to have your second page start page numbering as page 1 (set Start at to 0 and select Different First Page), or use letters or Roman numbers instead of numbers. You can do this by selecting Page number | Format Page Numbers.

Format page numbers options | Click to enlarge
Video of how to add page numbers to a Word document

Next, let’s take a look at how to remove the page numbers.

Removing page numbers from Microsoft Word documents

  1. Go to Insert | Page Number, then select Remove Page Numbers.
Steps to remove page numbers from a Word document | Click to enlarge
  1. If the Remove Page Numbers option isn’t available or if some page numbers remain, double-click in the header or footer area where the page number is present, select the page number, and press Delete.
Video of how to remove page numbers from a Word document

References

How to delay or schedule Teams chat messages to send at a later time

flowers grass meadow time

If you’re working after hours or want to send a chat message during someone else’s working hours (such as when your colleagues are geographically dispersed across time zones), you can schedule your message to send at a later time in Teams. This works for both internal and external chat recipients.

Note
This only applies to chats – not channel conversation posts.

Here’s how to delay Teams chat messages:

How to schedule Teams messages to send later

  1. Compose your message as you normally would.
  2. Right-click the Send button and set the date and time you’d like the message to be delivered
The message scheduling dialog when delaying a Teams message delivery | Click to enlarge
  1. Click Send at scheduled time
  2. Click the Send button
A scheduled message in a Microsoft Teams chat | Click to enlarge

That’s it! Your message will be sent at the scheduled time.

How to edit or delete a scheduled chat message in Microsoft Teams

Later, you may change your mind or want to edit the message text or change the delivery time for a previously scheduled message.

Note
Deleted scheduled messages will not be delivered and cannot be restored.

Here’s how to edit or delete a scheduled message:

  1. Hover over the scheduled message and select the ellipsis ()
  2. Click Edit (or Delete if that’s what you want to do)
Edit option for a scheduled message | Click to enlarge
  1. Edit the message and select the checkmark when finished to save your changes.
A scheduled message in edit mode | Click to enlarge

That’s it!

Note
If you don’t see the Edit option, it is likely that your Teams administrator has assigned a messaging policy to you that prevents editing sent messages. This is a simple toggle in the messaging policy they control.

Business use cases

Here are some scenarios in which scheduling messages to send later might be appropriate:

  • You want to send a message outside of business hours but don’t want it to end up at the bottom of many others to come
  • You want to send a reminder about an upcoming meeting or deadline
  • You want to send a message when someone is in a different time zone
  • You want to send a message when someone is on vacation or out of office
  • You want to make sure you don’t forget to welcome somebody back, or acknowledge a significant date

References and further reading

How to use Excel’s SUMIF function to calculate totals by category

four trays of varieties of fruits

If you have a large data set in Excel and you want to calculate totals based on specific criteria, such as sales by region or expenses by department, you can use the SUMIF function. Here’s how:

  1. Open your Excel workbook and select the cell where you want to display the total.
  2. Type =SUMIF( followed by the range of cells that contain the categories you want to sum (e.g., A1:A10), a comma (,), and the criteria you want to use to filter/indicate the category in that range (e.g., "North").
  3. Type another comma (,) followed by the range of cells that contain the values you want to sum (e.g., B1:B10).
  4. Close the parentheses and press Enter.

Your total will be displayed in the selected cell.

Here’s an example formula:

=SUMIF(A2:A5,"North",B2:B5)

This formula will sum all values in column B (e.g., “Sales”) where the corresponding value in column A is “North.”

Example Data Set

Here’s some sample data I’ll use to demonstrate the SUMIF function’s potential.

ABC
1RegionSalesExpenses
2North10020
3South20030
4East15025
5West17535
Example data set of sales and expenses by region

Example Scenarios

Here are some examples of how you can use SUM and the SUMIF function with the previous data set example:

ScenarioFormulaResult
Total sales for all regions=SUM(B2:B5)625
Total expenses for all regions=SUM(C2:C5)110
Total sales for the North region=SUMIF(A2:A5,"North",B2:B5)100
Total expenses for the South region=SUMIF(A2:A5,"South",C2:C5)30
Total sales greater than $150=SUMIF(B2:B5,">150")375
Total expenses less than $30=SUMIF(C2:C5,"<30")45
Examples of formulas and results for various needs based on the example data

So now imagine that you have three months’ worth of data and “North” appears three times. Your SUMIF function becomes even more valuable as it only sums the North rows’ values.

Hopefully this helps! Let me know if you have any specific questions about using this function with your data.

References

How to rename the Attachments column in SharePoint lists

photo of purple paper clip on green background

Lists in Microsoft Lists (your own or those in SharePoint) offer a great way to store and manage data. One useful feature is the ability to add attachments to list items – think photos in maintenance requests, or screenshots in IT Support requests. The Attachments column is built into every list automatically (though it can be disabled if you’d like). However, you might want to rename this column to something more descriptive or relevant to a particular business process such as Supporting Documentation or Content for Review. Or maybe you’d just like to match the naming conventions or style guide recommendations already used in your organization.

Unlike other columns, the attachments column cannot be deleted or renamed using the list settings page, or by using the column header menu when viewing the list. However, you can rename the attachments column by modifying the URL of the generic column settings page, as described in the following section.

How to rename the attachments column in SharePoint lists

  1. Go to the SharePoint list for which you’d like to rename the Attachments column.
  2. Click on the settings (gear) icon and select List settings.
  3. Scroll down to the Columns section on the List settings page and click on any column name listed.
  4. In your browser’s address bar, replace the selected column’s name in the URL with Attachments after &Field= and press Enter to navigate to the column settings for the attachments column. Here, you’ll rename the column in the Column name box.

https://yoursite.sharepoint.com/_layouts/15/FldEditEx.aspx?List=%7BYourListID%7D&Field=Attachments

Demonstration of step 4 | Click to enlarge
  1. Click OK to save your changes.

Please note that some of the new list templates (Employee onboarding, Issue tracker, Content scheduler, etc.) come with the Attachment column already renamed to something else, but you can still get to its settings page by using Attachments for its field name in Step 4’s URL.

See a video demonstration of this process here:

In this blog post, I have shown you how to rename the attachments column in SharePoint lists. I hope you found this helpful. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below.

How to move the Attachments field on a SharePoint new item form without using Power Apps

SharePoint enables us to collect information in ways beyond paper forms or even digitized Word or PDF forms. As we use it for more processes, you’re likely to run into situations where you wish for a higher level of customization but don’t want to go so far as using Power Apps for a simple need. One such need, as suggested by Jacqueline Vo on LinkedIn, was for moving the Attachments field on the default SharePoint form. And in this post, we’ll do just that.

Want to remove it altogether? Check out How to remove the attachments field from a SharePoint list’s new item form.

Introduction

By default, the attachments field is always at the bottom of the SharePoint new item form. However, there may be cases where you want to move the attachments field up to improve the flow of data entry or consumption. For example, if you are creating a reimbursement request, you may want to enter the request title and description, upload receipts, and then describe the receipts and amounts after.

How to rearrange fields on the SharePoint new item form using JSON

  1. Click the New button in the SharePoint list where you want to move the attachments field up.
  2. Click the Edit form button in the upper right corner of the form.
  3. Click Configure layout.
Location of the new form’s Configure layout option | Click to enlarge
  1. Select Body from the dropdown menu and paste the JSON code (see below) into the JSON editor
The Configure layout panel for the form body section | Click to enlarge
  1. Replace the sample column names in the JSON code below with your own columns’ display names.
  2. Click Save.

Important: Copy + Paste, then update for your own column names

Replace the sample column names in the JSON code below with your own column names. Be sure to use the column’s display names (how they appear as column headers and field names on the form), not their internal names. If the display name of the column changes at some point, your JSON will need updated as well or mismatched columns will be placed at the bottom.

The following two sections will give you two examples of ways you can use this method to customize your form:

  • One basic, three-section form layout
  • One four-section form layout with section headers

Without Section Headers

Here is an example of the JSON code you might use to simply rearrange the fields on the form into three sections – particularly, in our example, the Attachments column into a middle section:

{
    "sections": [
        {
            "displayname": "",
            "fields": [
                "Title",
                "Description"
            ]
        },
        {
            "displayname": "",
            "fields": [
                "Attachments"
            ]
        },
        {
            "displayname": "",
            "fields": [
                "Category",
                "Priority",
                "Due Date"
            ]
        }
    ]
}

Here’s an example of how this code, with a few additional columns, might look. Notice I added an Images column in the same section so all “attachment-like” content is done in one spot on the form.

JSON-formatted SharePoint form with Attachments in a middle section | Click to enlarge

With Section Headers

Here is an example of the JSON code you might use to customize a SharePoint new item form that includes section headers to help break the form into four logical groupings. The main difference is the inclusion of a value (the heading) between the double quotes that follow "displayname":

{
    "sections": [
        {
            "displayname": "Trip description",
            "fields": [
                "Reason for travel",
                "Requester",
                "Destination",
                "Travel start date",
                "Travel end date"
            ]
        },
        {
            "displayname": "Documentation",
            "fields": [
                "Attachments"
            ]
        },
        {
            "displayname": "Airfare",
            "fields": [
                "Airline",
                "Estimated airfare"
            ]
        },
        {
            "displayname": "Hotel",
            "fields": [
                "Hotel",
                "Estimated hotel cost"
            ]
        }
    ]
}

Here’s a visual example of how this form might look. Notice the attachments field is now below the Trip description section, but above Airfare.

A customized form and its JSON formatting | Click to enlarge

Working with additional columns and sections

The examples provided above will get you started – but you may want more than three or four sections, or have fewer or more columns in your list. Here are some general tips for adjusting this code to suit your needs:

Basically, each additional column must:

  • Be inside double quotes
  • Be separated from the next column by a comma
  • The last column listed in a section doesn’t need a comma after its quotes

And each section must:

  • Start with "sections": [ { "displayname": "Optional section name", "fields": [
  • And end with ] }
  • Have a comma between each section’s code (except after the last one)

Also keep in mind that columns added later, or left out of the code, will be added to the bottom of your form automatically. Don’t forget to update your code to place it in the section you’d like.

Why do I need sections if I just want all fields in one?

If you’re not working with the Attachments column specifically, you can bypass the JSON code altogether and simply use the Edit columns feature to rearrange, show, and hide columns as you please. The attachments column will always appear last in this case.

But moving the Attachments field within the form requires that you place it in a section strategically. Simply listing it in a specific order all in one section will still place it at the bottom of your form as seen here. On the right, it’s listed in the code in the middle, but since it’s in the same section as all other fields, it still gets placed at the bottom due to the column ordering (Edit columns settings) taking precedence.

A single-section form demonstrating column order taking precedence over formatting | Click to enlarge

This is a good thing, really, because your want your JSON formatting to cooperate with the column ordering functionality for easier updates later. In other words, you and your colleagues can reorder, show, and hide columns as you normally would using the Edit columns option on the form and your JSON sections will still be respected. You’d simply be rearranging the fields within each respective section you set up in the code.

Edit columns option for adjusting column order and visibility | Click to enlarge

So, if you only want to move the Attachments column, consider an approach like the first example in this post: Section 1 is a few general fields, Section 2 is only Attachments, and Section 3 is the rest of the fields. Don’t use any headers, and your form will still feel like a single-sectioned form.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I have shown you how to move the attachments field up on a SharePoint new item form using JSON. This technique can be used to rearrange all of the columns on the form into as many, or as few, sections as you want. Just remember that you need at least three sections if you intend for Attachments to be somewhere in the middle. If you want to learn more about customizing SharePoint forms, check out Configure the list form | Microsoft Learn.

How to remove the attachments field from a SharePoint list’s new item form

If you’ve ever tried to create a new item on a SharePoint list, you may have noticed that the form always includes an Attachments field that can’t be hidden like other columns. If your process doesn’t require attachments or you’d like to prevent users from uploading documents to the list, you’re likely wondering how to get past this obstacle.

End of a SharePoint form with the Attachments field | Click to enlarge

Note
Be aware that if users previously utilized the Attachments field, this action would delete all attachments they’ve already uploaded on all list items.

In this post, I’ll highlight the 5 simple steps involved in removing the attachments field for a list’s new item form.

How to remove the attachments field from a list’s new item form

  1. Click Settings | List Settings
Location of List settings | Click to enlarge
  1. Select Advanced settings
Location of Advanced settings in List Settings | Click to enlarge
  1. Set the Attachments radio button to Disabled
Advanced list settings showing the Attachments setting as Disabled | Click to enlarge
  1. Click OK
  1. You’ll receive a warning making sure you’re aware that this action deletes all attachments (if there are any). Click OK.
Warning when saving Attachments setting as Disabled | Click to enlarge

And that’s it! Now your forms will only show fields you’ve created and configured.

End of a SharePoint form without the Attachments field | Click to enlarge

If you’re not able to access or modify List settings, you may not have high enough permissions to modify the list. Check with your site owner to see if they can assist.

Here’s a video demonstration of the steps in this post:

When should I use attachments in lists?

Attachments are secondary to the list/form data itself and should be used for specific business processes, such as attaching receipts for reimbursement requests or perhaps photos or screenshots for facility or issue trackers. If the document is independently important, it should be stored in a document library.

Also keep in mind that attachments don’t have version history, cannot be renamed or reorganized without downloading/re-uploading, and they are not searchable in Microsoft 365. If you need to search for attachments, you should store them in a document library instead of a list – and you can always use a lookup column or hyperlink column to connect the list and library.

References and further reading

How to create a link to a specific approval request in Power Automate

Do you want to send someone a direct link to an approval request in Power Automate? This can be useful if you want to remind them via chat or email or assign them a task in Planner or To Do. In this blog post, I’ll show you how to get a link to a specific approval request’s link that you can use in different Power Automate flow concepts.

Note

If you’re looking for how to send a link to ALL a user’s pending approvals (rather than a specific approval request), check out my recent post on how to create a link to open the Approvals app in Teams.

You may already know that Power Automate has three approval related actionsStart and wait for an approvalWait for an approval, and Create an approval. Each of these actions has different dynamic content available for later steps. To get a link to a specific approval request, we need to use the Create an approval action because it gives us access to the Respond link dynamic content. This is the link that will take users directly to the approval board in Power Automate with their approval task open awaiting response.

Respond link dynamic content | Click to enlarge

How can you use this link? For example, imagine you want to create a flow that runs when a new request is created in SharePoint and creates a Planner task for the approver with the link to the approval request.

Illustration of the overall concept here – a link to an approval request | Click to enlarge

Here are the steps for this particular request scenario:

How to create a Power Automate flow that assigns Planner tasks containing links to approval requests

Note: For sensitive information, like leave requests, you’ll want to be mindful of PII and privacy and consider email or chat or other ways to use the link so only individuals who should see sensitive content can. This is merely an example of how you might use Planner tasks for any request scenario.

  1. For your flow’s trigger, search for SharePoint and select When an item is created. Configure the trigger by selecting the site and list where you want to monitor new items. For example, you might choose your HR site and the Leave request list.
  2. Click Add an action and search for Create an approval. Configure the approval details as you need. In our example, you might want to request approval from the employee’s manager and set the title to “Leave request approval.” If you intend to send custom notifications via email, planner tasks, etc., click Show advanced options and set Enable notifications to No. This will prevent approvers from receiving multiple notifications about the same approval request.
The first three steps of our approval flow | Click to enlarge
  1. Click Add an action and search for Create a task (Planner). Select the plan and bucket where you want to create the task. For example, you might choose your specific team’s plan and the Pending tasks bucket.
Planner task configuration | Click to enlarge
  1. Click Add an action and search for Update task details (Planner). Select the task ID from the previous Planner action. In the References section, fill in the following fields: References Alias is the text that will be clickable. References Resource will be the Respond link dynamic content from the Approval step. And References Type will be Other.
Update task details configuration | Click to enlarge
  1. Optionally, you can add more actions after creating the approval and updating the task details. For example, you could add a Wait for an approval action to take the outcome of the approval request and perform conditional actions based on it. Or you could add an Update item action (SharePoint) to set the original request’s Approval status from Pending to Approved or Rejected. Or you could add a Send an email action (Outlook) to notify the requestor, copying the approver and HR, with the final outcome of the request.
Optional final steps ideas | Click to enlarge
  1. Save your flow and test it.

That’s it! Now whenever a new request is created in SharePoint, a Planner task will be created for the approver with a direct link to the approval request.

You can apply this technique in other scenarios as well. For example, you could send chat messages or emails with links to approvals using Teams or Outlook actions. Or you could create personal To Do tasks with links using Microsoft To Do actions.

How might you be able to use direct links to specific approval requests in your business processes?

References and further reading

Looking for a deeper dive and more ideas? Look no further.

Power Automate approval actions: A comparison of Start and wait, Create, and Wait for an approval


If you’re responsible for building flows in Power Automate, you’re certain to be asked to create an approval process at some point. This blog post will cover:

  • Comparison of the three approval action types, descriptions, and business use cases
  • How to create a basic approval flow using Power Automate
  • Dynamic content differences between Power Automate approval actions

Let’s start by comparing your three approval action options.

Comparison of Power Automate approval actions

One of the actions available in Power Automate is the Start and wait for an approval action. This action starts the approval process and waits for it to be completed before executing any additional actions. Actions that follow are typically response-dependent, such as creating an item or updating a status if approved or rejected.

Another action available in Power Automate is the Create an approval action. This action starts the approval process but does not wait for it to be completed. Instead, you can use the Wait for an approval action to wait for the approval to complete that was started by the Create an approval action. You might use these actions…

  • …if you want to have steps between creation and waiting. For example, if you wanted to customize the email that is sent to approvers, you would disable Enable notifications on the Create an approval step, then add a Send an email action afterwards but before the Wait for an approval step. This gives you complete control over the look and feel of the email request, rather than sticking to the default Power Automate branded message.
  • …if your approval process will take more than 30 days and your flow will time out before it’s finished. Create an approval creates the approval in Microsoft Teams (or Power Automate) and approvers can approve it there when they’re ready. Your flow won’t fail as You may not necessarily wait for an approval in the flow itself.

Here is a table that summarizes the differences between the various actions:

ActionDescriptionBusiness Use Case Example
Start and wait for an approvalStarts the approval process and waits for it to be completed.A manager wants to automate the approval process for leave requests. They use the Start and wait for an approval action to ensure that the request is approved before the employee’s calendar is updated.
Create an approvalStarts the approval process but does not wait for it to be completed.A team lead wants to automate the approval process for expense reports. They use the Create an approval action to create the approval record and send notifications, but they don’t want to wait for the approval to complete before executing the next step in the flow. In this case, the approval response may not affect the following steps, but just needed to be requested and logged.
Wait for an approvalUsed to wait for an approval to complete that was started by the Create an approval action.A project manager wants to automate the approval process for project proposals. They use the Create an approval action to create the approval record, send their own custom notifications as a Planner task, an email, or a chat message, and then use the Wait for an approval action to wait for the approval to complete before executing the next step(s) in the flow.

Create an approval and Wait for an approval can be used consecutively to achieve the same result as only using the all-in-one action of Start and wait for an approval. For example, let’s say you use Microsoft Teams to manage your team’s projects. You can use Power Automate to automate the approval process for project proposals. You can create a flow that uses the Create an approval action to create the approval record and send notifications to the approvers. Once the approvers have approved the proposal, you can use the Wait for an approval action to wait for the approval to complete before executing the next step in the flow. This ensures that the project proposal is approved before any additional actions are taken but also gives you the added benefits of flexibility down the road like adding steps between creation and waiting, as well as additional dynamic content that may be helpful (see the dynamic content section below).

How to create a basic approval flow using Power Automate

Here is a step-by-step guide for creating a basic approval flow in Power Automate using reimbursement requests as an example:

  1. Select the When an item is created trigger for SharePoint. This trigger will start the flow when a new reimbursement request is created in the list.
  2. Add the Start and wait for an approval action to your flow. This action will start the approval process and wait for it to be completed before executing any additional actions.
  3. Configure the Start and wait for an approval action by specifying the approvers, the approval type, and any other relevant details. For example, you can specify that the approval should be sent to the employee’s manager and the Accounting department, and that the approval type should be Approve/Reject – Everyone must approve.
  4. Add any additional actions that you want to execute after the approval process has been completed. You’ll almost always have a Condition control that checks to see if the response was Approve or Reject. Then, for example, you might use the Send an email action to notify the employee that their reimbursement request has been approved, and maybe Update item to set the SharePoint item’s status as Approved.

Here is a side-by-side comparison that shows the steps for a flow that uses start and wait for an approval, and a different one that shows using create an approval, send an email, then wait for an approval:

Start and wait for an approvalCreate an approval, send an email, then wait for an approval
1. Add the Start and wait for an approval action to your flow.1. Add the Create an approval action to your flow.
2. Configure the Start and wait for an approval action by specifying the approvers, the approval type, and any other relevant details.2. Configure the Create an approval action by specifying the approvers, the approval type, and any other relevant details. In this example, we would disable the Enable notifications setting so we can send a custom notification.
3. Add any additional actions that you want to execute after the approval process has been completed such as a response-dependent (Condition control) secondary level of approvals.3. Add the Send an email action to your flow to notify the requestor and/or approver(s) of the request details and action required.
4. Add the Wait for an approval action to your flow.
5. Configure the Wait for an approval action to wait for the approval to complete before executing any additional actions like a response-dependent (Condition control) status column update.
Table comparing the steps added to an approval flow using two different approaches

Not only do you use these approval actions in different scenarios, but your choice also affects the dynamic content you can use later in the flow. Let’s take a look at that next.

Dynamic content differences between Power Automate approval actions

The choices you make for which approval actions affect which dynamic content is available to you in later steps. Here’s an example of the dynamic content panel for a step following Create an approval:

A screenshot of selecting dynamic content from a Create an approval step | Click to enlarge

Here’s a listing of all the dynamic content alphabetically listed and which actions provide it for you.

Dynamic contentDescriptionStart and wait for an approvalCreate an approvalWait for an approval
Approval IDThe name of the approval
ApproversAll of the approvers   
Approvers Approver emailThe email address of the approver  
Approvers Approver IDThe ID of the approver  
Approvers Approver nameThe name of the approver  
Approvers Approver tenant IDThe tenant ID of the approver  
Approvers Approver user principal nameThe principal name of the approver  
Approvers Item   
body 
Completion dateDate the approval was completed 
DetailsAdditional details about the request
Item linkA link to the item to approve
Item link descriptionDescription of the link to the item
OutcomeThe outcome of the approval 
Request dateDate the approval request was sent
Respond linkThe link to respond to the approval  
Response summaryA summary of the responses 
ResponsesAll of the responses 
Responses Approver emailThe email address of the approver 
Responses Approver IDThe ID of the approver 
Responses Approver nameThe name of the approver 
Responses Approver responseThe response from the approver 
Responses Approver tenant IDThe tenant ID of the approver 
Responses Approver user principal nameThe principal name of the approver 
Responses CommentsComments added by the approver 
Responses Item  
Responses Request dateDate the approval request was sent 
Responses responder  
Responses Response dateDate the approval response was sent 
Teams Adaptive CardAn adaptive card that can be posted to users to respond from within Microsoft Teams  
TitleThe title of the approval
Table comparing dynamic content for different approval actions in Power Automate

One of the most valuable differences here, in my opinion, is the inclusion of Respond link. It’s only available for the Create an approval action. This allows you to send custom reminders with links that take users directly to the item(s) they still need to approve. You could also consider just sending users directly to the Approvals app in Microsoft Teams to put eyes on all their outstanding requests.

Conclusion

As you can see, a simple action choice comes with a lot of potential for creating rich processes. And with all of the options provided through dynamic content, we can customize the approval process quite a bit. In most cases, you’ll probably use Start and wait for an approval. But as you develop more flows, you may find yourself wanting a greater degree of customization and flexibility so you opt for the Create an approval + Wait for an approval approach.

What sort of approval processes are you working on automating with Power Automate? Let me know in the comments or on LinkedIn.

References and further reading

How to create a direct link to the Approvals app in Microsoft Teams

yellow arrow led signage

If you want to create a direct hyperlink in an email or chat message that takes a user directly to the Approvals app within Microsoft Teams, it’s luckily pretty straightforward. You might do this if you want to remind users to review any pending/open approvals on a regular basis, nudge a specific person to complete an approval, or create a custom approval request email for a Power Automate flow.

In this blog post I’ll highlight how you can get a direct link to Approvals for enterprise and GCC subscriptions in both Microsoft Teams and Power Automate.

How to create a direct link to the Approvals app in Microsoft Teams

To send users directly to the Approvals app in Microsoft Teams, your URL may be exactly the same as one of these. That’s right, no modification needed! That’s because the alphanumeric content in the URL is the app ID and it stays the same from one organization to the next.

However, the app ID does differ for different versions of the Approvals app. For instance:

Approvals app in Microsoft Teams: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/entity/7c316234-ded0-4f95-8a83-8453d0876592/approvals

US GCC Approvals app in Microsoft Teams: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/entity/2d4edd75-5a69-41da-bead-44c3a268ece8/approvals

As you can see the structure is similar:

  1. Begin your URL with https://teams.microsoft.com/l/entity/
  2. Replace the alphanumeric id before /approvals with the app ID specific to your Approvals app

How to find your app ID

If neither of the examples above (normal Approvals or GCC Approvals) works for you, you may have a different Approvals app or the ID may have changed or been copied incorrectly. To find your app ID:

  1. Go to Manage Apps in the Microsoft Teams Admin Center
  2. Search for and select the Approvals app
  3. Find its ID under App ID
An app details page in the Microsoft Teams admin center | Click to enlarge

How to create a direct link to the Approvals page of Power Automate

If you prefer users complete approvals via the browser using Power Automate (same approvals, different interface), you may instead go to Power Automate in your browser and click on Approvals from the left navigation menu then copy that entire URL. It will be the same for all users in your organization.

It might resemble something like the following:

Approvals page in Power Automate: https://make.powerautomate.com/environments/Default-a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7h8i-9j0k-l1m2n3o4p5q6/approvals/received

US GCC Approvals page in Power Automate: https://make.gov.powerautomate.us/environments/Default-g7h8i9j0-k1l2-m3n4-o5p6-q7r8s9t0u1v2/approvals/received

You can, alternatively, copy one of my fake URLs above and replace everything between Default- and /approvals with your organization’s ID. To get this, visit Power Automate in your browser and copy the ID out of its URL.

Power Automate URL’s ID location | Click to enlarge

References

Deep link to an application – Teams | Microsoft Learn