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:
- Begin your URL with https://teams.microsoft.com/l/entity/
- 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:
- Go to Manage Apps in the Microsoft Teams Admin Center
- Search for and select the Approvals app
- Find its ID under App ID
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.
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