PowerApps Approvals without using Flow

In this video, you will learn how we build all approval functionality directly into Power Apps instead of flow. We do this for greater flexibility, more control, and a better user experience.
Part 1 to build this app starts here • PowerApps Repeating Ta...
Deep Linking is covered here • PowerApps Deep Linking...
Download the app and a lot more from here training.powerapps911.com/cou...

[@frzq]

Years later and this video still saved people. Thank you Shane!

[@ShanesCows]

Happy to help. Making a new version of this one is on my to do list. 😎

[@mehdid.1022]

Man you are a genius! You are my go to channel for Powerapps! You cover pretty much all the things I am trying to do in my apps with your channel. Thanks a lot, super helpful how you breakdown all the small functiunalities.

[@ShanesCows]

Glad to help. 😀

[@chrislloyd8365]

So much better than the tricky PowerAutomate approach I was originally considering. Brilliant - thanks😁

[@ShanesCows]

Glad it was helpful!

[@kingsleyudeagha]

Grateful for all the knowledge you put out Shane. Thank you.

[@ShanesCows]

My pleasure! Thank you for watching.

[@brodiejake2149]

i guess Im asking the wrong place but does anybody know a way to log back into an Instagram account..? I stupidly forgot my account password. I would love any tricks you can give me!

[@1155074]

Dear Shane, thanks a million for your all your great videos

[@ShanesCows]

Glad to help. 😀

[@michaelshelnutt3534]

I greatly benefit from your teaching. You are my #1 go to for PowerApps!

[@ShanesCows]

Thanks 😊

[@akiratogawa2095]

Hi Shane! I am new to powerapps and your videos are amazing, very great balance of practical explanations with technical information!

[@ShanesCows]

Awesome, thank you!

[@ThermalWarrior]

Great video Shane thanks for doing it!

[@ShanesCows]

You are welcome 🙏

[@mandijohnson-fisher5370]

Perfecto! Thanks for pointing me in the right direction! 👌🏼

[@ShanesCows]

🐶

[@louismartini6983]

Another Great Video. Thanks for all your hard work.

[@ShanesCows]

My pleasure!

[@hassanexplores8763]

Really cool stuff .. awesome (Y) Many Thanks Shane for sharing the knowledge

[@ShanesCows]

My pleasure!

[@akshaynm]

Hello Shane, thanks a lot for introducing a new approach configuring approval email. I am very well excited to know more deep things about PowerApps approvals. I would be happy to see your more videos on that. Regards, Akshay

[@ShanesCows]

😎 thanks

[@georgewinters2066]

Another Terrific Demo !

[@ShanesCows]

Thanks George!

[@jayantkhushalani8639]

Great stuff Shane! Really loved the video and your approach on how you can build out approval flows without getting into complexity of Power Automate. would you do a multi level stage approval video by any chance or any blog that you can refer me to so i can get working on that? Once again, Great Stuff man!!!

[@ShanesCows]

Multi stage gets tougher. It will be part of my advanced class on training.powerapps911.com but doubt it will make it to KZbin.

[@franknielsen3219]

Very educational and very inspiring video :)

[@ShanesCows]

Thanks Frank

[@adriennemcgowan8242]

This is exactly what I need to do but I got a little lost in the variables. What other videos do you have that show how you built the rest of the app. I've watched the three part series. Did I miss something?

[@maryannenichols2231]

Love this video, when you have attached documents, is it possible that the approver can open the files and digitally sign them and reattach back to the approval screen, as it moves along the approval process? I have a 5 step approval process, and struggling with the digitally signing the document.

[@nipun399]

Awesome video.. :)

[@ShanesCows]

Thanks! 😀

[@dungreal]

Hi Shane, What if I want the multi-layer approver. Could you please make the video demo about this?

[@thoughtsparks]

Hey Shane, your tutorials are awesome. Very well done. So thanks. My question is surrounding reusable document workflows. Without stepping up the level of licensing (with respect to PowerAutomate), I'm wondering about using PowerApps approvals in a reusable concept. Any guidance on how I might approach that end-goal. This is directly related to the EOL for SP 2010 workflows. Seems like PowerApps method as you've outlined above might be a good approach. Just wondering in respect to reusable?

[@ShanesCows]

I don't have an easy answer here :( Sorry I haven't thought about this one

[@PamCusmano]

Shane, your videos are saving my (work)life; Thank You! I was wondering if you could point me to the session where you create the Approver forms that are used in this app?

[@ShanesCows]

Do you mean the start of the series to build the app? PowerApps Repeating Tables like InfoPath Part 1 - Enter the data kzbin.info/www/bejne/rpjdn55qjdGDedE

[@PamCusmano]

@@ShanesCows No, I found that :) I'm wondering if there were videos of your build of the My Aporovals screens that this app demonstrates...approval screen based on user, with gallery including only their own approvals

[@exit925]

Shane thanks for the super helpful video! At minute 22 you mentioned doing an advanced class for multi-level approvals this Summer. Did that ever happen? Where can I find it? Best!

[@ShanesCows]

The advanced class is a paid training training.powerapps911.com/courses/advanced-power-apps-and-power-automate Maybe one day I will revisit on KZbin but not on my current list of topics.

[@agnelodcosta906]

Thank you GURU 🙏

[@ShanesCows]

Glad to help. 😀

[@samoeissa3724]

Great Video. But how to add multiple approval in the flow?

[@fabriciomiranda5773]

Hi Shane, how you are cappable to send the lookupvalue from the form to the sharepoint

[@tenisviejos]

Hay Shane, thanks a lot for this video. I would like to send the emails directly from powerapps, but since I must use a shared mailbox instead of any individual account for all notifications, I must use Flow instead, triggered by new/edited records on my SharePoint list datasource... BTW, the automated flow reminder idea is great, maybe I'll implement something similar for a leave-request app I'm currently polishing.

[@ShanesCows]

Cool. Good luck.

[@podilipadminikumari1526]

This is a great video. Please Post some Portal and Model Driven apps also it will be helpful for beginners like me

[@ShanesCows]

I really need to do more portals for sure.

[@dianacull]

Shane: do you happen to have the links for available for the other videos you mention at the top of your intro? I cannot seem to be able to retrieve them with a simple search? Use case I am working on is similar, it is for an expense request, with a package of attachments, and multiple/complex approvals needed. Any assistance you can provide would be great.

[@ShanesCows]

They are in the description of hte video. 😀 Part 1 to build this app starts here kzbin.info/www/bejne/rpjdn55qjdGDedE Deep Linking is covered here kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2azmmiGZ75-mtU

[@toponightfire]

Really great video. Would like to see a similar one based on a Purchase order with auto purchase order number

[@ShanesCows]

Concepts are the same just different columns. 😀

[@AshishKumar-bv1lw]

Awesome..

[@ShanesCows]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@mappingman]

Hi Shane. I'd really like to learn this, but the links to the other videos mention don't seem to be in the description. Parts 1, 2 and 3 are easy to find, but you mention in this video that this is #6 Could we possibly #4 and 5? Thanks!

[@ShanesCows]

#4 kzbin.info/www/bejne/hpKQoYx7oLF7Y7c #5 kzbin.info/www/bejne/kIDdZHusgKmKg80 Hope it helps. Remaking a similar of this series is on my to do list.

[@dileepsyed7402]

HI Shane, i am looking for multiple approval using the same form in power apps. raise the request and it goes to 1st manager and review and 2nd manager and review and approve. can you please advice.

[@jhonatanorabadillo5958]

Good evening, Shane! First, thanks for sharing these tutorials, they help a lot! I wanted to make the following query, please. Is there a way to have a Chatbot made in Power Virtual Agents on a PowerApps canvas? Thanks in advance! Best regards, Jhonatan Ora Badillo

[@ShanesCows]

I haven’t tried yet. Sorry

[@pbehler]

Thank you. I am in the process of building a complex approval app that is similar to how you structured it. SharePoint list that is a lookup for approval roles by stage, the deep linking to edit the approval response from the app rather than Power Automate approvals, and a reminder flow that runs daily and is based on a column titled "Last Notified". But this video helped out a bunch with some little adjustments and assured me that I'm in the right direction. Now if I could somehow still have the email with options feature work so that additionally someone can approve without viewing the app.

[@ShanesCows]

Interesting Peter. I will tell you it is possible. :) I did something like the approve from the app or the email for a customer. But it was WAY too complicated to make a video about. Good luck!

[@indyswains6220]

Thanks, Shane, great video as others have also said! What happens when Chewy leaves the company and there is a new person who now approves expenses >$1K? If you edit the list that is the source for that approver email with the new person's name, will it change all the previous expenses that Chewy approved and put the new person's name in? (That used to happen in InfoPath, which is why I'm asking. That behavior caused me fits!)

[@ShanesCows]

Nope. You would need to update all of them. Or expand this model so you have an approver id that you lookup against

[@johnmizell4683]

Shane, great video thanks for creating this!! How would you engineer this to handle multiple parallel approvers?

[@ShanesCows]

It is hard but a topic we cover it in my advanced class. Long story short it is a series of Ifs in the approve button

[@johnmizell4683]

@@ShanesCows Thanks Shane. I'll have to look into getting my employer to pay for some of your training. Happy Holidays!

[@reivaxmik9058]

@@ShanesCows Hi Shane, awesome video! Are you able to add more details to the multi stage approvers, just unclear how to design it properly you did mention you manage a separate list of the approvers. Other question, the advanced class curriculum looks awesome and will try to have approval from my company to get me signed-up. But for now is there a way we can do just that Day 1 Part 1 - Complex Approvals without Flow lesson? Or, you already probably have youtube video for that? As I am on a deadline right now for a client so can't do all lessons just yet. thanks again!

[@bethjohnson889]

Hi Shane I am loving these tutorials, I want to set up my approvals so it looks up the user and find their name in the sharepoint list and sends the approval to the approver listed next to them. I have set up a list which has names under title and an approver column but I am trying to figure out the best way to write a formula for this. I have the users full name in a label and am hoping to match that to the title column of the sharepoint list. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

[@ShanesCows]

Use the LookUp function to get the record that matches. Then select the approved column. Maybe this will help kzbin.info/www/bejne/jWa9Z2SHbreYntU

[@rajithP]

Hi, really great helpful videos. thanks a lot. Can you show the how did you created the Expenses application with master and child (Expense Items) records and relation between them. can you share the application too?

[@ShanesCows]

This video kzbin.info/www/bejne/rpjdn55qjdGDedE to get the app you have to subscribe at training.powerapps911.com

[@mahesh1984c]

Hi Shane i like all other videos, I am sorry to say , unable to understand this video ,Where data saving and how multi approval processing here in this video

[@sancforer]

Hi Shane. Thanks again for your videos, I have learned a lot with them. I was looking for the flow aprovals video but i can't find it. Could you share it with me? :D

[@ShanesCows]

I think it is this video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/kGi1kGalo8SdeqM Or in my free class at training.powerapps911.com/courses/power-apps-and-power-automate-getting-started

[@stevebell9050]

Another great video! I have one question. As a user of this app and with add/edit permissions, whats to stop me going directly to the sharepoint list and approving my expenses myself?

[@ShanesCows]

Nothing. You need to jump through hoops to keep them out of the SharePoint list. Possible but not super easy. I don’t have a video on it but o do cover it a bit in my SharePoint class.

[@ritube10]

Hi Shane, Thanks for sharing!! But I have a question about how you generate the master ID? Because my details and master have no references column. Is that possible I can create a textinput and reference master ID? Thanks in advance!:)

[@ShanesCows]

I built the data set in this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/rpjdn55qjdGDedE

[@ashokpershad]

Great work as always, Only thing i don’t like is to come back to PowerApps from email...on the contrary in PowerAutomate we can approve or reject directly from email itself. One thing we miss here is how to track all approvals/rejection status at one common location where few in team can track easily and to link it to POWERBI.??

[@ShanesCows]

In most app I build a separate list to track all of the pending approvals so I can have that overview you are thinking about.

[@punit45232]

Do you think using PowerAutomate is better for if I were doing a Leave Request? Especially since I would need it to add an event to an RS Mailbox calendar. Also, do you have any videos on creating in PowerAutomate?

[@ShanesCows]

I think using Flow is fine. :) This video might help as I cover how approvals work in more detail in flow kzbin.info/www/bejne/aaTLeZZ_nM-rfpY

[@richardfarland]

Thanks for this very helpful video Shane. I was wondering if you might have any pointers on our situation. We have to build an app which collects information from a bunch of users about possible acquisitions for the organisation. The output of the app is a recommendation document (Word doc saved in SharePoint) which has to be approved (for legal requirements, actually digitally signed and locked) by potentially multiple approvers depending on value. Before we head down the PowerApp path too far (we could write it in ASP.Net instead), would you say PowerApps/PowerAutomate can handle all these things without turning into an unmanageable mess? (calling SQL stored procs and REST API's, dynamically populating a Word template from SQL data, collecting digital signatures, saving to PDF). Many thanks for any thoughts...

[@ShanesCows]

Hey Richard. Sorry I was slow. Did you get this figured out? I assume you made a decisoin already.

[@richardfarland]

@@ShanesCows Hi Shane, no we're still testing features and designing the wireframes.

[@christopherk9127]

Really cool. Question: How do you patch an attachment that's in a collection to a SharePoint list?

[@ShanesCows]

I haven’t found a way to patch Attachments 😔

[@moadbouzida6693]

Hi man i really appreciate your videos , I wanted to ask if I had done a video for the approval page (Approve,Reject) because I cannot find it , thank you in advance.

[@ShanesCows]

I guess I didn’t. Hmm. Need to get it on the list.

[@moadbouzida6693]

@@ShanesCows Thank i would really love that , it is extremely interesting and useful . Do you have maybe a small suggestion about how to do it what is the logic behind .

[@user-qu6cv4ki3s]

Hi Shane, thank you for your nice tutorial. My question is, I couldn't find the page which manage approvers like "ExpenseApprovers". Where can I find that page?

[@ShanesCows]

I created a SharePoint list that had all of the approvers. I didn't build a screen in the app to manage it, though I could have.

[@user-qu6cv4ki3s]

I didn't know the existence of List😅 Thank you

[@sujikim6809]

Hello Shane, Thanks for your help! I have one problem: when I have deep linking in place (and it works totally fine), it ALWAYS directs user to a deep linked page, no matter if they clicked the link or entering the app not using the link. I would want users to see homescreen when they do not use the link to enter the page. I've been trying to figure this problem sorted out but I really can't :( Please help!

[@ShanesCows]

You are most likely missing an If formula for you Navigate.

[@stevemcc7208]

I am a power automate rookie and this is a great help. thank you! If I could ask a question - I have a Shipping Request form issue. PHASE 1: The user fills out the request for items to be shipped by the warehouse. The user receives a confirmation email that it was sent to the warehouse. PHASE 2: The warehouse completes the shipping and another confirmation email should go to the user when the form is set to "SHIPPED" I can't get the second phase email to work.

[@ShanesCows]

I am guessing you need some type of an If when the shipping is done that sends the second email. But hard to say for sure.

[@stevemcc7208]

@@ShanesCows Thanks Shane Sadly, the company wants to continue with Infopath but use power automate! :) it worked in a way i didn't expect, by placing the second change in the NO branch. Oh well!

[@ASIxPubg]

Hi Shane , Can you please make us a Video explain the booking room template

[@ShanesCows]

I don’t use the templates very often nor do I recommend that you modify the templates for production apps. Play with them, learn from them then build your own

[@JayGeiger]

Are these approvals stored in a "Person" column in SharePoint?

[@sujikim6809]

Hello Shane, do you have a link to a video where you made the top bar of "my approvals" page with the email and picture shown? Also, I'm trying to set up varUser but it is showing error. Do I have to set this as a variable to something? Also, when I type in the email function it shows an error. I do have Office365 linked up with the application, and I can't seem to find what the problem is.. Thanks for the help!

[@ShanesCows]

In App OnStart SEt(varUser, User()) is what I did.

[@sujikim6809]

@@ShanesCows Thanks for the help Shane! One more question.. where do you set varRecord? I saw the term from the deep linking video but it is quite hard to synthesize the information to the expense report app. Thanks!

[@roxanarodriguez1828]

Hi, really helpful videos, maybe someone could help me or maybe you, I've made a power app and embedded to power bi, but it loads really slow, is there any way in which I can improve performance?

[@ShanesCows]

That is a tough one because the answer is it depends. I would try to figure out what is causing the slowness and then go from there. Likely the PBI data fetch but I don't know.

[@punit45232]

Do you have any tutorials on how to use PowerAutomate to send an approval email? I know there is the Approval trigger in PowerAutomate, but the issue with that, is it sends an approval with the GMT time.

[@ShanesCows]

Nothing that covers that. Approvals in flow are not very flexible 😀

[@marceldorr2734]

My problem is that I have a list of people who are allowed to modify and add data, and I can control this very well in Power Apps using this SharePoint list. However, I need to grant each person on my second SharePoint list the permission to add and modify data, and we can do this without any prompts.

[@muthuperumalkonar4874]

Great shane, i have an scenario of save all item in sharepoint using powerautmate in power apps, Im able to patch all item in sharepoint but i dont know how to attach all item using power automate Can you please help me ? please suggest me which function to be used to attach all item .

[@ShanesCows]

In your flow you would need to get items to get the items you want. Then you would have to combine them all. Depending on what control want to share them with. Not super easy but possible.

[@zchase6631]

if management wants the approver not to be fixed with multiple approval levl and free maintenance, how should i go about it? i still need to manage the user list rite.

[@ShanesCows]

Yeah, in my customers app I query a SQL table for the proper approver.

[@zaidkashour]

This is a great alternative way for approvals. Now, how do we prevent Power Apps users from accessing the various Share Point lists?

[@ShanesCows]

Yeah that is the problem with SharePoint for sure. There are hacky things but no magic bullet.

[@toulasantha]

Are hidden SharePoint fields available in PowerApps? I haven’t had a chance to check yet.

[@zaidkashour]

LoveSriLanka🇱🇰 I am not an expert in this, but I usually keep the SP column "Created" hidden but make it visible in Power Apps.

[@ty7657]

Hey Shane do you have a video on how to create triggers for documents to be reviewed 6 month 1 year or 2 years once added to a folder, or make all documents in the folder to be reviewed after 12 months and it keep rolling once the review of the document is completed.

[@ty7657]

and also to have a column showing the review date

[@ShanesCows]

I don’t. 😑 I would set a flow with a recurrence flow that runs everyday and checks to see if any files have hit there review date. If so send and email to people to review b

[@jonathan14in1]

HI Shane, I linked my sharepoint column of Person or Group with the powerapps. Then inside the New form i select the approvers and once i submit the form, a notification is sent to the approvers selected. However can i change my approvers when and then re-submit the form? When i did that it does not send a notification.

[@ShanesCows]

Yes, it is possible. You would need to create the logic to do it but possible. My customer's app does similar complexity.

[@jonathan14in1]

@@ShanesCows Thanks Shane. What you mean by creating a logic would be to create a flow? Do you have a link to your customer's app video to get a better understanding of this?

[@Karol-ft9pz]

hello Shane is it possible to build app which allow to approve multiple items (eg. selected by multiple select items) and approve by one click?

[@ShanesCows]

Combine what you learned in this video about patching with approve and apply the concepts in this video for selecting multiple and using ForAll. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Zqm9ZZmDf8d_rM0 You got this!

[@Karol-ft9pz]

@@ShanesCows hi, many thanks for this, it will works for me :) i have one more query (please dont be angry) - do you have video where you teach how to switch between items (eg on list i have 100 items, i should have access and possibility to see or edit items which were created by me)

[@dreamweaver9962]

I did the first like :)

[@daleanbarnett5088]

I did the second like

[@ShanesCows]

You got it in before I could even confirm it auto posted. 😀 I am trying out some new stuff myself and doing some learning.

[@gamingforfuniq]

Hi Shane, do you have any workaround or solution to the missing attachment control in SharePoint on-premise?

[@ShanesCows]

I don't, sorry.

[@gamingforfuniq]

@@ShanesCows thank you

[@andreasvictorsimanungkalit]

Hi Shane, i have tried many steps in this VERY GREAT VIDEO. Until i got something stuck in my PowerApps. I can not found Link & Master ID for the document. How i get it ? Need help for your feedback, @Shane Young. Appreciate it.

[@ShanesCows]

Did you watch the deep link video? kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2azmmiGZ75-mtU

[@davidcamacho5285]

Wonderful video, Shane! Would it be possible to have the ability to approve/reject within PowerApps (like in your video) AND/OR also via the flow automate process in Outlook/Teams this way the approver has either option? I currently have a flow automate process with a Start and Wait for an Approval component that updates my Change Order status to approved/rejected in my SharePoint list based on the outcome. However, I'm now trying to incorporate a portal inside power apps so they can approve within the app as well. The issue is, when the user approves/rejects within PowerApps, my Change Order status in Sharepoint successfully updates but I'm having a hard time making my flow in automate detect that the Change Order status has changed in my SharePoint list so that it could then go to the next step and send an email that their change order has been approved/rejected.

[@ShanesCows]

David I think it is possible, I have seen people talk about it on Forums or blog posts but I have never done it. Would be worth you doing a little digging because I think the answer can be yes. 😊 I just don't know it.

[@giuliofalcao12]

Shane, can you make a app for load a New Rows in Power BI dataset?

[@ShanesCows]

I haven’t done it before. 😑

[@giuliofalcao12]

I believe this is only possible in Automate, because the Power BI connector in Power Apps is only used for alerts

[@thedartman98]

Hey, any way to make a button set a a cell in a SharePoint sheet to "yes"?

[@ShanesCows]

Use Patch kzbin.info/www/bejne/nYmYopKMaLprY9U

[@marounsader318]

can you please explain why you set var the patch, would it work if you just patched the data?

[@ShanesCows]

Yes, it would work with a straight patch but I needed the ID of the record I patched so I patched to the variable.

[@marounsader318]

@@ShanesCows oh i got it now makes sense alot! Thank you shane :)

[@barnaliroy8703]

Hi, your videos really help. But stuck in some annoying issue. Please help. I have designed many approval processes and 2 of them are currently in production having below issues - 1. Request form with 15 fields (not using Form Control; each textbox and dropdowns are taken separately; dropdowns getting populated from separate masters) 2. After submission it schedules 10 level of approvers (in a separate list) with different user roles and they need to fill up certain form fields (not using Form Control; each taken separately) before submitting approval action. This approval action is separately captured in another list. 3. Mail is triggered to next approver by using Share Point Designer Workflow on 'MailingList' (as O365Outlook connector doesn't work with all the users). This works perfect in development stage but after moving to production when many records are being created, sometimes the mail is not triggering, sometimes approval not getting scheduled step wise.

[@ShanesCows]

Sorry I am no help here.

[@karlnixon5606]

Hi Shane - before you buy that Tesla you should #TeslaServiceIssues #Teslaqualityissues #teslapaintissues #teslaautopilotissues ..... Don't get #musked !

[@ShanesCows]

Already bought. Love it so much. 😻 Sorry you had a bad experience.

[@asifkhawaja]

Heyyyy Shane, great video! I actually felt validated by your video for the Timesheet PowerApp I built recently where I used similar Timesheet approval workflow without using the Power Automate. Here is an intro of that Timesheet PowerApp here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nJ2TZX6cqZZor6M Thanks for your continuing efforts.

[@ShanesCows]

Awesome! 🤩