Last week, I was working on a Power Automate flow that required me to send approval to a Microsoft 365 Group. If you have ever tried to create an approval flow, you know that Power Automate makes sending requests to individuals or email addresses easy, but things get tricky when you want to send approval to an entire group.
So, I researched various methods and found a solution that lets you send approvals to an entire Microsoft 365 Group, making sure every member has a chance to review and respond.
In this tutorial, I will tell you how to send an approval to a Microsoft 365 group in Power Automate.
Send an Approval to a Microsoft 365 Group in Power Automate
Before Creating the flow, you need to create a Microsoft 365 group. For this example, I created a Microsoft 365 Group called Power Automate.
After that, click on the settings tab and make sure the “Let people outside the organization email this team” check box is enabled because approvals come from outside the organization through Microsoft.
NOTE:
We are enabling this option: Let people outside the organization email this team because that approval email is coming from Microsoft Power Automate ( Microsoft Power Automate<[email protected]>), i.e. outside of our organization, not from our internal organization tenant email.
You cannot change the setting if you do not have permission to be a Global Administrator or Exchange Administrator.
Now follow the below steps:
Open Power Automate and create an Instant cloud flow. Then, add the Start and wait for an approval action, and provide the following parameters:
- Approval Type: In the approval action, choose “Approve/Reject—First to respond” from the drop-down menu. This ensures the approval is complete as soon as any group member responds.
- Title: Fill in the title to clarify the approval request. It can be something like “Expense Claim Approval” or “Project Request Approval.”
- Assigned to: Here, enter the email address of the Microsoft 365 Group. This allows everyone in the group to receive the approval request. The group’s email can be found in its general settings under the Microsoft 365 Group settings.
- Details: Add any relevant information about the request. This could include a summary or specific instructions for the approvers, making it easier for them to decide quickly.
Run the flow to Send an Approval to A Microsoft 365 Group Member
Now, it’s time to save the flow. Click on Test -> Select Manually -> click Test. Then, it will wait for approval.
The Group Member will receive the approval in the Approvals Center.
Also, the particular group member will receive approval in Outlook Group.
When a group member responds to the approval request, it shows the approver’s name instead of the Microsoft 365 group name in the approved by field.
This way, you can send approval to a Microsoft 365 Group member using Power Automate. However, some organizations don’t allow the creation of Microsoft 365 Groups. In that case, you can still send approval requests to multiple members by following this tutorial: How to Send Approval Requests to Multiple Approvers Using Power Automate.
Related Power Automate tutorials:
- Build a Parallel Approval in Power Automate
- Reassign An Approval Using Power Automate
- Get Approval Comments Using Power Automate
- Send Approval Requests to Outlook and Teams Using Power Automate
- Send an Approval Request With an Attachment Using Power Automate
- Create Custom Response Options for Approval Flows in Power Automate
- Remove Line Breaks From Text in Power Automate
Preeti Sahu is an expert in Power Apps and has over six years of experience working with SharePoint Online and the Power Platform. She is the co-author of Microsoft Power Platform: A Deep Dive book. As a Power Platform developer, she has worked on developing various tools using Power Apps and Power Automate. She also makes Microsoft 365 videos and shares them on YouTube.
