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Approving/Rejecting Annual Leave requests

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Posted on by PB-04020944-0

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I created a Microsoft Form and a SharePoint list in advance of creating a PA flow for annual leave requests. The flow does work, HOWEVER, there is something strange going on with the Condition element. When the "outcome" is either approved or rejected, the SharePoint doesn't update from its default setting of "Pending". Also, irrespective of whether the request has been approved or not, the person requesting leave will always receive a notification saying it has been rejected.

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks.

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David_MA 14,956 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Please show a screen shot of the flow and the configuration of the action that updates the SharePoint list. Also show the configuration of the condition you're using to determine whether to send an approved or rejected notification.

Without seeing what you are doing, one can only guess as to what the issue may be.

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Haque 3,653 on at

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Hi @PB-04020944-0,

Let's look around the condition and logics of two main areas that you mentioned:

SharePoint list not updating from "Pending": Not sure if the update action is inside the wrong branch of the condition- if that is the case this often happens. Onre more reason can be if the Condition’s logic does not correctly evaluate the approval outcome. For example, if you check for the outcome as a string but the actual value is different or case-sensitive, the update step may never run.

Notification always saying "Rejected": This usually means the notification email action is placed outside the Condition or is always triggered regardless of the approval result. Can we check if the condition is misconfigured so that the "Rejected" branch runs even when the outcome is "Approved."?

I am sure some clues I tried to give. If these clues help to resolve the issue brought you by here, please don't forget to check the box Does this answer your question? At the same time, I am pretty sure you have liked the response!

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PB-04020944-0 142 on at

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Thank you, both and apologies for not posting any screenshots. I was hoping this would be a common issue and easily fixed without.

I can confirm that the SharePoint entries (url and name of list) are correct. It would appear that my update action and email sending are inside the correct branch of the condition from this:-

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Vish WR 3,748 on at

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@PB-04020944-0

Can you share the configuration of the condition?

Also, can you take a look at the flow history to confirm whether the condition is properly leading to the Approve or Reject branch? If it is, then the issue likely isn’t with the condition itself, but with how you’re updating the SharePoint column afterward.

Also, how are you currently updating the value for the Choice column in SharePoint?

When it comes to Choice columns, make sure you’re passing the exact allowed values (like “Approved”, “Rejected”, “Pending”) . In Power Automate, check whether the values used in the condition comparison are case-sensitive, or whether you are applying any transformation like toLower() on the field before comparing it.

Vishnu WR

LinkedIn - My Tech Space

Please ✅ Does this answer your question if my post helped you solve your issue. This will help others find it more readily. It also closes the item. If the content was useful in other ways, please consider answering Yes to Was this reply helpful? or give it a Like ♥

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Haque 3,653 on at

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Hi @PB-04020944-0,

It seems like condition is not meeting the expecation. Let's hook in the condition - pleae dirll down every possible left and right. Some values in the condition is not behaving good.

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PG- Assistant Techn... 28 on at

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The “Start and wait for an approval” action returns an Outcome value, which is case-sensitive and must be:

"Approve"

"Reject"

If you use "Approved" or "Rejected", the condition will always evaluate incorrectly and the flow will follow the wrong branch (typically the rejection path).

1. Update the Condition

Left value: Outcome (from the approval action)

Operator: is equal to

Right value: Approve (exact text)

2. Configure both branches properly

If Yes (Approved):

Update the SharePoint item → set Status = Approved

Send approval notification email

If No (Rejected):

Update the SharePoint item → set Status = Rejected

Send rejection notification email

3. Verify the SharePoint “Update item” action

Ensure the ID is coming from the “Create item” step (dynamic value, not hardcoded)

Confirm the Status column internal name is correct

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PB-04020944-0 142 on at

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Thank you most kindly, guys. Hugely appreciate your contributions.

Here are the details of the setup. Cannot see where I am going wrong unless someone else can spot it

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Vish WR 3,748 on at

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@PB-04020944-0

Can you share with us the overall flow of what you are doing, or the overall flow design, including the trigger condition

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Haque 3,653 on at

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Hi @PB-04020944-0,

Thanks for sharing the condtion branch.

Can you please rewite the condtion branching two sides: For example

If Approval Outcome equals "Approved" → update SharePoint status to "Approved" and send approval email.

Else if Approval Outcome equals "Rejected" → update SharePoint status to "Rejected" and send rejection email.

I am sure some clues I tried to give. If these clues help to resolve the issue brought you by here, please don't forget to check the box Does this answer your question? At the same time, I am pretty sure you have liked the response!

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PB-04020944-0 142 on at

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Do you mean amending the condition to look like this? Under the True and False, branches, the correct requirements are set out.

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