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PowerAutomate | "Start and wait for an approval of text" remains running without sending the email

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Posted on by maud_mtn

Hi,

I've created a flow that is supposed to send an email to a specific person with the "Start and wait for an approval of text" module.

When I perform some tests with my email address as "Assigned to", the notification is send.

When I perform the same test with the email address of one of my colleague (with an active profile), the flow remains running.

Is there any explanation? How can I solve this issue?

Thanks for your feedback,

Maud

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David_MA 13,454 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Did your colleague complete the approval that was sent to them? If not, that is why the flow is still running. It is waiting for the response to come back.

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maud_mtn 5 on at

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It seems that the flow is blocked as my colleague is out of office with an absence message.
We tried with another colleague and it worked perfectly.
Do you know how I can send the email even if the person is out of office?

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David_MA 13,454 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Power Automate will not block sending them the message. It still gets sent, the person will just not see it until they return to the office or happen to check their e-mail while they have automatic replies turned on.

With Power Automate it is possible to check if someone has automatic replies turned on. You can then take this into account in your workflow and send the approval to someone else. To do this you would use the Mail tips action and then use a length expression on the message field to see if it contains content. If it does, the person is sending automatic replies.

In the above, if the person is not sending automatic replies it uses the default e-mail address. If they are, it looks up the alternate approver and sets that person.

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maud_mtn 5 on at

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I assume there is a delay during which the flow is running and then, it expires.
I already have a lot of steps in my flow so I would like to avoid to check this automatic replies. We will adapt manually the email of the recipient according to vacations. Thanks for your answer!

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