Power Platform Community Forum Thread Details

Hello everyone,

I am encountering an issue where updating metadata columns in a SharePoint Library via Power Automate is causing the Approval Status (this column is automatically created when the Configure Approval is enabled) to reset to the default status Not submitted.

Environment:

SharePoint Online: Library has "Configure Approval" (Modern Approval) enabled.
Power Automate: Tried using the "Update item" and "Send an HTTP request to SharePoint" action

The issue: Whenever the workflow updates a specific metadata column (e.g., a "Type" or "Status" field) for a document that has already been Approved, the Approval Status automatically reverts to Not submitted.

We want to be able to update these background metadata fields without re-triggering the approval process or changing the current Approval Status of the document. Essentially, we need to perform a "silent update."

What I've Tried/Considered:

I have reached out to Microsoft Support, but I am still awaiting for response/feedback.
I tried using the ValidateUpdateListItem method via HTTP request, but it's not working

Questions:

Is there a way to configure the updating of columns without affecting the Approval Status column (reverts back to default status)?
Is there a workaround via HTTP request action to update the other columns while keeping the Approval Status column in Approved state?

Any advice or examples of how you've handled this would be greatly appreciated!

Kind regards,
Andrew

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