SharePoint Approval Status Column Does Not Update: What Site Owners Should Check

SharePoint site owners often rely on the Approval Status column to track whether documents have been approved. When this column fails to update after a document is approved, it can break downstream workflows and reporting. The problem usually occurs because the Approval Status column is a content type column that behaves differently from a standard site column in SharePoint. This article explains why the column does not refresh and provides the exact steps site owners must take to fix it.

Why the Approval Status Column Does Not Refresh Automatically

The Approval Status column in SharePoint is a special content type column that belongs to the built-in Content Approval content type. Unlike regular site columns that update immediately when an item is modified, the Approval Status column is part of the approval workflow itself. When a document is approved, SharePoint sets the Approval Status value, but the column may appear stale in list views or Power Automate flows because of how SharePoint caches the column data or because the content type is not correctly associated with the library.

A common root cause is that the document library uses a custom content type that does not inherit the Approval Status column from the parent content type. If the library is not configured to use the Content Approval content type, the Approval Status column will remain empty or show an outdated value even after approval. Additionally, if the site collection feature for Content Approval is disabled, the column cannot update at all.

Another factor is the way Power Automate reads the column. The Approval Status column is a read-only system column in the context of flows; it cannot be directly updated by a flow action. This limitation means that site owners must rely on a different trigger or a workaround to see the updated value.

Steps to Check Content Type Association and Enable Approval Status Updates

Before making any changes, ensure you have at least Edit permissions on the document library. The following steps will verify the content type configuration and verify that the Approval Status column is correctly linked.

1. Open the document library settings
   Navigate to the document library where the Approval Status column is not updating. Click the gear icon in the upper right corner and select Library settings. If you do not see Library settings, you may not have sufficient permissions.
2. Check the content types section
   In the Library settings page, look for the Content Types section. If it is not visible, click Advanced settings at the bottom of the page. Under Content Types, ensure the option “Allow management of content types?” is set to Yes. Save the change if needed.
3. Verify the Content Approval content type is added
   In the Content Types section of Library settings, you should see a list of content types. The built-in Document content type should be present. If you see only custom content types, you must add the Document content type. Click Add from existing site content types. Select Document from the list and click Add. The Content Approval content type is automatically included in the Document content type.
4. Confirm the Approval Status column is visible in the content type
   Click the Document content type link. On the content type page, locate the Columns section. Look for Approval Status in the list. If it is missing, click Add from existing site or list columns. In the Select columns section, choose Approval Status from the list and click Add.
5. Enable Content Approval in the library
   Return to Library settings. Under Versioning settings, set Content Approval to Yes. Choose whether to require approval for every item or only for major versions. Click OK to save. This step activates the Approval Status column for the library.
6. Test the approval process
   Upload a new document to the library. Approve it using the Approve/Reject button in the item menu. Check the Approval Status column in the library view. It should now show Approved. If the column still shows Draft or Pending, refresh the browser page.

If the Approval Status Column Still Does Not Update After the Main Fix

Power Automate flow shows old Approval Status value

Power Automate flows that trigger on item modification may read a cached version of the Approval Status column. To force the flow to read the latest value, add a Delay action of 30 seconds before reading the column. Alternatively, use the trigger “When an item or a file is modified” and set the trigger condition to check for changes in the Approval Status column. This ensures the flow only runs when the column actually updates.

Approval Status column is empty even after approval

If the Approval Status column remains empty after approval, the content type may not be properly associated with the library. Go back to Library settings > Advanced settings and confirm that content type management is enabled. Then verify that the Document content type is the default content type for the library. If you are using a custom content type, ensure it inherits from the Document content type. You can check this by opening the custom content type in Site Settings > Site content types and looking at the parent content type field.

Approval Status column shows Pending but item is approved

This symptom often occurs when the library has multiple approval stages or when a Power Automate flow modifies the item after approval. Check the version history of the item to see if a flow or another user edited the item after approval. If a flow updates the item, the Approval Status may revert to Pending because the flow is not an approved approver. To fix this, modify the flow to avoid updating any field after the approval step, or configure the flow to use the Approve action from the SharePoint connector.

Item	Correct Configuration	Incorrect Configuration
Content type management	Enabled in Library settings > Advanced settings	Disabled or set to No
Content Approval feature	Activated in Site collection features	Deactivated
Approval Status column source	Inherited from Document content type	Added as a separate site column
Power Automate trigger	Uses “When an item or a file is modified” with trigger condition on Approval Status	Uses a manual trigger or no condition
Default content type	Document or a content type that inherits from Document	Custom content type with no parent content type

Site owners can now verify and fix the Approval Status column update problem by checking the content type association, enabling Content Approval, and configuring Power Automate triggers correctly. Next, review the version history of items that still show an incorrect status to identify any post-approval edits. For advanced control, consider using a SharePoint Designer workflow or a Power Automate flow that explicitly sets the Approval Status column using the SharePoint REST API, which bypasses the read-only limitation of the standard flow actions.