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Approval actions compared: start and wait, create plus wait, types, sequential and parallel

Which approval action and approval type to use, what each one waits for, what outputs you get, and the limits that trip people up: attachments, Markdown in Teams, the same approver twice, and flows stuck between create and wait.

Power AutomateLook it up · Quick reference4 min read

Checked against Microsoft Learn · 10 sourcesHow we write guides

Power Automate gives you three approval actions, including the familiar Start and wait for an approval, and five approval types. Picking the right pair decides when your flow continues, what data you get back, and whether you can add reminders or Teams cards. Use this page to look it up; for deadlines and escalation, see Approvals that don't stall.

The three actions

Start and wait for an approvalCreate an approval + Wait for an approval
What it doesCreates the approval, notifies approvers, and pauses the flow until it's finished or times outCreate sends it and the flow carries on; Wait pauses later until it's finished
Responses and comments as outputsYes, right after the actionOnly from Wait for an approval
Adaptive card output you can post to TeamsNoYes, from Create an approval
Steps between sending and waitingNot possibleYes: log the request, post Teams cards, send reminders
Best forSimple, single-step approvalsReminders, custom Teams cards, logging who was asked and when

Warning

Keep Create an approval and Wait for an approval close together. If an approver responds before the flow reaches the Wait action, the flow can get stuck waiting. Microsoft lists this as a known issue.

The five approval types

TypeThe flow continues when…Use it for
Approve/Reject – Everyone must approveAll approvers approve, or one rejectsSign-off that needs everyone
Approve/Reject – First to respondAny one approver respondsA team or shared queue where anyone can decide
Custom Responses – Wait for all responsesEveryone has picked one of your optionsVotes, or choosing among options
Custom Responses – Wait for one responseAnyone picks one of your optionsChoices like "Up to 5% / Up to 10% / Denied"
Sequential ApprovalEach approver in turn has responded, in orderLine manager first, then a director

Reading the result: check the action's Outcome. For Approve/Reject types, the values are Approve and Reject, and they're case-sensitive in a condition. With Everyone must approve, one rejection makes the whole request rejected.

Sequential or parallel?

  • Sequential: use the Sequential Approval type, with one Assigned to per step. Each step waits for the one before. You can't use the same approver in two steps.
  • Parallel: use parallel branches in the flow, each with its own approval action, when different people must decide independently and at the same time. Then combine their outcomes in a condition after the branches.

Limits that catch people out

LimitDetail
Attachments in the emailAttached until the email reaches 5 MB. After that, approvers are pointed to the approvals centre in Power Automate
Attachments in total50 MB for all attachments on one approval
Size of each fileDataverse's limit, 5 MB by default. An admin can raise it under Settings → Email → Email settings
Blocked file typesDataverse blocks some extensions. An admin manages the list under Settings → Product → Privacy + Security
File namesCan't contain characters such as `, / \
Attachment contentMust be base64. Most file actions already return it; for your own text, use base64()
Markdown in DetailsWorks in Outlook and Power Automate, but not in the Approvals app in Teams. Support varies by client, so test where your approvers actually read it
Custom responses + Everyone must approveCan fail when sent to many people, because the results field gets too large
Duplicate usersIf an email address matches two accounts in your directory, the approval won't be created

Good habits

  • Approvals need Dataverse. The first approval in an environment provisions the Approvals tables. If you see CdsInstanceNotReady, run the flow again once provisioning has finished.
  • Never loop on an approval with Do until. Handle every outcome (Approved, Rejected, Canceled, or your custom options) with a Condition or Switch. A Do until loop can spin forever on an outcome you didn't expect.
  • Approvers on phones: the Power Automate mobile app was retired on 31 August 2026. Point mobile approvers to the Approvals app in Microsoft Teams or to Outlook.

Sources