How to create a Microsoft Forms approval workflow

Business processes often have many different steps that involve multiple people. For example, to request vacation time, an employee might have to fill out a form and send it to their manager. The manager then needs to approve or deny the vacation request, update the HR team, and send their response back to the employee.

While this may seem simple enough, employees are juggling countless tasks, and something is bound to fall through the cracks. In this example, the manager may forget to approve or deny the vacation request, leaving the employee waiting for their response. That’s why it’s best to create automated workflows to ensure no one forgets to complete a step of a process.

In this article, we cover how to create a Microsoft Forms approval workflow — and share an alternative software that makes approvals even easier.

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Create a Microsoft Forms approval workflow

Microsoft Forms is a great form builder for simple forms, surveys, quizzes, and polls. However, it doesn’t allow you to create automated workflows on its own. If you want that functionality, you have to use Microsoft Power Automate in conjunction with Microsoft Forms.

“You’ll need access to both Microsoft Forms and Power Automate in order to do this, but once you have these two key pieces, it’s incredibly simple,” says Devon Fata, CEO and president of Pixoul, an innovation consultancy and staffing firm.

Power Automate, previously called Microsoft Flow, is a tool within the Microsoft 365 family that gives users the ability to create workflows using various applications and services. It’s a great way to add automated workflow functionality to Microsoft Forms.

Before You Start: Connecting Microsoft Forms to Power Automate

Before building your approval workflow, make sure Microsoft Forms and Power Automate are properly connected under the same Microsoft 365 account.

Microsoft Forms does not run automations on its own. Instead, it sends submission data to Power Automate, which then triggers your workflow actions. To ensure this works smoothly:

• Use the same Microsoft 365 account for both tools
• Confirm you have permission to access Power Automate
• Make sure your form is fully created and published before building the workflow

Once both tools are accessible under your account, Power Automate will automatically detect your available forms when you begin creating your automated flow.With this setup in place, you’re ready to build your approval workflow. Here’s how to create an automated workflow step-by-step:

Step 1: Create Your Microsoft Form

1. Go to Microsoft Forms.
2. Click New Form.
3. Add your questions (multiple choice, text, rating, etc.).
4. Click Collect Responses and copy the form link (if needed).

Step 2: Open Microsoft Power Automate

1. Go to Microsoft Power Automate.
2. Click Create (left sidebar).
3. Choose Automated cloud flow.

Step 3: Select the Trigger

1. Name your flow (e.g., “New Form Submission – Lead Capture”).
2. Search for Microsoft Forms.
3. Select the trigger: “When a new response is submitted”

4. Click Create.
5. Choose your Form ID from the dropdown.

Step 4: Get Response Details 

The trigger alone doesn’t include the actual answers.

1. Click + New Step
2. Search for Microsoft Forms
3. Select: Get response details
4. Choose:

• Same Form ID
• Response ID: select dynamic content from the trigger

Now your flow can access all submitted answers.

Step 5: Add a Condition

1. Select New step.
2. Search for “Condition” under Actions.
3. Choose the form question you want to evaluate.
4. Set the rule (for example: is equal to Yes).

Step 6: Define Actions Based on the Condition

If Yes:

1. Select Add an action.
2. Search for Email.
3. Select Send an email (V2).
4. In the To field, choose Responders’ Email.
5. Add a subject and body message.

If No:

1. Select Add an action.
2. Repeat the email steps above with different content if needed.

Step 7: Save the Flow

Click Save to activate your workflow. If you want to test your automated flow, select Test in the upper right corner of your page.

Fata offers a pro tip: “While the basic process is quite straightforward, there is a huge abundance of options to choose from. Looking for templates online is a good way to streamline the process even further.”

How to Design an Approval Workflow in Power Automate

If your process requires managerial review before an action is completed, you can extend your automated flow by adding an approval step. An approval workflow introduces a decision gate, allowing a designated person to review and either approve or reject the request.

Step 1: Add the Approval Action

After retrieving the form response details:

1. Select New step.
2. Search for Approvals.
3. Choose Start and wait for an approval.

Step 2: Configure the Approval Settings

Define how the approval should function:

Approval type:
Choose whether one approver is enough (Approve/Reject – First to respond) or if all assigned users must approve.

Assigned to:
Enter the email address(es) of the approver(s), such as a manager or team lead.

Title:
Provide a clear subject line for the approval request.

Details:
Insert dynamic content from the form (e.g., employee name, request type, dates, reason). This ensures the approver has full context.

Item link (optional):
Add a link to supporting documents if needed.

Step 3: Define What Happens After the Decision

Once the approval action is added, insert a Condition to check the outcome.

Use the approval result field (Outcome) to create two paths:

• If Approved:
  Continue the process (for example, send a confirmation email or update a record).
• If Rejected:
  Notify the requester or end the workflow.

Why Approval Logic Matters

A well-designed approval workflow ensures that decisions are documented, responsibilities are clear, and automated processes remain controlled rather than fully automatic. By structuring approvals carefully, you create a balance between efficiency and oversight.

Why Jotform is a great Microsoft Forms alternative

While Microsoft Forms and Microsoft Power Automate are fairly easy to use together, you have other options when it comes to creating approval workflows. Jotform is an excellent choice if you want to create forms and automate workflows using the same platform.

There are many robust features that make Jotform intuitive and highly useful for all types of organizations. However, what truly stands out are its abundance of templates.

Jotform comes with thousands of free form templates for just about any business process, so you never need to build a form from scratch. In addition to form templates, Jotform also has hundreds of table templates that allow you to organize large quantities of data for easier analysis.

Plus, Jotform has over 200+ free workflow templates that make it easy to build automated approval workflows. There’s no need to sync different apps or create steps from scratch. Simply select the template that suits your needs and customize it to match your workflow.

While creating a Microsoft Forms approval workflow is possible when you combine the application with Microsoft Power Automate, you can automate approvals and more with one intuitive application: Jotform.