SharePoint - Custom approval workflow with dynamic approvers in SharePoint Designer

This walkthrough builds a document approval workflow in SharePoint Designer. The approver is not fixed. It comes from a metadata column on each document.

The document library has an "Approver" column:

Build the workflow

1. Open the site in SharePoint Designer. On the ribbon, click List Workflow and select the document library.

2. Enter a name and description.

3. Add the action "Start Approval Process" from the ribbon.

4. Click the "these users" link to edit the step.

5. Pick the approver from a property of the current item. This is what makes the approver dynamic.

6. Click OK, then choose Workflow Settings on the ribbon.

7. Under start options, tick "Start workflow automatically when an item is created". Every new document in the library then goes through approval.

8. Publish the workflow.

Test it

1. Open the library settings, then Workflow settings, and check the workflow is associated.

2. Upload a document and put a valid user in the Approver field.

3. The workflow starts and the status shows "In Progress".

4. A new task is created for the approver.

5. Opening the task shows the Approve and Reject options.

6. Click Approve and the workflow completes.