Version Status and Approval Flow Button

Formats the SharePoint Version column as a combined status badge and approval flow trigger. Major versions (published) display a greyed-out non-clickable card. Minor versions display version status and a Submit for Approval button that triggers a Power Automate flow.

Shared by bianca-git
Updated Apr 29, 2026

{ "$schema": "https://developer.microsoft.com/json-schemas/sp/v2/column-formatting.schema.json", "elmType": "div", "style": { "width": "100%", "box-sizing": "border-box" }, "children": [ { "elmType": "div", "style": { "display": "=if(Number(@currentField) == floor(Number(@currentField)), 'flex', 'none')", "flex-direction": "column", "align-items": "center", "border-radius": "0.25em", "overflow": "hidden", "font-size": "1em", "font-weight": "600", "width": "100%", "cursor": "default" }, "children": [ { "elmType": "span", "style": { "padding": "0.375em 0.875em", "color": "#a19f9d" }, "txtContent": "='v' + @currentField + ' — Published'" } ] }, { "elmType": "button", "customRowAction": { "action": "executeFlow", "actionParams": "{\"id\": \"YOUR-FLOW-GUID-HERE\"}" }, "attributes": { "class": "ms-fontColor-themePrimary ms-fontColor-themeDarker--hover" }, "style": { "display": "=if(Number(@currentField) == floor(Number(@currentField)), 'none', 'flex')", "flex-direction": "column", "align-items": "center", "border-radius": "0.25em", "overflow": "hidden", "border": "1px solid", "font-size": "1em", "font-weight": "600", "width": "100%", "box-sizing": "border-box", "background-color": "inherit", "cursor": "pointer" }, "children": [ { "elmType": "span", "style": { "padding": "0.375em 0.875em", "line-height": "1.5", "width": "100%", "box-sizing": "border-box", "text-align": "center" }, "txtContent": "='v' + @currentField + ' — ' + if(Number(@currentField) > 1, 'Has Draft', 'Unpublished')" }, { "elmType": "span", "style": { "padding": "0.25em 0.875em", "font-size": "0.8em", "line-height": "1.5", "width": "100%", "box-sizing": "border-box", "text-align": "center" }, "txtContent": "Submit for Approval" } ] } ] }

From the contributor

How to use this sample

Summary

Formats a SharePoint version number column (_UIVersion) as a combined status badge and approval flow trigger. The entire card is a single clickable element — when a minor version (draft) exists, the card displays the version, its status, and a "Submit for Approval" button. When the item is on a major version (published), the card becomes non-interactive and displays a greyed-out "Published" state.

Status is derived entirely from the version number:

Major version (e.g. 1.0, 2.0) → Published — card is grey, non-clickable
Minor version > 1 (e.g. 1.2) → Has Draft — card is blue, flow button shown
Minor version ≤ 1 (e.g. 0.1) → Unpublished — card is blue, flow button shown

View requirements

Apply this format to the built-in Version column (_UIVersion) on a SharePoint document library
Major and minor versioning must be enabled on the library (see Setup guide)
The Version column must be added to the view — it is hidden by default (see Setup guide)
A Power Automate approval flow must exist and its GUID substituted into the JSON (see Setup guide)
No additional columns are required — the format is entirely self-contained

Setup guide

1. Enable major and minor versioning

This format relies on SharePoint's built-in major/minor versioning to determine document state.

Go to your library → Settings (gear icon) → Library settings
Click Versioning settings
Under Document Version History, select Create major and minor (draft) versions
Under Draft Item Security, choose who can see drafts (typically Only users who can edit)
Optionally enable Require content approval if you want formal approval to publish
Click OK

2. Create an approval flow in Power Automate

In your SharePoint library, click Automate in the toolbar → Power Automate → Create a flow
Choose the Request sign-off template, or build a custom approval flow from blank using the SharePoint - For a selected item trigger
Add an Approvals - Start and wait for an approval action with your approvers configured
Add a follow-up action to publish the document (e.g. set the item's approval status or promote a minor version to major) on approval
Save and test your flow

3. Finding your Flow GUID

Go to flow.microsoft.com and open your approval flow
Look at the browser URL — it will contain a segment like /flows/xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx/
Copy that GUID and replace YOUR-FLOW-GUID-HERE in the actionParams of the JSON

Alternatively, from the SharePoint library:

Click Automate → Power Automate → See your flows
Open the flow and copy the GUID from the browser URL

4. Show the Version column in your view

The built-in Version column is not available in the modern Show/hide columns panel — it must be added through the classic view editor.

Go to your library → Settings (gear icon) → Library settings
Under Views, click the view you want to edit (e.g. All Documents)
In the Columns list, tick the checkbox next to Version
Click OK at the bottom of the page

The column will now appear. To apply the format:

Click the Version column header → Column settings → Format this column
Click Advanced mode
Paste the contents of number-version-approval-button-drafts.json (with your Flow GUID substituted) into the editor
Click Save

Sample

Solution	Author(s)
number-version-approval-button-drafts.json	bianca-git

Version history

Version	Date	Comments
1.0	April 29, 2026	Initial release

Disclaimer

THIS CODE IS PROVIDED AS IS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, MERCHANTABILITY, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.