If you’ve ever wanted to automate a list or a library but didn’t want to build a complex Power Automate flow from scratch, this is for you. Quick Steps is a new built-in automation feature and column type in SharePoint that allows you to perform one-click actions on list items or files.

Quick Steps allow you to trigger specific actions for selected items. Here are the available actions:

Previously, you could trigger these actions by going to the Integrate (formerly Automate) menu in the command bar towards the top of the screen, but that’s a few too many clicks for most people.

Now, by using Quick Steps, you can trigger an action by clicking a colourful button right in the document library or list view.

Pro tip: You can change the button colour to make quick step actions distinguishable from one another, and to add some flair to your document library view.

One of the best parts is that these buttons are smart. You can set them to display conditionally.

For example, if you have an approval process, you might only want the “Draft Email” button to show up if the status column is equal to “Approved.” If the status is “Requested,” the button doesn’t show. This keeps the interface clean and ensures people aren’t triggering actions before they’re supposed to.

Additionally, this can be used to selectively show specific buttons based on who created the document, or who is the assigned owner. This feeds well into approval workflows for reviewing specific versions of documents or getting approval from senior colleagues.

Quick Steps also play seamlessly with the new Enhanced Approvals. When you turn this on, SharePoint adds an “Approval Status” column. You can define default approvers, and the order in which the approvals responses are required in. This has the added benefit of ensuring the correct approvers are automatically selected (especially for multi-stage approval), and therefore the user does not need to manually specify approvers each time this quick action is taken.

You can even set up Rules to send an email to the “Approval Creator” the moment an item is rejected or approved. It’s a very nice way to start working immediately on selected files without any manual follow-up.

I asked James Taylor, Solution Consultant at Intelogy, for his take on this new feature.

Q: Is this a game changer?

“Yes, I think so.

Whilst the Quick Steps actions have been available for some time now, the simplicity of buttons that are visible within the default document library or list view make processes simpler for end users. Additionally, the introduction of this column adds further attraction to bringing your daily work into the SharePoint Online web portal, rather than relying on OneDrive shortcuts and/or the dated ‘Sync’ functionality.

This has added information management benefits, as users are more likely to interact with metadata columns, allowing them to augment search and retention functionality in the future.

If you are looking to integrate these new Quick Steps columns into your SharePoint practice, we would recommend a business analysis approach whereby you understand any manual workflows that are currently run by departments or teams, then mapping those behaviours into the capabilities of the available actions. The fact that Power Automate flows can be called means you can get very advanced if necessary!”

Need to archive certain items or folders? Rather than navigating the less than ideal “Move” prompt windows to find an archive site and library, define the destination for your archive content and display a button for users to click. Content will be moved using the standard back-end SharePoint move job.

Reminder: Standard move restrictions remain with this Quick Step action. It is worth reviewing the limitations, especially for cross-site moves, as depending on the size and quantity of items you are moving, these jobs can take some time or will not move at all.

As mentioned above, the conditional display abilities of Quick Steps mean that you can display review/approval buttons which trigger a Teams message, email, or custom flow to alert a user/group of users to review a document or be alerted once a document has been reviewed. Alerting a document owner (using a People column) for review ensures a seamless process in which end users do not have to leave the SharePoint web view to carry out their actions.

Outside of technical builds, this simplifies training and change management requirements for end users, further adding to the attractiveness of this new column type.

1. Create a follow-up task in Planner and assign a document owner when a document is uploaded by triggering a Power Automate flow.
2. Create a meeting notes template document that prefills agenda sections and links back to a SharePoint item.
3. Calculate SLA breaches based on due dates, then update SLA status and send an alert to relevant individuals assigned to the task.
4. Generate a summary email using a preformatted template that includes key metadata fields and includes the item link.

As of the date of publication, Quick Step columns are non-configurable within the Content Type Gallery. The column type is showcased as ‘displaynameQuickSteps’, but as soon as this is selected, the page redirects to an error screen. Quick Steps are therefore, configured at a document library or list level, so do not span sites nor do they appear as available columns based on custom Content Type attribution.

Referencing a Flow ID as part of a Quick Step action is the biggest strength of this new column type but could equally be seen as one of the potential weaknesses. Quick Step actions could be configured to reference user-created flows which carry out bespoke workflows, but if a user leaves the organisation, or makes customisations to the referenced flow, the button will not adjust in any way. This puts additional onus on both permission architectures and site owners to ensure that these columns are added (and managed) in a secure and sensible fashion.

The “Ask SharePoint” column requires that you have a Microsoft 365 Copilot license or have pay-as-you-go services set up to link any Copilot activity to an Azure subscription.