A new way to create simple automation in lists and libraries has just arrived in SharePoint Online. You can start a chat with a document owner, set a value, or even start a custom flow directly from a list. Let’s find out how you can use it and when it shines.
Introduction
A Quick Step is an action that you can define in a SharePoint list and library. It’s an action available for a whole list/library or for a select item/document. For example, if you define a Quick Step then you can use it when you select a document.
There are 4 Quick Steps available for an item/document:
- Draft an email
- Start a Teams chat
- Set a value
- Execute a flow
For the list or library there is only one Quick Step – Execute a flow.
Create a Quick Step
You can create Quick steps on any list or library where you have Edit rights. This this the main requirement.
Navigate to a list or a document library and select Automate (1) on the top bar. Select Quick steps (2) and then Create a quick step (3). Now select the type that you want to use. Each one has a dedicated form with predefined fields that you must use.
The Draft email requires an email address and a subject. You can also add additional recipients on CC. By default, the message will contain a link to the document. This Quick step sends email messages to the specified recipients with the link to the document or the list item.
The start of a Teams chat requires a user. By default, the message will contain a link to the document. The Quick step opens a new chat window in Teams with the link.
The set value requires a column that exists on the list/library and a target value. This Quick step updates the selected column and sets a specified value with the required data format (for example, you can’t update a date column with a text value).
The execute a flow requires a Flow ID. This one executes the specified Power Automate Flow. This Quick step can be used on an item/document or on a list/document library.
Run a Quick step
In this example I created a set a value step – it changes a value of the column Status (choice) to Approved. To use this step you have to select the ellipsis (…) on a document (or right-click on it or select a document and choose Automation from the top bar). Then select the Automate and then the Approve step. If you have multiple steps then all of them are available in this section.
It’s done – the value has been changed!
Summary
This feature is quite straightforward – provides simple and predefined automation that every list/library Editor can create for users. Executing a flow provides more options since the limitations come from Power Automate. In this case, you have to know Power Automate and how to use it properly.
End users can use those Quick steps to start an action (for example, a custom approval process), start a chat with an owner of the document, or send an email to specific users. Nice and easy to set up😊
But… you can do all of that using existing features such as Power Automate and JSON formatting. It requires more knowledge of how to do it properly but it offers much more than just simple actions. I know that Quick steps is for everyone (not only SharePoint freaks) and gives a really nice and fast way to provide basic automation to lists and libraries. I think that it will do the job for many people but it would be much better with a better user interface for executing those Quick steps. 3 clicks to execute a step is ok for one document, but if I have to go through 20 it’s a boring and annoying task. I hope that this will be improved in the future.
