Choose what type of automation your workflow performs when triggered, with an action block.
There are four types of workflows, and each type has different action types for it. Use the following tables as references for the workflow action types.
Users with Editor-level permissions can only create, edit, or delete alerts or reminders with themselves as the recipient. Learn about workflow permissions.
Notification action types
Use this type of alert or action | In this situation | Example(s) |
---|---|---|
Use this type of alert or action Alert someone | In this situation
| Example(s) You created a workflow to receive alerts when a Status field is set to Blocked. |
Use this type of alert or action Alert a Microsoft Teams channel | In this situation
| Example(s) You created a workflow to send alerts to your team’s Microsoft Teams channel when a new form entry is added to your sheet. |
Use this type of alert or action Alert a Slack channel | In this situation
| Example(s) You created a workflow to send alerts to your team’s Slack channel when a task is tagged as Urgent. |
Update and approval requests action types
Use this type of alert or action | In this situation | Example(s) |
---|---|---|
Use this type of alert or action Update request | In this situation
| Example(s) Your manager created a workflow to request the task assignees to update the Start Date column when the status on a row changes to In Progress. |
Use this type of alert or action Approval request | In this situation
| Example(s) You created a workflow to ask the content reviewer to approve or decline the draft when a draft is tagged as Complete. The marketing team created a workflow to ask the finance team to review, and approve or decline the request when a work item’s cost exceeds the projected amount. |
Sheet changes action types
Use this type of alert or action | In this situation | Example(s) |
---|---|---|
Use this type of alert or action Assign people | In this situation Assign one or more people to a work item when a date is reached or when a row is added or changed. | Example(s) You created a workflow to assign tasks to the escalation team when a work item is tagged as Urgent. |
Use this type of alert or action Change cell value | In this situation Change data in these columns when certain conditions are met:
| Example(s) You set the sheet to select the Complete checkbox column when a user sets the Approval Status column to Approved. |
Use this type of alert or action Record a date | In this situation Record the current date in your chosen field when a workflow is triggered. | Example(s) You set the sheet to record the current date when a task is marked as Complete. |
Use this type of alert or action Clear cell value | In this situation Remove the contents in a field when certain conditions are met. | Example(s) You created a workflow to help you remove contents. |
Use this type of alert or action Lock rows | In this situation Prevent further edits after an item has been approved or completed, or a particular point in time. | Example(s) You set the sheet to lock a row when the value in the Review Status column is set to In progress. |
Use this type of alert or action Unlock rows | In this situation Allow users to edit rows only when prerequisite steps are completed. | Example(s) You set the sheet to unlock a row when the value in the Review Status column is set to Complete. |
Sheet-to-sheet workflows action types
Use this type of alert or action | In this situation | Example(s) |
---|---|---|
Use this type of alert or action Move rows | In this situation
| Example(s) The e-learning team created a workflow to remove requests that shouldn’t be on their team’s intake sheet. If they receive requests for the marketing team, the workflow moves the task to that department’s intake sheet. |
Use this type of alert or action Copy rows | In this situation
| Example(s) You have a sheet where all the completed tasks are recorded. To reduce manual work, you created a workflow to copy rows to that sheet when rows in your parent file are tagged as Complete. |
You can change the action you selected, just go to the Menu icon in the upper-right corner of the block.
Take in consideration that the following actions change the sheet automatically:
- Move Row
- Copy Row
- Lock Row
- Unlock Row
- Approval Request
- Record a Date
- Assign People
- Change Cell
- Clear Cell
- Generate document
Select your recipients
Configure the action block to ensure alerts and requests are sent to people who are involved with a specific work item. You can configure them to be sent out to:
- People in a contact field for that row (for example: the assignee)
- Everyone shared to the sheet
- People you manually specify
- People in a channel in a third-party app such as Slack or Microsoft Teams.
Customize the alert message
You can customize the alert message so the recipients get only the information they need to know. In the Customize message section, you can control which fields appear, and edit the subject and message.
I didn't receive the alerts I set up for myself
Your sheet notifications might be off. To fix this, turn on the notifications for sheet changes. Not sure how to do it? Read the Trigger Automated Workflows on the Changes You Make article.