Native workflows in SharePoint Online were deprecated in April 2023 and, as of 2 April 2026, have been fully retired and removed from all Microsoft 365 tenants.
Insights
SharePoint workflow end-of-life
TL;DR: SharePoint workflow has been retired and removed
Microsoft has fully retired and removed SharePoint 2010 and SharePoint 2013 native workflows from SharePoint Online as of 2 April 2026. These workflows no longer run in any Microsoft 365 tenant. Any approvals, notifications, or automated processes that relied on them have stopped and must now be replaced using supported alternatives such as Power Automate or Azure Logic Apps.
What do you need to know about native SharePoint workflow end of life?
SharePoint Online historically provided native process automation capabilities through two workflow development models:
- SharePoint 2010 workflows
- SharePoint 2013 workflows
These are sometimes referred to as classic workflows.
The models were inherited from the respective versions of SharePoint Server and provided organisations with a powerful and extensible platform for automating processes around information.
Cloud automation has replaced legacy workflows
With the advent of Power Automate and other cloud automation platforms, using workflow tooling embedded directly within SharePoint has been considered a legacy approach for some time.
Microsoft retired SharePoint 2010 workflows in SharePoint Online in November 2020. SharePoint 2013 workflows were disabled for new Microsoft 365 tenants in April 2024 and have now been fully retired and removed from all existing tenants as of April 2026.
Many organisations, however, have used SharePoint to automate business processes that have grown in complexity over many years. As a result, they often have substantial dependencies on SharePoint 2013 workflows. These workflows often include extensive customisations and integrations with other systems and aren’t trivial to replace.
From April 2026 onwards, these workflows no longer run. Any approval processes, notifications, or automated actions that relied on them have stopped.
Example snippet from a Power Automate flow
What should we do if we still have SharePoint workflows?
If you haven’t already completed your migration, the priority now should be to identify and remediate broken processes.
The first step is to identify any use of native SharePoint workflows within your Microsoft 365 tenant. Workflows are stored within individual SharePoint sites (site collections), and checking each site manually would take too much effort.
Luckily, there is a better way. The Microsoft 365 Assessment tool is an open source tool, endorsed by Microsoft, that can help identify where SharePoint 2013 workflows are (or were) used. It can also report on whether workflows are suitable candidates for rebuilding using Power Automate, which is one of the core recommended alternatives to SharePoint 2013 workflows.
Microsoft also provides extensive technical guidance on workflow migration, with feature mapping between classic SharePoint workflows and Power Automate.
Where workflows have already failed, this discovery step helps organisations understand what has stopped working and where manual or temporary workarounds may now be in place.
What are my options?
There are many options available for replacing native SharePoint workflows:
Microsoft Power Automate
Power Automate is an automation platform with a user-friendly graphical interface. You can connect to a variety of platforms, including SharePoint Online, Exchange Online, and many third-party services to automate processes that span multiple applications. Basic use of Power Automate is included in Microsoft 365 licensing.
Azure Logic Apps
Azure Logic Apps is closely related to Power Automate but offers more robust and enterprise-grade capabilities (such as support for infrastructure-as-code deployment). Logic apps can be priced in various ways depending on scale, with low-cost options available for low-volume automations.
Third party solutions
provide a range of alternative approaches and experiences.
What we use
At Chorus, we typically use Azure Logic Apps for robust, organisation centric processes, and Power Automate for more user centric experiences such as document approvals in SharePoint. The most appropriate platform will vary between requirements.
How Chorus can help with the replacement of SharePoint workflows
Chorus is one of the UK’s leading providers of SharePoint consultancy services. As a Microsoft Solutions Partner, we provide expert consulting across the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, with extensive experience in Microsoft Power Automate, systems integrations and automating business processes with Microsoft technologies.
Please contact us with any questions about the removal of SharePoint workflows and we will be happy to help.
We can help you:
- Identify where SharePoint 2013 workflows were used
- Understand which business processes have been affected by their removal
- Redesign workflows using supported Microsoft platforms
- Implement modern, secure, and maintainable automation solutions
If you have questions about the removal of SharePoint workflows or need support replacing them, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on 7 June 2024 ahead of Microsoft’s planned retirement of SharePoint native workflows. It has been updated to reflect that the SharePoint 2010 and SharePoint 2013 workflow end of life has now been implemented, with workflows fully removed from SharePoint Online as of 2 April 2026.