Separate task lists

Each approval action such as Assign a task action creates an associated item in the task list it is set to use. More than 2000 task list items may cause a decline in performance. Therefore, it is important to consider the number of tasks being generated by each workflow and how many workflow executions are being run per day/week/month. By default, workflows in a single site use the same default “Workflow Tasks” list.

Large task lists can also lead to a ‘task locked’ issue. For more information, see Task Lock - Task is locked by a running workflow and cannot be edited.

Best practices

Have a separate task list for each workflow. You can create a task list in SharePoint and then set the workflow to use that task list in workflow settings. By default, workflows in a single site use the same default “Workflow Tasks” list.

  1. Open the SharePoint Site Contents page.
  2. On the top ribbon, click the Settings icon, and then select Add an app.
  3. Click the Tasks app.

  4. Enter a name for the Task list in the Name and then click Create. The new task list is displayed in the Site Contents page and is will be available for workflows created on that site.

  1. On the ribbon of the Designer Page, click Settings. For instructions on how to open the Designer, see Designer.
  2. In the Task list field, select the task list for the workflow.