SharePoint Online - Update items

Use the SharePoint Online - Update items action A tool for building the processes, logic, and direction within workflows. to update items in a list in a specified SharePoint Online site.

For more information about the SharePoint Online connector, go to SharePoint Online.

Before you begin:

Understand Variables
Learn about Handling files in your workflow

Tip:

If a workflow uses both a SharePoint Online - Update items action a SharePoint Online - Update list item or SharePoint Online - New or update list item start event The connector and event for triggering the workflow to run, including required configuration. An example is Box - New file, which triggers the workflow to run when a new file is uploaded to the specified folder. that references the same SharePoint Online list, we recommend that you add a condition to the SharePoint Online start event so that the workflow does not repeatedly start new instances of itself in an infinite loop. If you do not add a condition, the item updates from the workflow will subsequently start a new instance in reaction to the item update. For example, assume the credential used in the SharePoint Online connection for the SharePoint Online - Update items action is serviceaccount@contoso.com. Set the condition on the start event as 'Modified By (Username) does not equal (≠) serviceaccount@contoso.com'. This will allow the workflow to be started by any item update event except for updates the workflow itself has made.

Jump to:

Configure the SharePoint Online - Update items action
SharePoint Online - Update items action fields and settings

Configure the SharePoint Online - Update items action

Important: Before inserting variables in the action configuration, you must manually type or select the values and populate other dependent fields in order to retrieve the output data. Once configured, you can insert variables to the required fields.

Add the action to the workflow and open the action configuration panel. For more information, see Add, rename, and copy actions.
Select a SharePoint Online Connection. If you do not have a connection, see Add a connection.

Note:

Only the connections created with the List and libraries authentication method are available in the drop-down list.

For more information about authentication methods for SharePoint Online connections, see Authentication methods for SharePoint Online connections.

Type a SharePoint site URL and click Retrieve lists.

Example: https://domain.sharepoint.com/sites/hr

All the lists in the specified site are displayed in the List name drop-down list to select from.

Select the list that contains the items to update in List name. The Add field button is enabled to enter values for the columns/fields of the item. If there are mandatory columns in the list they are displayed to enter a value.
Specify values for the mandatory fields/columns that are displayed.
Select the required Update type.
Add conditions to specify the items to update.

SharePoint Online - Update items action fields and settings

Section

Field

Description

Variable types

(unlabeled)

Connection Credentials and other settings required to pass data between the workflow and the indicated service, which could be a cloud service, business application, or content store.

SharePoint Online connection to use to connect to the list that has the items you want to update.

To refresh the available connections, click Refresh .

(n/a)

Items to update

SharePoint site URL

The URL of the SharePoint Online site that has the list or document library you want to use.

To retrieve the lists for the SharePoint site URL, type the SharePoint site URL and click Retrieve lists.

Example: https://domain.sharepoint.com/sites/hr

Text, Decimal, Integer, Boolean, DateTime, Collection

List name

The list that contains the items you want to update.

The lists and document libraries within the site specified in SharePoint site URL are displayed in the drop-down list.

When List name is selected the Add fields button is displayed to add fields and values for the items you are updating.

Text, Decimal, Integer, Boolean, DateTime, Collection

Add fields

(Displayed only when a List name is selected.)

Displays selections to select and add columns (fields) that you want to update. Add the fields and specify the values for the added fields.

The selected columns of the items you want to update will be updated with these values.

The values you enter must meet SharePoint Online formatting requirements for the related column type. See, Valid values for added fields, by column type.

Add fields selections

Selection	Description
Filter options ()	Type in text to filter the list of fields.
Select all	Selects all fields.
Cancel	Discards field selections and hides the fields available for selection.
Add	Adds the selected fields.

varies

Update type

Select the Update type to specify what items to update:

Root level but ignore folders: Update items only in the root level of the list.
Root level and include folders: Update items at root level and items in folders.
All levels but ignore folders: Update items in all levels but ignore sub folders.
All levels and folders: Update items in all levels and all folders.

(n/a)

Conditions

Add conditions/Edit conditions

Add conditions to select the items to update. Only the items returned from the query are updated.

Note: For conditions involving columns with multiple values, you need to create conditions for each available value and select And or Or options accordingly.

Displays the condition builder to define new conditions or edit existing conditions.

Add conditions - Displayed when there are no existing conditions specified for the action.

Edit conditions - Displayed when there are existing conditions set for the action. You can edit the conditions.

The Condition builder supports nested conditions, enabling you to create conditions within another condition.

(n/a)

Condition builder

When

Displays the items from the Column field of the selected list.

Note:

The following columns are not supported in the Condition builder:

Calculated
Hyperlink
Managed Metadata
Multiple lines of text

Text, Decimal, Integer, Boolean, DateTime, Collection

Operator

How the item from the When drop-down and Value are compared. Select from the drop-down.

The operators available in the drop-down depend on the data type of the item selected from the When drop-down.

(n/a)

Value

The value you are expecting in the column (field) specified for When.

The data type of Value must match the data type of the item selected in the When drop-down.

(varies)

Add

Adds a new condition. When adding a new condition you have to select the level of the condition.

Select Nested condition to nest the new condition within the condition above it.

(n/a)

And/Or

The connecting operator to use for the conditions. If you select:

And: The workflow starts when the item that is added matches all the conditions.

Or: The workflow starts when the item that is added matches any one of the conditions.

(n/a)

Displays the following options menu for a condition. The following options are available:

Promote: Promotes the condition to a higher level. Promote option is shown if the condition is nested within another condition and allows you to move it to a higher level.
Demote: Demotes the condition to a lower level. If you demote a condition it is moved to a lower level making it nested within the condition immediately above it.
Delete: Deletes the selected condition.

(n/a)

Output

Result

Store the result of the action in an object with the following variables:

All items updated: Boolean variable to store the result of the action. Returns Yes if all of the specified items are updated successfully. Returns No, even if one update fails.
Updated item ID(s): Collection variable to store the item ID(s) of the updated items.
Updated item URL(s): Collection variable to store the URLs of the updated items.

Object

Valid values for added fields, by column type

The values you enter for the added fields must meet the following formatting requirements:

Column type (SharePoint)*	Value entry guidance (Nintex Automation Cloud)
Choice	<choice 1> Example: Blue Supported variable A placeholder that stores changes each time the workflow runs, such as the information entered in a form, or the name of a file. You can also create variables to store information you use in the workflow, such as an email address. types: Text Note: Multiple-selection columns cannot be updated using the action Update an item. That is, Choice type SharePoint columns configured with the "Checkboxes (allow multiple selections)" option for "Display choices using" setting, cannot be updated. Single value only. New columns are configured with the "Display choices using" option of "Drop-down Menu."
Currency	<decimal value> Example: 25.50 Supported variable types: Decimal
Date and Time	<date or date/time> Example: 20170602 Supported variable types: DateTime For updates to date-only columns, removes time.
Hyperlink or Picture	<URL>,<description> Example: https://www.nintex.com,Nintex Supported variable types: Text
Lookup	<ID of list item in selected list> Example: 1 Supported variable types: String
Managed Metadata	<unique identifier of the term in the term store> Example: 883f304208f84f78bbe6d48d7e34c494 Supported variable types: Text
Multiple lines of text	<text and/or HTML> Example: <b>ACME</b> invoice OR ACME invoice (HTML is supported when "Enhanced rich text" is enabled for the SharePoint column.) Supported variable types: Text
Number	<integer> Example: 1 Supported variable types: Integer
Person or Group	<person or group ID>; <person or group ID> Supports email address and display name values. Example: David Smith; David.Smith@abc.com Supported variable types: Integer, Text
Single line of text	<text> Example: ACME Invoice Supported variable types: Text
Task Outcome	<choice 1> Example: Approved Supported variable types: Text Single value only. Typically used to update task lists.
Yes/No	<true/false> Example: True Supported variable types: Boolean
For more information about column types, see List and library column types (Microsoft article).