SharePoint Online - Update list item

Use the SharePoint Online - 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. to start your workflow whenever an item is updated in a SharePoint Online list. You can add conditions to specify the item that has to be updated to start the workflow or configure it to start when any item is updated.

SharePoint Online has other start events as well as actions. For more information, see Connectors.

Before you begin:

Understand Variables
Learn about Handling files in your workflow

Tip:

If a workflow uses both a SharePoint - Update list item start event and a SharePoint Online - Update items action A tool for building the processes, logic, and direction within workflows. 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:

Select the SharePoint Online - Update list item start event
Configure the start event
View start event variables
SharePoint Online - Update list item start event fields and settings

Select the SharePoint Online - Update list item start event

Open your workflow and in the designer canvas, click Start event. The configuration panel is displayed.
In the Start from drop-down under CONNECTORS, select SharePoint Online. The Event field is displayed.
For Event, select SharePoint Online - Update list item.

The Configuration section is displayed to configure the start event.

Configure the start event

Important: If the SharePoint Online list has a multi-value enabled column of Person type with a user that doesn't have the email address configured, only the user ID is returned for that column. All other Person columns in that list are also impacted and only the user ID is returned for all Person columns.

Select a Connection to connect to the SharePoint Online site. If you do not have a connection, see Add a connection.

Note:

Only the SharePoint Online connections created with the List and libraries authentication method will be available in the drop-down list.

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

Type the SharePoint site URL that has the list you want to use for the workflow and click .

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

After the validation is done all the lists in the specified site are displayed in the List name field drop-down list and the Conditions section is displayed.

Select the list you want for the workflow in List name.
(Optional) Add conditions if you want the workflow to start only when a specific item(s) is updated.
1. In the Conditions section, click Add condition.
2. For When, select a column (field) from the selected SharePoint Online list.
3. Select an Operator.
4. Specify the Value for the condition.
5. Click Add condition. The condition is saved.
6. If you add multiple conditions, select how you want the conditions to be evaluated in the All/Any drop down.

See the SharePoint Online - Update list item start event fields and settings table for all the configuration fields.

View start event variables

You can view the start event variables automatically added to the workflow.

In the designer canvas, click Start event to open the configuration panel.
Click Show variables. The Variables pane opens. The Variable pane displays all the variables that are available to use throughout the workflow.

Start event objects and variables

The following start event variables are available in the Start variable object.

Note: These are the variables displayed for a list with the default columns available when you create a new list in SharePoint Online. If the list you select has additional columns there will be more start event variables displayed depending on the columns.

Site Context: (Object) Object that includes the following variables:
- Site ID: (Text) The unique identifier of the SharePoint Online site selected for the workflow.
- Site URL: (Text) The URL of the SharePoint Online site selected for the workflow.
- Site Title: (Text) The title of the SharePoint Online site selected for the workflow.
- List ID: (Text) The unique identifier of the SharePoint Online list selected for the .workflow.
- List URL: (Text) The URL of the SharePoint Online list selected for the workflow.
- List Name: (Text) The name of the SharePoint Online list selected for the workflow.
Attachments: (Boolean) The attachments of the associated list item that is updated to start the workflow.
Compliance Asset Id: (Text) The unique identifier of the compliance asset of the list item that is updated to start the workflow.
Content Type ID: (Text) The unique identifier of the content type of the list item that is updated to start the workflow.
Created: (DateTime) The created date of the list item that is updated to start the workflow.
Created By (Display Name) : (Text) The display name of the user that created the list item that is updated to start the workflow.
Created By (Email) : (Text) The email of the user that created the list item that is updated to start the workflow.
Created By (ID): (Integer) The unique identifier of the user that created the list item that is updated to start the workflow.
Created By (Username): (Text) The username of the user that created the list item that is updated to start the workflow.
File Type: (Text) The type of the file of an the item in a document library that is updated to start the workflow.
GUID: (Text) The Global Unique Identifier of the list item that is updated to start the workflow.
ID: (Integer) The unique identifier of the list item that is updated to start the workflow.
Item Attachments: (Collection) The attachment(s) included in the list item that is updated to start the workflow. If there are attachments the following variables are returned:
- Name: Name of the attachment file(s).
- URL: URL to the attachment file(s).
Item URL: (Text) The URL to the list item that is updated to start the workflow.
Modified: (DateTime) The date and time the list item is modified.
Modified By (Display Name): (Text) The display name of the user that modifies the list item that is updated to start the workflow.
Modified By (Email): (Text) The email of the user that modifies the list item that is updated to start the workflow.
Modified By (ID): (Integer) The unique identifier of the user that modifies the list item that is updated to start the workflow.
Modified By (Username): (Text) The username of the user that modifies the list item that is updated to start the workflow.
Title: (Text) The title column of the list item that is updated to start the workflow.
Item ID: (Text) The Item ID of the list item that is updated to start the workflow.
Item URL: (Text) The URL of the list item that is updated to start the workflow.

SharePoint Online - Update list item start event fields and settings

Section	Field	Description
Start event	Show variables	Displays variables that are available to use throughout the workflow. Different categories of variables are displayed. Variables are classified based on how they are created or generated.
	Hide variables	Closes the variables window.
(unlabeled)	Start from	The connector or Nintex event that starts the workflow. To trigger the workflow when an event occurs in SharePoint Online, under CONNECTORS, select SharePoint Online.
	Event	The Event that must occur in the selected connector to trigger the workflow. Select SharePoint Online - Update list item to trigger the workflow when an item in the specified SharePoint Online list is updated.
Configuration	Connection	The SharePoint Online connection to use for the start event. To refresh the available connections, click .
	SharePoint Online 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
	List name	The name of the SharePoint Online list that you want to use for this start event. The workflow will starts when an item is added to the selected list. 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 Conditions section is displayed.
Conditions	Add conditions/Edit conditions	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.
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
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
		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.