Action 'Update file properties' failed because document is checked out by approver

[Azaerol]

Hi,

I am running into some problems when creating an approval flow. My setup is pretty basic: For a selected item in a SharePoint library I manually trigger my approval flow. When the person to whom the approval is assigned to has reacted (either Approved or Rejected the document) two things happen:

1. An email is send to the person initiating the flow saying that the document has been either approved or rejected
2. The file properties in the SharePoint library are being updated with the Comments and Approver name (I've added a column for both values).

The approval flow itself runs without problems. The only problem I am facing is the fact that sometimes the Flow fails because the approver has checked out the document. This results in a failed flow. The failure summary states that the "Action 'Update file properties' failed", with error details: the file (file location) is locked for shared use by (the approvers email address).

How can I avoid this? I want to make sure that the fields in my SharePoint library always get updated with the Approvers name and their Comments, even when the document is (involuntarily) checked out by the approver.

Thanks in advance!

[v-xida-msft]

Hi @Azaerol,

Could you please share a screenshot iof your flow's configuration?

Could you please show more details about your SharePoint library?

The error message is told that the specific file is loacked for the approver. In other words, the approver is viewing or editing your file and your file is in open status.

If you want the fields in my SharePoint library always get updated with the Approvers name and their Comments, even when the document is (involuntarily) checked out by the approver, I afraid that there is no way to achieve your needs in Microsoft Flow currently. 

If the file is opened by another shared user, you could only read this file on your side and could not update this file. Currently, I have no idea to how to avoid this issue except sending an email to approver to close the opening file if the file is locked for shared user by approver (the "Update file properties" action failed).

You could consider take a try to configure a fun after action under the "Update file properties" action, if the "Update file properties" action failed, send an email to the approver to close the opening file. I have made a test on my side and please take a try with the following workaround:

More details about adding a configure run after action, please check the following article:

https://flow.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/error-handling/

Please check and see if the following article would help in your scenario:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-sg/help/313472/the-document-is-locked-for-editing-by-another-user-e...

Best regards,

Kris