---
title: "Configure approval workflows notifications"
slug: "configure-approval-workflows-notifications-1"
updated: 2025-07-22T10:52:18Z
published: 2025-07-22T11:18:58Z
canonical: "totara.help/configure-approval-workflows-notifications-1"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://totara.help/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Configure approval workflows notifications

There are a number of notifications that can be triggered for [approval workflows](/19/docs/what-are-approval-workflows). These notifications are part of Totara's [centralised notification system](/19/docs/using-centralised-notifications), meaning they can be configured at the site level (via *Quick-access menu > Notifications*) or for an individual workflow.

Before using approval workflows or configuring your own notifications, we recommend reviewing the default notifications to see what will be sent.

## Create a notification

To create a new notification for an approval workflows trigger event, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the workflow dashboard (/mod/approval/workflow/index.php).
2. Select the workflow and the stage for which you wish to configure notifications.
3. In the left-hand panel, select **Notifications.**
4. Click a notification trigger to see the notifications related to that event.
5. Click the icon of three dots (![three_dots(1)](https://cdn.document360.io/a007399b-031e-436b-999a-528240e16f58/Images/Documentation/three_dots(1).png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-01T17%3A02%3A29Z&se=2026-11-01T18%3A02%3A29Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=wFYsNLXS4XWXe1hT8k5hWRxrBj9Lo4iJ6uBo%2Br0UR1s%3D)) next to the event for which you want to add a notification, then click **Create notification**.
6. Give the notification a **Name**.
7. Select all users you want to receive the notification using the **Recipient** checkboxes.
8. For the **Schedule** setting, decide if you want the notification to be sent when the trigger happens, a number of days after it happens, or for some events (e.g. due dates), a number of days before it happens.
9. Tick the **Forced** checkboxes for any **Delivery channels** which users should not be able to disable.
10. Enter the **Subject** line and the **Body** notification content.
11. Use the **Status** checkbox to determine whether your new notification is enabled or not.
12. Click **Save**.

## Edit a notification

To access the notifications for a specific workflow, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the workflow dashboard (/mod/approval/workflow/index.php).
2. Select the workflow and the stage for which you wish to configure notifications.
3. In the left-hand panel, select **Notifications.**
4. Click a notification trigger to see the notifications related to that event.
5. You can disable notifications individually using the toggle buttons, or you can disable the whole trigger. However, note that if a trigger is disabled at the system level, it won't ever be shown in lower contexts (e.g. for individual approval workflows).
6. Click the icon of three dots (![three_dots(1)](https://cdn.document360.io/a007399b-031e-436b-999a-528240e16f58/Images/Documentation/three_dots(1).png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-01T17%3A02%3A29Z&se=2026-11-01T18%3A02%3A29Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=wFYsNLXS4XWXe1hT8k5hWRxrBj9Lo4iJ6uBo%2Br0UR1s%3D)) next to the notification, then select **Edit**.
7. Complete the [settings](/19/docs/notification-settings) and add your notification content.
8. Click **Save**.

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## Related

- [Approval workflows notification triggers](/approval-workflows-notification-triggers.md)
- [Approval workflows notification placeholders](/approval-workflows-notification-placeholders.md)
- [What are approval workflows?](/what-are-approval-workflows.md)