---
title: "Create an approval workflow"
slug: "create-an-approval-workflow"
updated: 2025-07-22T10:52:18Z
published: 2025-07-22T11:18:07Z
canonical: "totara.help/create-an-approval-workflow"
---

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

# Create an approval workflow

As a Site Administrator you can create new [approval workflows](/19/docs/what-are-approval-workflows) for your site by following these steps:

1. Go to *Quick-access menu* *> Approval workflows > Manage approval workflows.*
2. Click **Create workflow**.
3. You will need to give the workflow a name and select a [workflow type](/19/docs/create-an-approval-workflow-type). Optionally you can also add a description or edit the auto-generated **Workflow ID**.
4. Click **Next**.
5. Select an approval form to use by searching/browsing existing approval forms on the system, then click **Next**.
6. You will now need to add an assignment by selecting the **Assignment type** from the dropdown menu, then browsing or searching for your desired assignment. A workflow can be assigned to an organisation, position, or audience; the assignment makes it available to applicants that have a matching job assignment or audience membership.
7. Once you have selected your assignment, click **Create**.

Note that workflow approval forms created at system level are not available to tenants within a multitenancy if the tenant isolation mode is on (enabled). The tenant isolation mode needs to be disabled (off) for approval workflow forms created at system level to be available to tenants. Go to *Quick-access menu > Configure features*, then check the **Enable tenant isolation** setting.

You have now created a basic workflow with a starting applicant stage and an end stage, but you may wish to configure it further by [adding additional stages](/19/docs/add-stages-to-an-approval-workflow) and enabling [notifications](/19/docs/approval-workflow-notifications).

![The first step of creating an approval workflow.](https://cdn.document360.io/a007399b-031e-436b-999a-528240e16f58/Images/Documentation/image-1665065645313.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-01T15%3A50%3A32Z&se=2026-11-01T16%3A50%3A32Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=1TXhayjVJtDZw80IkePkff04z1Dr9wNCQA2p2aDu4Vc%3D)

## Next steps

- [Edit an approval workflow](/19/docs/edit-an-approval-workflow)
- [Add stages to an approval workflow](/19/docs/add-stages-to-an-approval-workflow)

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