Approval Process new UI: Transition guide and FAQs
What's Changing?
We've redesigned the Approval Process Configuration UI to be more flexible and configurable. Previously, approval configurations were limited in areas such as stage identification, field updates, task assignments, and notification capabilities.
With this enhancement, administrators can:
- Assign meaningful names to approval rules and stages.
- Configure actions independently for every approval stage.
- Update different fields at different stages.
- Assign tasks to approvers at each stage.
- Configure richer email notifications for rejected records.
- View the complete approval flow in a consolidated pipeline after configuration.
These improvements make approval processes easier to configure, easier to understand, and better suited for complex business workflows. Only the configuration experience has changed — there's a redesigned UI and additional capabilities. There are no changes to how approval processes work, and existing approval processes will continue to function as before.
What's Not Changing?
The following remain unchanged:
- How approval processes function.
- Existing approval process configuration flow.
- Approval criteria and approval logic.
- Existing automation associated with approval processes.
Why This Matters?
As approval processes grow more complex, administrators often need greater flexibility to model real-world business reviews across multiple teams such as Finance, Legal, Operations, and Management. The redesigned configuration experience addresses these needs by making approval processes easier to build, understand, and maintain.
The new design enables customers to:
- Build more descriptive approval workflows.
- Configure each approval stage independently.
- Reduce configuration complexity.
- Improve visibility into approval progression.
- Automate more actions without custom workarounds.
Overall, approval processes have become significantly more maintainable and scalable.
Customer Impact
New customers or customers who haven't configured approval processes in their organization The new approval processes UI will be available immediately and will leverage all the enhanced configuration options.
Existing customers can preview the new experience in a sandbox and switch at their convenience before the automatic upgrade date.
Note: Existing approval processes continue to function without any changes to their behavior.
To help you familiarize yourself with the redesigned approval process configuration experience, you can preview the new interface in your sandbox before enabling it for your production organization.
Preview and switch to the new approval process experience
To explore the redesigned configuration experience, you can preview it in a sandbox before enabling it in your production organization.
On the Approval Process Settings page, click Generate Preview to either:
- Preview your approval processes in an existing sandbox, or
- Create a new sandbox for evaluation.
The new approval process UI will be enabled only in the selected sandbox, allowing you to safely review your configurations, validate your approval processes, and familiarize yourself with the updated experience without impacting your production environment.
Once you're ready, return to the Approval Process Settings page, click Switch to New Look, and then click Proceed to enable the new experience for your production organization.
Note:
You can preview and switch to the new experience at any time before February 15, 2027. After this date, your production organization will be automatically upgraded to the new approval process experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is changing in the approval process?
The approval process configuration UI has been redesigned to provide greater flexibility and customization. Users can now create named rules and stages, configure stage-level actions, assign stage-specific tasks, configure approval-specific field updates, send richer rejection notifications, and view approvals in a consolidated pipeline.
Why was this enhancement introduced?
The update simplifies approval configuration while enabling businesses to build more structured and scalable approval workflows with greater control over each approval stage.
What has changed?
Refer to the product announcement for a detailed walkthrough of all the enhancements introduced in the new approval process configuration experience, including screenshots and feature explanations.
Will my existing approval configurations be migrated automatically?
Yes. Your existing approval process configurations will be available in the new configuration experience and continue to function as usual. The redesign focuses on the configuration interface and introduces additional capabilities; it does not require you to recreate your approval processes.
Will existing approval processes stop working?
No. Existing approval processes will continue to function as before. Only the configuration UI has been updated.
Is migration mandatory?
Eventually, yes. You can choose when to switch to the new approval process experience before February 15, 2027 using the Switch to New Look option. If you do not switch before the deadline, your organization will be automatically upgraded after that date.
Can I switch back to the old UI after migrating?
No. Once the new approval process experience is enabled, you cannot revert to the old UI.
I would like to enable the new approval process UI in another sandbox. How can I do that?
The new approval process UI is enabled in a single preview sandbox by default. If you would like it enabled in another sandbox, contact Zoho CRM Support (support@zohocrm.com) for assistance.
What happens if I don't migrate?
If you do not switch to the new experience before February 15, 2027, your organization will be automatically updated to the new approval process experience after that date. Until then, you can continue using the current experience, preview the new UI in a sandbox, and switch when you're ready.
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