Microsoft just dropped a productivity booster inside SharePoint and Microsoft Lists: Quick Steps—a simple, powerful way to run predefined actions directly from the Automate menu.
When you create a Quick Step, you can choose from the following actions:
- Draft an email
- Start a Teams chat
- Set a value (like updating a column)
- Execute a flow (Power Automate)
You can create Quick Steps that work for:
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Selected items (e.g., only the rows you select)
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The entire list (run it for all list items)
Here's what the options look like:
In this issue, I’ll show you two practical ways to use Quick Steps: first, how to quickly share a task in a Teams chat, and second, how to instantly update a field—like setting the status of a task to “Complete.”
➕Plus—scroll to the end to discover an awesome AI note-taking tool that can automatically capture notes from your Microsoft Teams meetings➕
Let’s dive in.
P.S. Just a quick scheduling note—between the joyful chaos of parenting and the occasional home reno surprise, things are a little turbulent on the home front right now. I’ll be aiming to send out a new edition every 3 weeks for the next little while. Thanks so much for sticking with me—I really appreciate your continued support (and your patience)! 👶🔧😅
Use Case #1: Share a Task in Microsoft Teams Chat
Let’s say you're managing tasks in a SharePoint List and want to quickly loop in a colleague by sending the item in a Teams chat—without copying the link or switching apps.
With Quick Steps, you can set up a one-click action to do exactly that.
How to set it up:
- Click on the Automate button in the ribbon
- Click on Quick Steps
- Click Create quick step
- Select your preferred quick step. In this example, we'll select “Start a Teams Chat”
- Configure the quick step parameters. In this case, we need to select the individual that we would like to start a chat with. To do this, click into the “Enter a name or email address” field. You'll notice that it displays a list of the available person-type columns from your list. In this example, we'll select “Task Approver.”
- Give your quick step a name
- Check the option to “Include item link in message body” to share a link to the item
- Click Create
Now, whenever you want to flag a task in Teams, just select the item and trigger the Quick Step. A new Teams chat will open with a message (and item link) pre-populated and ready to send. Note that the link doesn’t appear as a clean hyperlink yet. However, with Microsoft’s ongoing enhancements to SharePoint, it’s likely only a matter of time before this is improved.
Use Case #2: Set a Value in a SharePoint List Column
Need to quickly assign a status, priority, or category to a list item? Quick Steps make this a breeze.
With just a few clicks, you can create a button that automatically updates a column—for example, setting the “Status” column to “Complete” or the “Priority” column to “High.” This is perfect for streamlining routine actions without needing to open the item.
How to set it up:
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Click on the Automate button in the ribbon
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Click on Quick Steps
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Click Create quick step
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Select "Set a Value".
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Configure the quick step parameters. In this case, we’ll set the “Status” column to “Completed”
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Give your quick step a name—for example, Task Complete
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Click Create
Now, when you select an item in your list, you can instantly apply the update from the Automate menu—no form editing required.
Final Thoughts
And that’s how you can easily streamline list actions in SharePoint using Quick Steps — no Power Automate required!
In my experience, features like this are often overlooked, but they can seriously boost productivity. I’d love to see Microsoft expand on this with more advanced options, like conditional logic built right into Quick Steps. With how fast things are evolving in Microsoft 365, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see those enhancements soon.
I’d also love your input:
👉 Are Quick Steps something you’ll use in your day-to-day?
👉 What other SharePoint or automation topics would you like me to cover?
👉 Should I put together a full video walkthrough for this?
As always, hit reply — I read every message!
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