OOTB Approval Workflow on Custom List does not Update Approval Status

Question

I have a custom list on which I've required content approval.  I then created a workflow instance from the "Approval - SharePoint 2010" template.  For this workflow I have selected "Update the approval status after the workflow
is completed (use this workflow to control content approval".  When I approve the list item via the workflow task item the status of the item is not updated but stays at pending even though the
workflow shows "Completed" with the Outcome of "approved".  Is this the expected behavior, i.e. does "Update the approval status after the workflow is completed (use this workflow to control content approval"
not work for custom lists?  Does it work on any of the lists?

Answer 1

Hi Kalos1840,
If you check "Require Content Approval" setting, only the way above can update the approval status due to the approval status is for this approval workflow. As this approval workflow cannot achieve your demand, I recommend you un-check "Require Content Approval"
setting and create a custom workflow such as the OOTB Approval Workflow or SharePoint Designer workflow.
Here is the steps of a SharePoint Designer workflow:
1.Go to your custom list , click Create a Workflow in SharePoint Designer.
2.Add a “Start a task process” action in your workflow.
3.Click “these users” and Start a Task Process edit page will pop up.
4.In the Participants field, input your  approvers based on the order of approval.
5.In the right of Participants field, select “Serial (one at a time)”.
Best  Regards,
Eric
Eric Tao
TechNet Community Support