SharePoint · Power Automate · Nintex

SharePoint 2013 workflows stopped running: how to rebuild them in Power Automate or Nintex

By Costa Consulting Group · October 23, 2026 · 4 min read

On April 2, 2026, Microsoft switched off SharePoint 2013 workflows in every SharePoint Online tenant. There was no extension. If an approval that used to “just happen” stopped in April, this is probably why. Here is what was affected and how we rebuild those processes.

What was retired

SharePoint 2010 workflows were removed from SharePoint Online back in November 2020.
SharePoint 2013 workflows were deprecated in 2023, turned off for new tenants on April 2, 2024, and fully retired for existing tenants on April 2, 2026. Microsoft stated there would be no option to extend.
SharePoint Designer 2013, the tool used to build them, reached end of extended support on July 14, 2026.

After retirement, existing workflow definitions can only be viewed as raw XML in SharePoint Designer. They cannot be run or repaired.

Nintex customers were affected too

Nintex Workflow for Office 365, the classic Nintex add-in for SharePoint Online, runs on the SharePoint 2013 workflow engine. Nintex announced its end of life in December 2023, and in March 2026 reminded customers that add-in workflows would stop running and add-in forms would stop opening once Microsoft disabled the add-in model in each tenant, with April 2, 2026 as the reference date. Nintex’s path forward is its cloud platform, Nintex Automation CE (formerly Nintex Automation Cloud), through the Nintex Upgrade Program and its upgrade tool.

What still works on-premises

SharePoint Server Subscription Edition keeps supporting SharePoint 2013 workflows beyond 2026 through SharePoint Workflow Manager, the successor to Microsoft Workflow Manager 1.0.
SharePoint 2010 workflows lost support in Subscription Edition on July 14, 2026.
Microsoft Workflow Manager 1.0 is out of support; farms still using it should move to SharePoint Workflow Manager.
Nintex for SharePoint 2016, 2019, and Subscription Edition remains supported; Nintex has not announced an end-of-life date for those versions. SharePoint Server 2016 and 2019 themselves, however, lost support on July 14, 2026 (your options).

Step 1: inventory what you had

For SharePoint Online, Microsoft recommends the open-source Microsoft 365 Assessment tool. Its workflow module lists SharePoint 2013 workflows per site, shows how recently and how often they ran, and scores how easily each one maps to Power Automate. Even after the retirement, the inventory tells you which processes need a new home first.

Rank the results by impact: workflows that run daily and touch money, contracts, or customers come first. Many old workflows will turn out to be unused and can simply be retired.

Step 2: choose where to rebuild

Rebuilding is not a copy. Power Automate and Nintex work differently from the 2013 engine, and Microsoft’s own migration guidance lists differences worth knowing before you start:

A Power Automate cloud flow run can last at most 30 days, so long approvals need a different design.
Run history is kept for 28 days.
There are no reusable or site workflows; flows attach to lists, libraries, or triggers.
Calling web services with the HTTP action requires a premium license.
Flows cannot impersonate another user the way some 2013 workflows did.

	Choose Power Automate when	Choose Nintex when
Process	Lives inside Microsoft 365 with simple to moderate approvals	Spans systems, generates documents, or needs e-signature
Forms	SharePoint list forms or Power Apps	Complex forms with rules and repeating sections
Team	IT already builds in Power Platform	Business analysts design and change processes
Licensing	Standard connectors cover it, or Premium is in place	You already have, or need, a Nintex subscription

We compare the two in more depth in Nintex vs Power Automate.

Step 3: rebuild, test, and switch

Document the real process, not just the old workflow: who approves, what happens on rejection, what the exceptions are.
Build and test with real cases, including the unhappy paths.
Handle in-flight items: decide how requests that were mid-approval in the old workflow get finished.
Train the approvers, because the emails and buttons look different.

How we can help

We migrated about 60 workflows and forms from Nintex for SharePoint on-premises to Nintex’s cloud platform for Pluspetrol (case study), and we build with Power Automate every week. Costa Consulting Group is a Nintex partner with certified consultants. See our Nintex and Power Automate services, or book a discovery call and bring your list of broken workflows.