One-click approve / reject for a row your ops team will actually use

TL;DR — Add a custom menu that approves or rejects the active row: status column Pending/Approved/Rejected, optional note, toast, and a short email to the requester — happy path clickable, edge cases documented in comments. Plus a soft NitroGAS note for teammate-readable status messages.

Approvals in a spreadsheet usually look like this: someone types “ok” in column H, someone else types “approved!!” in column J, and nobody’s sure which row is actually done. The fix isn’t a new app. It’s one menu item that stamps a real status, optional note, and tells the requester — without anyone touching formulas or remembering the column letters.

This is a different shape from treating a sheet like a job queue. A queue is for scripts claiming work. This is for humans clicking approve on the row in front of them.

TL;DR

Status column with Pending / Approved / Rejected (data validation list)
Custom menu: Approve row / Reject row acting on the active row
Optional prompt for a note; stamp who + when
Toast for the clicker; optional email to the requester via a small HTML template
Happy path is click-simple; weird cases are handled and commented

Using the Apps Script editor a lot? NitroGAS drops free themes & snippets right into script.google.com — optional Co-Pilot when you want a boost.

Sheet shape

Put a dropdown on Status (Pending, Approved, Rejected). New rows start Pending.

The menu

function onOpen() {
  SpreadsheetApp.getUi()
    .createMenu('Approvals')
    .addItem('Approve row', 'approveActiveRow')
    .addItem('Reject row', 'rejectActiveRow')
    .addToUi();
}

function approveActiveRow() { decideActiveRow_('Approved'); }
function rejectActiveRow() { decideActiveRow_('Rejected'); }

Decide the active row

var APPROVAL_SHEET = 'Requests';

function decideActiveRow_(newStatus) {
  var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActive();
  var sheet = ss.getActiveSheet();
  var ui = SpreadsheetApp.getUi();

  // Edge: menu used on the wrong tab
  if (sheet.getName() !== APPROVAL_SHEET) {
    ui.alert('Open the "' + APPROVAL_SHEET + '" tab and select a request row.');
    return;
  }

  var rowIndex = sheet.getActiveRange().getRow();
  // Edge: header row or blank row
  if (rowIndex < 2) {
    ui.alert('Select a request row (not the header).');
    return;
  }

  var headers = sheet.getRange(1, 1, 1, sheet.getLastColumn()).getValues()[0];
  var col = function (name) {
    var i = headers.indexOf(name);
    if (i === -1) throw new Error('Missing column: ' + name);
    return i + 1;
  };

  var statusCell = sheet.getRange(rowIndex, col('Status'));
  var current = String(statusCell.getValue() || '').trim();

  // Edge: already decided — don’t silently flip Approved ↔ Rejected
  if (current && current !== 'Pending') {
    var again = ui.alert(
      'This row is already ' + current + '. Change it to ' + newStatus + '?',
      ui.ButtonSet.YES_NO
    );
    if (again !== ui.Button.YES) return;
  }

  // Optional note (Reject usually wants one)
  var noteResp = ui.prompt(
    newStatus + ' — optional note for the requester',
    ui.ButtonSet.OK_CANCEL
  );
  if (noteResp.getSelectedButton() !== ui.Button.OK) return;
  var note = noteResp.getResponseText().trim();

  // Lock so two approvers don’t race the same row
  var lock = LockService.getDocumentLock();
  if (!lock.tryLock(5000)) {
    ui.alert('Someone else is updating approvals. Try again in a moment.');
    return;
  }
  try {
    var now = Utilities.formatDate(new Date(), ss.getSpreadsheetTimeZone(), 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm');
    var who = Session.getActiveUser().getEmail() || 'unknown';
    statusCell.setValue(newStatus);
    sheet.getRange(rowIndex, col('Note')).setValue(note);
    sheet.getRange(rowIndex, col('DecidedBy')).setValue(who);
    sheet.getRange(rowIndex, col('DecidedAt')).setValue(now);
    SpreadsheetApp.flush();
  } finally {
    lock.releaseLock();
  }

  var row = {
    id: sheet.getRange(rowIndex, col('Id')).getValue(),
    requester: sheet.getRange(rowIndex, col('Requester')).getValue(),
    email: sheet.getRange(rowIndex, col('Email')).getValue(),
    item: sheet.getRange(rowIndex, col('Item')).getValue(),
    status: newStatus,
    note: note
  };

  ss.toast(row.item + ' → ' + newStatus, 'Approvals', 6);
  notifyRequester_(row);
}

Tell the requester (HTML-safe)

Build the notice with fillHtmlTemplate so a note with < or & doesn’t break the email.

var NOTICE_HTML =
  '<p>Hi {{requester}},</p>' +
  '<p>Your request <strong>{{item}}</strong> (#{{id}}) was <strong>{{status}}</strong>.</p>' +
  '<p>{{note}}</p>';

function notifyRequester_(row) {
  // Edge: no email on file — toast already told the approver; don’t throw
  if (!row.email) return;
  var html = fillHtmlTemplate(NOTICE_HTML, {
    requester: row.requester,
    item: row.item,
    id: row.id,
    status: row.status,
    note: row.note || '—'
  });
  GmailApp.sendEmail(row.email, 'Request ' + row.status + ': ' + row.item, 'Please view in HTML.', {
    htmlBody: html,
    name: 'Ops approvals'
  });
}

Edge cases (in comments, not in the happy path)

Wrong tab / header row — alert and exit early
Already decided — confirm before flipping
Cancel on the note prompt — no write
Two approvers at once — document lock + short tryLock
Missing email — skip notice, still update the row
Protected Status column — run as someone who can edit, or protect everything except Status/Note for approvers

Make it feel native

Conditional formatting: Approved = green, Rejected = red, Pending = amber
Freeze the header row so “select a row” is obvious
Filter view: “Pending only” for the daily approver sweep

Soft Co-Pilot note

NitroGAS puts fillHtmlTemplate in the snippet catalog. Ask Co-Pilot for teammate-readable status messages — the toast text, the alert copy, and the requester email — so ops see plain English, not “Exception: Range not found.” Free core; Co-Pilot is a pass when you want that copy done.

Closing checklist

Status dropdown: Pending / Approved / Rejected
Approve / Reject menu on the active row
Optional note + DecidedBy + DecidedAt stamped
Toast for the approver; optional HTML email to the requester
Edge cases handled with early returns and comments

Happy Coding!