# Keep a copy of every approved document in a shared folder

When a contract or policy clears its final approval, a copy lands in a folder another team browses — a Movement on Process trigger and a Copy to Folder action — so the people who need the signed version see it without being part of the approval.

Product: content-central · Versions: 7.8+ · Audience: catalog-administrator · Time: 15 minutes · Last verified: 2026-09-05

Canonical: https://help.ademero.com/content-central/workflow/keep-a-copy-of-approved-documents-in-a-shared-folder

**When you're done, every document that clears its final approval is copied into a shared folder the other team already browses — the original stays where it was filed, and nobody has to remember to forward the signed version.**

```plan
scope: document-type
trigger: Approval Processes › Movement on Process | Approval Process: your process · Process Evaluation: Approval by Final Member
action: Content - Copy to Folder | Folder Path: …\Shared with Legal
rule: "Final approval → copy to shared folder", enabled
```

**Copy** leaves the original in place and creates a second document in the destination. **Move** (its sibling action) relocates the original. Use copy when two teams each need the document under their own folder; use move when the document is simply changing hands.

## Build the trigger

1. Go to **Administration** > **Catalogs & Document Types**, pick the **Catalog** and **Document Type**, click the **Workflow** tile, then **Triggers** > **New Trigger**.

2. **Type:** `Approval Processes` and `Movement on Process`. **Trigger Name:** `Final approval given`.

3. **Approval-Process Evaluation:** `Single Approval Process`; **Approval Process:** pick it. **Process Evaluation:** `Approval by Final Member`.

4. Click **Save**.

## Build the action

1. Click **Actions** > **New Action**. **Type:** `Content - Copy to Folder`. **Action Name:** `Copy to shared folder`.

2. Under **Folder Path**, use **Select a subfolder…** (and **Move Up** to back out) until the displayed path is the shared folder. Click **Save**.

> **NOTE:** The folder picker stays inside this catalog. To place a copy in a *different* catalog, see Variations.

## Wire the rule

1. Click **Rules** > **New Rule**. **Rule Name:** `Final approval → copy to shared folder`.

2. **Add Trigger:** `Final approval given`. **Add Action:** `Copy to shared folder`. **Apply**.

## Test it

1. Run one test document through to final approval.

2. Browse to the shared folder, then to the original's folder.

**What you should see:** the document in both places, and the workflow action in the original's **View History**. Confirm that a member of the other team can open the copy — if they can't, it's the folder or document-type permission, not the workflow: [Document type permissions](/content-central/administration/document-type-permissions).

> **IMPORTANT:** A copy is a separate document from here on. Edits, revisions, and later approvals on one don't reach the other. If the other team must always see the *current* version, give them permission to the original's folder instead of copying.

## Variations

| Want this instead | Change this |
| --- | --- |
| Move rather than copy | Action **Content - Move to Folder** ([recipe](/content-central/workflow/file-and-notify-after-final-approval)) |
| Copy on capture rather than on approval | Trigger **Content Capture** › **Content Captured in this Document Type** |
| Copy into another catalog | Action **Content - Change Catalog** with **Destination Catalog:** relocates the original; for a true cross-catalog *copy*, export the file and let a capture job in the other catalog pick it up ([folder hand-off](/content-central/workflow/drop-approved-documents-into-a-folder-for-another-system)) |
| Copy only documents with a certain value | Add a **Content Query** › **by Field Value(s)** trigger under **Use Multiple Triggers**, `AND` |
| Tell the other team a copy arrived | Add **Send Internal Message** or **Send E-mail** to the same rule |
| Give an outside party access instead of a copy | Action **Content - Share** |

## What's next

- [File the document and notify the requester after final approval](https://help.ademero.com/content-central/workflow/file-and-notify-after-final-approval)
- [Drop approved documents into a folder for another system](https://help.ademero.com/content-central/workflow/drop-approved-documents-into-a-folder-for-another-system)
- [Document type permissions](https://help.ademero.com/content-central/administration/document-type-permissions)