Delete a read-only column from a list/library in SharePoint Online

Question

I have a column of type workflow status that is present in some but not all document libraries in a site. When I use power automate to move these files, I am met with an error that says the move failed due to a missing column of type workflow status.

Here is the column in SharePoint designer:

This is what I see when I try to delete in in SharePoint designer:

There is no option to delete this column in SharePoint Online, I have already disabled all SharePoint workflow related features on this site.

Is there a way to delete read only columns from SharePoint Lists/Libraries?

Answer 1

Was able to delete the column by using a powershell module SPOMod

Workflow status columns may be deleted using the cmdlets in this module, or by setting the read-only property to false, following with manual deletion using sharepoint designer. This is the second method:

First install this SharePoint Online SDK (Choose sharepointclientcomponents_16-6906-1200_x64-en-us.msi, the other one does not work.)

Download and extract the script from here

Import that script into this following program and run it to set the read-only property of all workflow status columns to false:

Add-Type -Path (Resolve-Path "C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.dll")
Add-Type -Path (Resolve-Path "C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Runtime.dll")
Add-Type -Path (Resolve-Path "C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Runtime.dll")


import-module {{SPOMod Location}


$UserName = {{your username}}
$Url = {{your site}}


Connect-SPOCSOM -username $UserName -url $url

$lists = (Get-SPOList -IncludeAllProperties | where {$_.BaseType -eq "DocumentLibrary"}).Title

foreach($list in $lists) {
 write-host "List: $($list) \n"
 $fields = (Get-SPOListFields -ListTitle $list).Title
 foreach($field in $fields){
  $c = Get-SPOListColumn -ListTitle $list -FieldTitle $field # | export-csv .\$($list).csv -Append
  $xml = [xml]$c.SchemaXML
  if ($xml.Field.Type -eq "WorkflowStatus") {
   $xml
   set-spolistcolumn -ListTitle $list -FieldTitle $field -ReadOnlyField $false
  }
 }
}

After this script has run, you can open the libraries in SharePoint Designer and delete the columns successfully.

Answer 2

This looks like a SharePoint 2010 or 2013 workflow is associated with this list/library. The column has been created by the workflow and you cannot delete it while the workflow is still associated with the list/library. It is not sufficient to disable SharePoint workflow features.

You need to edit the list/library in SPD and delete the actual workflow.

Answer 3

Go to list/library settings> workflow settings> remove the workflow you don't need.

Then try to delete the column again to compare the result.