Requirement

Get SharePoint to notify you whenever a workflow fails to start.

Solution

Configure a SPD notification workflow for the Workflow History list so that it sends you an e-mail every time a workflow fails to start. This is relatively simple to do and all you need is full control permissions to the site. Your SharePoint admin will also need to enable the use of SharePoint designer.

Open SharePoint designer and browse to the site.

Go to All Files -> Lists -> Select your workflow history list, by default this is “Workflow History”.

Right click on Workflow History and click Properties.

On the top ribbon, select List Workflow

Type a name for the workflow, e.g. ‘Failure Notification’.

Set up the SPD workflow like how it is in the following screenshot and set it to run on item creation only.

Configure your e-mail template so that it includes the “Primary item ID”, “Date Occurred” and “Description” field. This will help you identify which workflow failed so you can manually restart it again. It would be helpful to include the url to the workflow history list as well in your e-mail template. The URL should look something like:

http://site/Lists/Workflow%20History/AllItems.aspx

Click on Publish

Now whenever a workflow fails to start, you should receive an e-mail.