How to Approve or Reject a Document in SharePoint
Approving or rejecting a document is more than clicking a button — it’s a decision that shapes what becomes ‘official’ in your organisation. Doing it well matters.
What it is
When a library uses content approval, documents arrive in your queue waiting for a decision: approve (it becomes official and visible to everyone) or reject (it stays hidden, with feedback to the author). This is a real decision, not a rubber stamp — what you approve becomes the published, trusted version that the rest of the organisation will rely on.
Good approvers aren’t gatekeepers — they’re quality assurance. They check that the document is accurate, formatted correctly, has the required metadata, links work, and meets whatever standard the library demands. They reject with specific feedback so the author can fix issues quickly, rather than vague ‘this isn’t quite right’.
The thing approvers underestimate is the long tail. Once a document is approved, it might be referenced for years. A typo in a policy document approved three years ago has caused thousands of cases of confusion. Five minutes of approver attention saves hundreds of hours of downstream rework.
When to use this
- When a document is waiting for your approval in a controlled library.
- When you’re the named approver for a document type or process.
- When someone has submitted a draft for sign-off via Power Automate or built-in approval.
- When you need to reject a draft and request changes before approval.
How to do it
- Open the document from SharePoint (don’t review a downloaded copy — you might miss the latest changes).
- Review the content against your organisation’s standards.
- Check required metadata: owner, review date, classification, document type.
- Verify links work, formatting is consistent, and version is correct.
- Click Approve or Reject from the file menu (or the workflow task).
- If approving, add a brief confirmation comment.
- If rejecting, add specific, actionable feedback (what to fix, by when).
- After approval, confirm the document is visible to its intended audience.
Best practices
- Use a checklist. Accuracy, formatting, links, metadata, version. A 60-second checklist catches 90% of issues.
- Reject with specifics. ‘Section 3 needs the updated procedure from policy 4.2’ is actionable. ‘Not quite right’ is not.
- Don’t approve under time pressure. If you can’t review properly today, say so. Approving without reading is how mistakes ship.
- Communicate decisions clearly. The author should know exactly what was approved, when, and what (if anything) needs to happen next.
Common mistakes
- Approving everything to clear the queue. The whole point of approval is gating. Skipping the gate makes it ceremony, not control.
- Vague rejections. Authors guess what ‘fix it’ means. They guess wrong. They resubmit. You reject again. Specific feedback ends the cycle.
- Treating approval as a personal opinion check. Approve against documented standards, not personal preference.
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How do I approve a SharePoint document?
Open the library, switch to the Approve/Reject Items view. Right-click the pending document, choose Approve/Reject. Choose Approved, optionally add a comment, and save. The document becomes visible to readers. The decision is recorded in Version History.
What’s the difference between rejecting and deleting a SharePoint document?
Rejected documents stay in the library but are hidden from readers — useful when the author needs to revise and resubmit. Deleted documents go to the Recycle Bin (recoverable for 93 days) and are gone for everyone. Reject for revision; delete only when the document genuinely shouldn’t exist.
Can I delegate SharePoint approvals?
Yes — share approval rights with multiple people via the site’s Approver permission, or use Power Automate to route approvals to a backup when the primary is on leave. For high-stakes documents, set up a two-person approval flow so nothing goes live with a single click.
Why can’t I approve a SharePoint document?
You need the Approve permission level on the library. Standard Edit permission doesn’t include approval rights. Check with the site owner; they can grant Approve permission via Library Settings -> Permissions.