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How to Delegate Microsoft Approvals During Leave

Maira Mehtab Sep 28, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs a way to temporarily delegate Microsoft Approvals to another person while on leave, without having to add them as a permanent approver.

Product: Microsoft Approvals
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Going on temporary leave or vacation and ensuring that pending approval workflows are not stalled.
Observed behavior: Microsoft Approvals currently lacks a built-in feature to temporarily delegate access to another user out-of-the-box.

Before you start

Verify with your organization's IT policies to ensure you are permitted to manually reassign approval requests to other colleagues.

Solution 1Recommended

Reassign Pending Approvals to a Trusted Colleague

Use the manual reassignment feature to redirect specific pending approvals before your leave begins.

Since automated temporary delegation is not natively supported, the most direct workaround is to manually reassign any approvals currently sitting in your queue to a backup colleague.

Open the Approvals App

Launch Microsoft Teams and navigate to the 'Approvals' app from the left-hand sidebar.

Locate Pending Requests

Click on the 'Received' tab to view all approval requests that currently require your attention.

Reassign the Approval

Select a pending approval to open its details, click on the 'Reassign' button, and enter the name or email of the trusted colleague who will handle it in your absence.

Limitation Note: This method only works for approvals that have already been generated and are sitting in your queue. It will not automatically route future requests.

Solution 2

Request a Custom Workflow Configuration

Ask your IT administrator to update the Power Automate workflow to include backup approvers.

Solution 3

Submit Feedback for a Built-in Feature

Advocate for an automatic delegation feature directly with Microsoft.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I set an out-of-office auto-reply to delegate Microsoft Approvals automatically?

No, Microsoft Approvals does not natively support out-of-office auto-delegation based on your Outlook status. You must manually reassign existing requests or rely on a custom Power Automate workflow built by your IT admin.

What happens to approval requests if I do not reassign them before my leave?

The requests will remain in a pending state in your 'Received' queue until you return to approve or reject them, which can potentially stall dependent business processes.

Can a global administrator reassign my pending approvals while I am away?

Global administrators cannot directly reassign approvals from within the standard Teams Approvals app interface. However, depending on the specific Power Automate configuration, they might be able to cancel the stalled workflow and trigger a new one directed to a different user.

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