How to Fix Microsoft Teams Assignments That Cannot Be Returned or Reviewed
Question details
Teachers are unable to return or review specific Microsoft Teams assignments, preventing students from seeing their feedback and scores.
- Product
- Microsoft Teams
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Grading and returning submitted student assignments in Microsoft Teams
- Observed behavior
- Teachers can view answers and add feedback, but cannot click 'Return', access turned-in assignments, or use 'Review next'. Even if scores are posted in Forms, students cannot see their feedback or points.
Ensure you have a stable internet connection and verify if the problem is happening across all your class teams or if it is isolated to a single specific assignment.
Test the Assignment in Teams for the Web
Determine if the desktop application is causing the error by checking the web version of Microsoft Teams.
Open a web browser, go to teams.microsoft.com, and sign in with your educator credentials.
Go to the affected class and click on the 'Assignments' tab to locate the problematic task.
Select the specific assignment and check if the 'Return' or 'Review next' buttons are clickable in the web environment.
Create a New Test Assignment
Check if the issue is a systemic account problem or an error isolated to a single assignment.
Escalate to Your Microsoft 365 Administrator
If the issue is isolated to one assignment and persists on the web version, it requires backend investigation by Microsoft Support.
Grade and Review Student Documents Easily with WPS Office
While waiting for Microsoft Teams backend issues to be resolved, you can use WPS Office to create, review, and annotate student work locally. It is a completely free, lightweight, and highly compatible alternative to Microsoft Office.
- 1. Download and Install WPS Office: Visit the official WPS website and download the free desktop application for your operating system.
- 2. Open Student Documents: Use WPS Office to directly open Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or PDF files submitted by your students.
- 3. Review and Add Feedback: Use the comprehensive 'Review' tab to add comments, track changes, or draw annotations on student files to share offline.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why can I see students' Forms answers but they can't see their grades in Teams?
This happens when the synchronization between Microsoft Forms and Teams breaks. Even if you click 'Post Scores' in Forms, the grades will not sync to the students' Teams view until the assignment is successfully processed and returned within the Teams interface.
What does it mean if only one specific assignment cannot be returned?
If newly created assignments work perfectly, the affected assignment likely experienced a backend server glitch during creation or submission. This usually requires Microsoft Support to manually fix the specific broken database link for that assignment.
Will students be notified if I return an assignment late due to this error?
Yes, once the backend issue is resolved by Microsoft and you are finally able to click the 'Return' button, students will receive standard notifications in their Teams activity feed indicating that their assignment has been returned with feedback.
