Why Is a Team Action Pending Approval?

When a team member submits an action that requires owner confirmation, a pending approval state means the request was created but the target action has not finished. Repeating the action does not replace owner approval. Do not treat a submitted request as if the profile were already deleted, a share were already created, or a setting were already applied.

Which actions may require approval

The current team approval history can include these actions:

• A team member deleting an assigned profile.
• A profile share requested by a member who has the required capability.
• A browser environment change submitted through a permission path that requires review.

Approval does not replace member permissions. The member must still be enabled, have access to the target profile, and have the permission or plan capability required to submit that action. If the page reports a permission denial directly, use the visible profile but cannot edit checklist instead of waiting for an approval that was never created.

What the member should do after submitting

1. Keep the original page message and confirm that the request entered a pending state.
2. Do not repeatedly submit the same action for the same profile. A duplicate click does not make an existing pending request finish sooner.
3. Ask the profile owner to review “Approval history” on the team page.
4. Wait for the approved or rejected notification, then refresh the profile list or reopen the affected page to verify the result.

The original action has not run while the request is pending. For example, do not treat a pending deletion as deleted data or start a recovery workflow before the deletion is approved.

How the owner reviews the request

1. Sign in with the primary account, open team management, and select the “Pending” filter under “Approval history.”
2. Check the requester, action, target profile, and submission time.
3. Confirm that the member is still responsible for the profile and that the requested scope matches the current role.
4. Select “Approve” to run the request, or select “Reject” and optionally provide a reason.
5. Confirm that the status changes to “Approved” or “Rejected,” then ask the member to review the result notification.

Approval history and recent activity help identify who requested and reviewed an action and which profile it affected. Do not copy profile credentials, proxy credentials, or website session data into chat messages or screenshots. See add team members and set permissions for the complete assignment workflow.

Why approval can still fail

The target profile or member permissions can change after a request is created. Approval-based deletion no longer treats a possibly stale server run record as an exclusive lock or waits for a lease to expire. Before approving deletion, the owner should still coordinate a normal close and any needed sync: deletion does not close remote browsers or upload unsynced edits. Direct deletion from a client still checks its local processes and operations.

A conflict can also appear if the target no longer exists, the request was already reviewed elsewhere, or the page contains stale state. Refresh team data and confirm the current approval status before creating another request.

What happens after review

• Deletion approved: The profile enters the existing deletion and recovery flow. See recover a deleted browser profile if it must be restored.
• Share approved: The share still follows its one-time acceptance, expiration, and copy boundaries. See share a profile configuration copy.
• Browser environment change approved: Reopen profile settings to confirm the saved result. A running profile must still be fully closed and relaunched before it loads new configuration.
• Request rejected: The requested action is not performed. The owner should explain any role, assignment, or request change needed before deciding whether to submit again.

The Microsoft Learn guide to managing approval requests likewise treats viewing a pending request, approving it, and rejecting it as distinct stages. Troubleshooting should focus on whether a request exists, who must review it, and whether the target still satisfies the action conditions rather than on repeated submissions.

Before contacting support

Record the requester email, target profile name, action, submission time, current approval status, and complete page message. Remove initial passwords, website credentials, proxy credentials, share content, and other sensitive data before providing diagnostic screenshots.