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1. Role overview

In DingTalk OA Approval, organization members who submit approval requests are collectively called initiators.Initiator permissions:
  • Search for and view forms they are allowed to initiate (such as leave request, business trip, and reimbursement).
  • Fill in Form Fields by typing or selecting, following the rules set on the form.
  • Submit the form once the entered information is correct and every Required field is complete; when approvers must be picked manually, select approvers from the organization according to the rules set on the form.
  • Track approval progress at any point during the Approval process.
  • Undo or modify the Approval form during the Approval process, subject to the rules set on the form.
  • Download details of Approval forms within their management scope.
Note: Form initiation Permissions, Form Fields, Required rules, Approval process, Undo, and modification rules are all configured by the organization’s Approval Admin.

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2. Core actions

Initiator core actions are organized into the following 8 steps in order of use — jump to any step as needed:

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1. Open the Approval app

Organization members can find the OA Approval app on the Workbench or in the sidebar.

Workbench

OA Approval app entry on the mobile Workbench

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2. Open the Approval form

Organization members can open an Approval form directly from the Workbench, or find one inside OA Approval.
Locating an Approval form directly on the Workbench
Tapping a form on the Workbench to open the initiation page

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3. Fill in the Approval form

Organization members fill in the form by typing or selecting values, following the fields configured on the form.

Desktop

Filling in an Approval form on desktop
Filling Form Fields by selection on desktop

Mobile

Filling in an Approval form on mobile
Filling Form Fields by selection on mobile
If you leave the Approval form without submitting, whatever you have filled in is automatically saved as a draft. Tap “Clear Content” if you do not want to keep it.

Desktop

Auto-saved draft and Clear Content on desktop

Mobile

Auto-saved draft and Clear Content on mobile

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4. Submit the Approval form

Once the filled-in Content meets the requirements, organization members can tap Submit to send the approval request.

Desktop

Submitting an approval request on desktop
Submission Success Page on desktop

Mobile

Submitting an approval request on mobile
Submission Success Page on mobile

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Common submission failure cases

If Submit shows a message saying the form cannot be initiated, check against these 6 common cases:
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Case 1: A Required Field is empty

Tips that a Required Field is empty
Cause: One or more Required fields are empty.Fix: Follow the red Tips to complete the fields, then Submit.
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Case 2: Initiating Department not selected

Tips that an initiating Department must be selected
Cause: The organization User belongs to multiple departments, but no Department was selected when initiating.Fix: Select the Department this approval belongs to, then Submit.
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Case 3: An Approval form already exists for the same time range

Tips that an Approval form already exists in the same time range
Cause: For certain business types, an Approval form was already initiated for the same time range.Fix:
  1. View History, locate the existing request for the same time range, Undo it, then Submit again.
  2. If there is no Undo Button (the Admin has set the form as non-undoable), contact the Approval Admin to Delete the time-Repeat Approval form in the Admin Console (this also deletes the related system Data).
You can forward the how-to to the Admin: Admin managing form Data
  1. If you cannot find the existing request, the Admin has already deleted the Approval form but removed only the form itself, not the associated system Data. Ask the Admin to first restore the Trash Data, delete the associated system Data, and then submit again.
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Case 4: Manually-selected approver not chosen

Tips that an approver must be selected
Cause: An Approval process node is set to “initiator selects”, but the initiator submitted without picking an approver.Fix:
  1. Select an approver and Submit again.
  2. Contact the Admin to configure the approver.
You can forward the how-to to the Admin: Admin performing process design
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Case 5: The process could not find an approver

Tips that the process engine could not find an approver
Cause: An Approval process node is misconfigured — the process engine could not find an approver.Fix: Contact the Admin to review the Approval process settings and configure the approver correctly.You can forward the how-to to the Admin: Admin performing process design
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Case 6: No branch condition matches

Tips that no branch condition matches
Cause: The Approval form uses conditional approval, and the branch conditions do not cover what the current initiator filled in.Fix: Contact the Admin to review the conditional approval settings.You can forward the how-to to the Admin: Troubleshooting conditional approval errors

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5. View approval Progress

Once the request is submitted successfully, organization members can track Progress in OA Approval — Initiated by Me.

Desktop

Viewing approval Progress in Initiated by Me on desktop
Approval process Progress in the detail Page on desktop

Mobile

Viewing approval Progress in Initiated by Me on mobile
Approval process Progress in the detail Page on mobile

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6. Undo the Approval form

If the Admin has turned On Allow Undo, the initiator can Undo the Approval form.
If there is no Undo Button on the Approval form, the Admin has not enabled Undo Permissions — contact the organization’s Approval Admin.

Desktop

Tapping Undo on the approval detail Page on desktop
Confirm the Undo on desktop
Approval form status after a successful Undo on desktop

Mobile

Tapping Undo on the approval detail Page on mobile
Confirm the Undo on mobile
Approval form status after a successful Undo on mobile

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7. Modify the Approval form

If the Admin has turned On Allow Modify for already-approved Approval forms, the initiator can modify them. Modifying requires a reason for the change; once resubmitted, the original Approval form is attached to the modified one for easy reference.

Desktop

Tapping Modify on the approval detail Page on desktop
Entering a reason for modification and resubmitting on desktop
Original Approval form attached to the modified one on desktop

Mobile

Tapping Modify on the approval detail Page on mobile
Entering a reason for modification and resubmitting on mobile
Original Approval form attached to the modified one on mobile

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8. Download approval details

Organization members can Download approval details from the approval detail Page.

Desktop

Download entry on the approval detail Page on desktop
Selecting a Download format on desktop
Downloaded approval details on desktop

Mobile

Download entry on the approval detail Page on mobile
Downloaded approval details on mobile

Operation Interface

Get familiar with the Home, Approval Center, and other General operation interfaces

Operator Handbook

Learn how approvers, handlers, and CC recipients process Approval forms