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Available on Asana Advanced, Enterprise, and Enterprise+ tiers, as well as legacy tiers Business and Legacy Enterprise.

Visit our pricing page for more information.

Approvals are a type of task in Asana that helps users quickly hear back about their request or asset that needs approval. Approvers can easily see what’s needed of them and have a clear action to take. Requesters get clear feedback on what has or has not been approved.

How to create an approval task

The quickest way to create a new approval task is to use the + Add task button in the top-left of your project, and select Add approval.

You can also mark an existing task as an approval at any time.

create approval

To mark a task as an approval

  1. Click on the three dot icon from within your task pane
  2. Click Mark as Approval

How to complete an approval task

There are three ways to complete an approval.

complete approval

You can mark it as:

  1. Approved
  2. Changes requested
  3. Rejected
Note iconNote

Incomplete tasks are "pending" approval.

Identifying an approval task

An approval task can be identified in My Tasks and projects by the approval icon. It will be empty if incomplete, green if approved, orange if changes are requested, and red if rejected.

identifying an Approval
Note iconNote

You can mark an approval as Approved, Request changes or Reject by clicking the square icon from your project's list view.

Some important notes on approvals

  • Unlike milestones, you cannot create an approval as a core action on your list view.
  • Just like tasks, anyone can complete an approval, not just the assignee. You can use comment-only projects to ensure that only the assignee can approve a given task if needed.
  • Subtasks can be marked as approvals.
  • If you downgrade from Asana Advanced, or legacy tier Business your approval task will lose the approval feature. Completed (Approved, Request changes or Rejected) approvals will all look like normal completed tasks.

Frequently asked questions

How do you create an approval task in Asana?

Click the three dot icon in the task details pane, select "Mark as approval," add instructions in the task description, attach any files that need approval, and assign the task to the approver with a due date.

What options do approvers have when completing an approval task?

Approvers can choose from three options: "Approve," "Request changes," or "Reject," and should use comments to provide additional context explaining their decision.

How can you prevent bottlenecks in the approval process?

Create task dependencies to ensure work happens in the right order, set up an advanced search report for approvals assigned to you, reassign tasks when changes are needed, use custom fields to track approval status, and automate workflows with rules that assign tasks and set due dates when moved to "Awaiting Approval."

What file types can you use proofing on in Asana?

You can use proofing to leave feedback directly on PDF, PNG, JPG, GIF, and BMP files, with comments anchored to specific points in the image that automatically create actionable subtasks.

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How to use approvals in Asana | Asana Help Center