Sharepoint approval status changing to not submitted after approval

Dear @Kara, 

Good day, and I appreciate the clear explanation of your concern.   

This issue usually appears when the item is edited while the approval is still in progress or right after it finishes. Any update during that time can cause the Approval status to return to “Not submitted”. This often happens if someone edits the item, including in Quick Edit, while the status is still “Requested”, or if a Power Automate flow or list rule updates the item after the approval decision, which can create conflicting status changes. 

To help confirm this is the cause in your environment, the following checks are recommended: 

Note: These steps require permissions typically handled by your IT organization. If you're an end-user, please contact your IT administrators for assistance

Step 1: Check Version History 

Open the item’s "Version history" and review the "Modified time".  

Look for any change that happens right after the approver selects "Approve" or "Reject".  

This helps confirm whether the item was updated after the approval decision. 

Step 2: Review Power Automate Flows 

Check if there are any flows triggered by "When an item is modified" or "When an item is created or modified" that update the same item.  

These flows often cause the approval status to change if they run after approval is completed. 

Step 3. Verify the Approval Status Column 

Make sure the "Approval status" column is the system-generated column created by "Configure Approvals", not a custom column with a similar name.  

Modern Approvals rely on this managed column and status pill to track approval state correctly. 

Step 4: Rule out browser-related issues (End-users can perform this step)

Please try opening the site using an InPrivate or Incognito browser window, or clear the browser cache. 

Also, ensure your operating system and browser are fully up to date. 

Then go to office.com, sign in with your work account, navigate to "Apps", open "SharePoint" and access the list again. 

Submit a test approval and check whether the behavior still occurs. 

Step 5: Contact Microsoft Support  

If this behavior occurs across multiple lists or sites and continues after the checks above, I sincerely recommend reaching out to your IT administrator to create a support ticket via Microsoft 365 Admin Center > Support > Help & Support for further investigation.  

A technical support engineer can perform a remote session to investigate the situation, verify the backend configurations, and run any necessary synchronization tools to resolve the problem. If the issue requires further attention, they can escalate it to a specialized team for deeper analysis.    

As a moderator, I don't have the tools to investigate your specific tenant directly because this is a user-to-user support forum. Moderators and contributors, including external Microsoft employees, cannot directly intervene in Microsoft product features or access back-end systems. Our role is limited to providing technical guidance on reported issues, requests, or ideas. However, I will try my best to guide you as clearly as possible.     

I hope this information is helpful. If you have any questions or need further support, please don’t hesitate to reach out at any time. 

Thank you for your patience and understanding. 

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