Article Summary
Use Export Approval to ensure the right people review a project before it can be exported and shared externally. When enabled, the export button is locked on every project until a designated approver grants permission. This is especially useful for organizations with compliance, legal, or quality review requirements where unapproved responses should never leave the platform.
Estimated Time
5 minutes
Prerequisites
Before you begin, please ensure you have:
Administrator role in AutoRFP
A list of users who should have approval authority over exports
An understanding of your organization's review workflow (e.g., does compliance need to sign off? A team lead? Both?)
🗒️ Note: Export Approval is an organization-wide feature. Once enabled, it applies to every project. Only users on your approved list can unlock exports.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Enable Export Approval
Navigate to Organization Settings in the bottom-left corner of the navigation panel.
Click the Export tab on the top bar.
Locate the Export Approval section and toggle it on.
Step 2: Add Export Approvers
In the same Export Approval section, you'll see a user selector.
Search for and add users who should have the authority to approve exports across your organization.
You can add multiple users — these become your global pool of export approvers.
Changes are saved automatically.
🗒️ Note: Users added here can approve or revoke export approval on any project in the organization. Keep this list tight to the people who genuinely need sign-off authority.
Step 3: Assign an Approver to a Project
Once Export Approval is enabled, every project displays an approval badge next to the export button in the project editor.
Open a project in the editor.
Locate the Export Approval badge — it appears as a shield icon next to the export area.
If you have export permissions, click the + icon on the badge to open the approver picker.
Search for and select one or more approvers from your organization's approved list.
Selected approvers receive a notification (email, Slack, or Teams depending on their settings) letting them know their approval is needed.
💡 Pro Tip: You can assign approvers at any point — at project creation, midway through, or once all responses are finalized. You don't have to wait until every question is answered.
Step 4: Approve the Export
If you are an assigned approver:
Open the project in the editor.
Locate the Export Approval badge.
Click the Approve button.
The badge updates to show a green checkmark, your name, and the approval timestamp.
The export button is now unlocked for all users on the project.
Step 5: Revoke an Approval (If Needed)
If circumstances change and you need to re-lock a project's export:
Open the project in the editor.
Click the Approved button on the Export Approval badge.
The approval is revoked, the export button locks again, and the badge returns to its pending state.
Only users in the global approver pool can revoke an approval — not just the person who originally approved it.
👀 What Each Role Sees
Role | Badge View | Can Assign Approvers | Can Approve | Can Export |
Regular User | Shield icon with assigned approver avatars | No | No | Only after approval is granted |
Content Manager / Project Owner | Shield icon with + button to assign | Yes | Only if also an approver | Only after approval is granted |
Export Approver | Shield icon with Approve/Approved button | Yes | Yes | Only after approval is granted |
Admin | Full view with all controls | Yes | Only if also an approver | Only after approval is granted |
💡 Tips & Best Practices
Assign your approver early in the project lifecycle — they can approve at any time, and it avoids last-minute bottlenecks when the deadline hits
If your compliance or legal team owns specific questions, make them the export approver — once they've signed off on their section, they can unlock the export for the rest of the team
Add more than one person to the global approver list to avoid single points of failure — if your primary approver is out of office, someone else can step in
Export Approval pairs well with the new dashboard — approvers will see pending approvals as tasks in their To Do badges, so nothing slips through the cracks
You can assign multiple approvers to a single project, but only one needs to approve to unlock the export
✋🏼 Common Mistakes to Avoid
Only having one export approver in the organization — if they're unavailable, every project's export is blocked
Waiting until the project deadline to assign an approver — assign early so they can review on their own schedule
Confusing export approval with response approval — approving individual responses (the green checkmarks on each answer) is a separate workflow. Export Approval controls whether the project can be downloaded at all
Not communicating the change to your team before enabling it — users will see a grayed-out export button with no context if they aren't expecting it
Need Help?
💬 Live Chat: Available in-app
📚 Learning Centre: learn.autorfp.ai/en