Delegation is a per-user setting that takes a single field. Once configured, the delegate can act on the original user's approval requests immediately, without reassigning anything.
- Enable delegation org-wide
Setup, then Process Automation Settings. Confirm Enable Delegated Approvers is on. Save if you toggle it.
- Open the original approver's User record
Setup, then Users, then click the name of the user whose approvals you want to delegate. The user detail page opens.
- Set the Delegated Approver field
Click Edit. In the Approver Settings section, set Delegated Approver to the user who will cover. Save the record.
- Confirm the delegate has the right permissions
The delegate needs access to the records being approved (read at minimum, edit for the approval process to function). If sharing or field-level security blocks them, the approval action will fail with an unhelpful error.
- Test with a pending request
Submit a test record for approval to the original user. Log in as the delegate (or use Login As if SSO is configured). Confirm the request appears in their Items to Approve list and that Approve and Reject buttons work.
- Clear the delegation when no longer needed
Edit the user record and blank out Delegated Approver. The change takes effect on the next request; existing requests already approved by the delegate stay approved.
Setup, then Process Automation Settings, then Enable Delegated Approvers. Required for any delegation to take effect.
Allow users to set their own delegate from Personal Settings. Controlled by the Modify All Data permission or a custom permission set.
Each Approval Process step has an Allow Delegate to Approve checkbox. Uncheck it for steps that require named approval (sensitive financial sign-offs, regulatory attestations).
ProcessInstanceHistory records both the actor (delegate) and original actor for every step. Used in compliance reports.
- Delegation is not chained. If User A delegates to User B and User B delegates to User C, only B can approve A''s requests, not C. Approval delegation stops at one hop.
- Delegates do not get email notifications by default. They have to check Items to Approve. Build a Flow if you want them notified automatically.
- Per-step Allow Delegate to Approve overrides the user-level setting. If a process step disables delegation, only the original approver can act on that step''s requests, regardless of the user''s Delegated Approver field.
- Clearing the Delegated Approver field does not retract approvals already given. Past actions remain valid; the change only affects future requests.