E-Sign Approvals Plug-In for Teams

Question

At my wit's end here. A user is using this Approvals app to upload a Word doc that needs signatures and she fills in all of the information and when she goes to send it this comes up.

• Rebooted
• Re-installed the Plug in
• Signed out and signed in
• Repaired Teams
• Repaired MS Office
• Updated everything
• She has access to everywhere (sharepoint, power automate, MS websites)

Answer 1

Hi @LuckyC14, 

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum. 

Thank you for reaching out and for raising this. I completely understand how concerning this is, especially since the request works when you select Send. 

This behavior comes down to the difference between the two actions in the Approvals e sign flow. Send submits the e sign request as it is. Prepare is the step that opens the e signature provider’s field placement experience so you can add signature fields before sending. If that embedded provider step cannot load properly, the app may show a generic “Something went wrong. Wait a bit, then try again.” message even though sending without field placement still works. 

Microsoft’s guidance confirms that Prepare is specifically for adding signature fields, while Send bypasses that step. To move forward, please try these steps:

1. Confirm which provider is selected in the Approvals request (Adobe Sign or DocuSign) and verify the user can sign in to that provider successfully outside of Teams.  
2. Test Prepare with a very simple, newly created document to rule out a document specific issue. 
3. In the meantime, as a workaround, you can continue using Send when no additional signature field placement is required. 

For more information, please refer to this document: Create and manage e-sign requests - Microsoft Support 

If the issue reproduces only with the provider’s Prepare step, the best next step is to have your IT administrator submit a support ticket through the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.  

Once the ticket is created, a technical support engineer will be able to initiate a secure remote session, review backend configurations, run diagnostics, and escalate the case to specialized engineering teams if necessary. These teams are equipped to perform advanced troubleshooting and provide targeted solutions.  

As a moderator, my role is to offer guidance and general troubleshooting steps. Although I do not have access to administrative tools required for backend fixes, I truly appreciate your understanding of these limitations. I hope the information provided helps point you in the right direction, and I am always here to assist as much as possible within my scope.  

For instructions on submitting a support request, please refer to: Get support - Microsoft 365 admin | Microsoft Learn.  

I hope this response has helped address your question and clarify the behavior you're experiencing. Please feel free to reply if you have any further questions, I would be happy to assist further.  

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Answer 2

Approvals in Microsoft Teams is a native Teams app that runs on top of Power Automate and always stores approvals in the organization’s default environment. The error shown (“Something went wrong. Wait a bit, then try again.”) occurs inside the Approvals app itself, not in Word, Office, or the Teams client, so repairing or reinstalling Office/Teams typically does not resolve it.

Given the provided information, the key checks are:

1. Confirm that the Approvals app is enabled and allowed for the user’s tenant in the Teams admin center. If the app is disabled or restricted by policy, the user can open it but creation of approvals (including e‑sign requests) can fail.
2. Verify that the organization’s default Power Automate environment is healthy and accessible for the user, because all Approvals data is created there. If there is an environment‑level issue, the Approvals app can show generic errors when sending a request.
3. If using e‑sign functionality (Adobe Sign, DocuSign, or another provider), confirm that the user is correctly signed in to the e‑sign provider and that the provider is supported in the tenant type. For example, Adobe Sign and DocuSign integrations are not available in Government Community Cloud, although core Approvals in Teams is available.

If tenant policies and the default environment are confirmed healthy and the user can successfully create a basic (non–e‑sign) approval, then the issue is likely specific to the e‑sign provider integration and should be escalated through that provider’s support or via the app’s support channel listed in its certification page.

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References:

• Approvals in Microsoft Teams
• Create and manage e-sign requests
• What is Approvals?
• Adobe Acrobat Sign for Microsoft SharePoint Online (general)
• E-Sign - Secure Electronic Signature Solution (general)
• Adobe Acrobat Sign for Microsoft Word and PowerPoint - Government (general)
• sign+ (general)