Question:
When I “thumbs up” a document, it goes to the next person (Seq) on the route. But what if I want to send it back to the person before me because I don’t approve the document, or there is something missing? Can I do that?
Answer:
It depends on your role permissions. Users who have been given the DOC | Can route a document back to originator (R) role capability can restart a route from Seq 1, and users who have been given the DOC | Can route a document back to a prior sequence (R) role capability can route the document back to the previous routee (Seq). Users who have neither of those capabilities can only route a document forward.
In Power UX:
If the document is at your Sequence (in your Home Inbox), you will see an icon at the beginning of your route row.
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If you click that icon, a popup window will appear. If you have the proper permission, you can choose to restart or send the document back from this window. You can also Send On to the next Seq, which is the same as clicking the “thumbs up” icon. (The Postpone option merely closes the popup window.)
- Restart will send the document back to Seq 1 (e.g., Chris Demo above).
- Send back will send the document to the prior Seq (e.g., Andrew Carothers in Seq 5 above).
If Route Response codes have been set up for the Doc type (often Approved and Rejected), you can select an option from the drop-down, and you can also write a note in the text box. However, by default, what you select in the Route Response fields has no effect on either the route or the document status. A workflow script or save extension would be needed if you want a Route Response to take additional actions.
Classic UI:
On your route row, you will notice that there is both a Status drop-down and a Rsp drop-down. By default, when you click the “thumbs up” icon, the route status changes automatically to Responded, routing the document to the next Seq and the Rsp drop-down is not touched. By default, you will find the options of Approved and Rejected in the Rsp drop-down and, if you have the proper permission, you will find the options of Restarted and/or Sent Back on the Status drop-down. However, the Rsp field has nothing to do with the direction of the document’s route.
- Sent Back will send the document to the prior Seq (e.g., Andrew Carothers at Seq 5 above).
- Restarted will send the document back to Seq 1 (e.g., Chris Demo above).
After selecting one of those statuses (and optionally, selecting a Rsp option or writing a Rsp note), click the “thumbs up” icon to route the document back.
Stages:
When a document is sent back to someone, that person sees the document in the Home Inbox and is able to send it forward again. The document is then considered to be in “stage 2” and route row reflects that. (If the document were to be sent back again, it would be in stage 3 and so on.)
Additional Information:
It is possible to configure the RouteConfig | Implied Response rule so that clicking the thumbs up icon or selecting Restart or Send Back will also change the Rsp drop-down field to Approved, but again, selecting any option on the Rsp drop-down will not, on its own, route the document in any direction.
KBA-01926; Last updated: May 27, 2026 at 7:45 am