OneDrive for Business former employee OneDrive access goes to the wrong approver for project teams: Fix Guide

When a former employee leaves your organization, their OneDrive files must be transferred to a new owner. The approval process in Microsoft 365 is designed to route this request to the former employee’s direct manager. However, for project teams where the departing user reports to a different person than the project owner, the access request often goes to the wrong approver. This causes delays and security gaps because the project lead cannot reclaim the files without going through an incorrect chain of approval.

The root cause lies in how Microsoft 365 determines the manager attribute. The system looks at the Manager field in Azure Active Directory, not at SharePoint site permissions or project team membership. When a project team member leaves, the approval request is sent to their departmental manager rather than the project lead who actually needs the data. This guide explains how to fix the routing by updating the manager attribute or using an alternative delegation method.

Why the Approval Request Goes to the Wrong Person

Microsoft 365 uses the Manager attribute stored in Azure Active Directory to determine the approver when a former employee’s OneDrive access is requested. This attribute is typically set by HR systems or manual admin input. It reflects the organizational reporting structure, not the project team structure. When a project team member leaves, the system sends the approval email to the person listed as their manager in Azure AD, even if that person has no involvement with the project or the files stored in OneDrive.

The approval workflow itself is part of the OneDrive access delegation feature. When an admin attempts to assign a new owner to a former employee’s OneDrive, Microsoft 365 checks the departing user’s manager and sends an approval request to that manager. The project lead, who actually needs the files, is never notified unless they are also the manager in Azure AD. This design works well for standard departmental structures but breaks down in matrix organizations and project-based teams.

Additionally, the problem becomes more complex when the former employee was a member of multiple project teams. The approval request can only go to one manager, so only one project lead can be designated as the recipient. The other project teams must wait for the first approval to complete before they can request access through a secondary process.

Steps to Route the Approval to the Correct Project Lead

Before the former employee leaves, update their Azure AD Manager attribute to point to the project lead who should receive the approval request. If the employee has already left, you can still change the Manager field as long as the user account exists in Azure AD.

1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center
   Go to admin.microsoft.com and sign in with an account that has Global Administrator or User Administrator privileges.
2. Navigate to the user’s profile
   In the left navigation, select Users > Active users. Find the former employee in the list and click their display name.
3. Edit the Manager field
   In the user details panel, select the Organization tab. Under Manager, click Edit. Type the name of the project lead who should approve the OneDrive access request. Click Save.
4. Wait for synchronization
   Changes to Azure AD can take up to 30 minutes to propagate to all Microsoft 365 services. If you need immediate effect, wait 30 minutes before initiating the OneDrive transfer.
5. Initiate the OneDrive transfer
   Go to the Microsoft 365 admin center > Users > Active users. Select the former employee again. Click OneDrive in the top menu. Under Access, click Transfer files. Select the project lead as the new owner. The approval request will now go to the project lead because their name is in the Manager field.

Alternative Method: Direct Delegation via SharePoint Site Collection Admin

If you cannot change the Manager attribute due to HR policy or automation, you can bypass the approval workflow entirely by granting the project lead direct access to the former employee’s OneDrive as a site collection admin.

1. Open the former employee’s OneDrive site
   In the Microsoft 365 admin center, go to Users > Active users. Select the former employee. Click OneDrive and then click Create link to files. Copy the URL.
2. Add the project lead as a site collection admin
   Paste the URL into a browser. At the end of the URL, add /_layouts/15/people.aspx?MembershipGroupId=0. Press Enter. Click New and select Add users to this site. Type the project lead’s email address. Under Permissions, select Site Collection Administrators. Click Share.
3. Confirm access
   The project lead can now access the former employee’s OneDrive directly through the site URL. No approval request is needed.

Common Issues After Changing the Approver

The approval request still goes to the old manager

This happens when the Manager attribute change has not fully synced. Wait at least 30 minutes. If the issue persists, check that the new manager is an active user with a valid email address in Azure AD. Also verify that the former employee’s account is not soft-deleted, which can prevent attribute updates.

The project lead is not receiving the approval email

Check the project lead’s spam or junk folder. The email comes from Microsoft 365 with the subject line Access request for [former employee]’s files. If the email is not there, verify that the project lead has a valid Exchange Online license. Unlicensed users cannot receive approval emails.

Multiple project teams need access to the same OneDrive

The OneDrive transfer can only designate one new owner. After the transfer completes, the new owner can share folders with other project teams. Use standard SharePoint sharing permissions to grant read or write access to additional users.

Manager Attribute vs Direct Delegation: Key Differences

Item	Update Manager Attribute	Direct Delegation via Site Collection Admin
Approval workflow	Uses standard Microsoft 365 approval	Bypasses approval entirely
Setup time	5 minutes plus 30-minute sync wait	10 minutes, immediate effect
Impact on HR systems	May conflict with HR-synced Manager field	No impact on HR systems
Reversibility	Easy to revert after transfer	Requires manual removal of site admin rights
Audit trail	Logged in Azure AD audit logs	Logged in SharePoint audit logs

Both methods achieve the same goal of giving the project lead access to the former employee’s OneDrive. The Manager attribute method is better for long-term compliance because it follows the standard approval workflow. The direct delegation method is faster and works when the Manager field cannot be changed.

You can now route OneDrive access approval requests to the correct project lead by updating the Manager attribute in Azure AD or by adding the project lead as a site collection admin. For future departures, consider setting up a PowerShell script that updates the Manager field automatically when a user leaves a project team. The Set-AzureADUserManager cmdlet can be used in a scheduled task to keep the Manager attribute aligned with project assignments.