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The Document Control tab runs the approval process of a controlled document: who requests, who decides, with what reason — and when the next review falls due. An uncontrolled document does not have this tab, nor the History tab.
Controlled documents are included from Business on. In the Pro edition, the Controlled Documents list and every controlled document show only the notice Not included in this edition. This also applies to controlled documents created before a change to Pro.
Whether the process enforces a four-eyes principle is set by Strict Mode — a tenant-wide setting under Documents Settings. It cannot be set per document.

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The process

Draft → In Review → Approved → Archived A progress bar shows the four steps with dates. After a rejection or a withdrawal, the document returns to Draft, and the two middle steps lose their dates — the completed attempt stays on record in History.

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Requesting approval

From Draft, you fill in three fields:
Request Approval stays disabled without a Change Reason. Show Changes lets you see, before submitting, what changed since the last version — the same view as in History.
A request only goes out from Draft; from Approved, there is no request for an unchanged new version. If you need a new version with no content change, use Extend Review below — for a content change, edit the content, which returns the document to Draft anyway.

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Under strict mode

Strict mode requires all three conditions at once:
  1. You are the assigned Responsible person.
  2. An Approver is set.
  3. Approver and responsible person are different people.
If any one condition is missing, the request does not appear at all — no disabled button, no hint. Check the roles on the Properties tab first.

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No approver, no way forward

A controlled document under strict mode with no approver is a dead end: submitting is disabled, and nobody may decide. If a request is already open with no approver, the only way out runs through the responsible person: withdraw the request, set an approver on the Properties tab, submit again.

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Who may decide

Without strict mode, anyone may decide, including the requester. Under strict mode, the four-eyes principle applies: only the assigned approver decides, and that person cannot also be the responsible person — this second rule is already checked when you set the roles on the Properties tab.

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Deciding

The approver sees the request read-only and two buttons: An approval is justified by the request itself; a rejection needs its own reason, so no rejection stands in the history without a cause.

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Withdrawing

The requester withdraws their own request with Withdraw Request — the counterpart to a rejection. Under strict mode, only the responsible person may do this; without it, anyone may. Withdrawing returns the document to Draft and is also the way to reopen an In Review document that is stuck, for the content.

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Permissions by mode

Every action on this tab also requires that you may write in the Docs area. Without that permission, the buttons are missing entirely, and the Change Reason, Comment and Reason fields stay locked. The two roles — Responsible and Approver — are set on the Properties tab, where these checks apply as well:
Assign the same person to both roles, and the application reports it immediately. Missing fields, by contrast, are only reported on a save attempt.
If the person in the Responsible or Approver role can no longer be assigned, for example because their account was deactivated, the Properties tab shows the field empty in edit mode. The checks then treat it as not set, and the next save clears the value. Only active users can be selected.

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The review cycle

The Review Interval and the last approval determine the next review date. A hint above the progress bar escalates as the date gets closer:
This hint applies only to approved documents — a draft has no valid version that could expire.
Extend Review requires the document to be approved; under strict mode, only the assigned approver may extend it. How long the extension window is and how far it pushes out validity is set by your tenant’s global settings — without a configured value, two months of lead time and a twelve-month extension apply.

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Archiving

Archive is available for a controlled document only in Approved status. The button sits on the last step of the progress bar, where Archived otherwise stands; once archived, Restore from Archive next to it reverses the step.
A plain document cannot be archived through the interface. You can only retire it via Delete in the detail page header; it can be restored from the Trash.

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When an action comes too late

If the status has changed elsewhere in the meantime — someone archived, submitted or decided — the application rejects your action, reports it, and reloads the view silently.

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The side panel

The same three blocks as on the Overview tab: Document Information, Responsibilities and Review Cycle. The bottom of the tab also carries the same version list as History, so you see what has been approved without switching tabs. Looking up approved versions and rejected attempts: History.