How to Handle Locked Tasks During a Pending Approval Workflow in KTern Planner?

When an Approval Workflow request is raised, all affected tasks are automatically locked. No user — including authorized users — can edit these tasks until the workflow is resolved. This article explains how locking works and what to do.

Why Are Tasks Locked?

Task locking is a data protection mechanism that prevents conflicting edits while an approval is pending. Since the workflow request captures a specific set of proposed changes, allowing further edits during the approval process would invalidate the request and create data conflicts.

What Happens When a Task Is Locked?

• The task appears with a lock indicator in the Planner

• Edit icons and fields are disabled — no user can make changes

• Even Project Administrators cannot override a workflow-locked task

• The lock applies to all tasks listed in the pending workflow request

How to Identify Which Workflow Locked a Task

Navigate — Planner → Planner Options → Workflow → Received or Sent Tab

Filter — Set filter to Pending to see all active workflow requests

Review — Open the workflow to see the full list of locked tasks and their WBS numbers

How Are Tasks Unlocked?

Action	Result
Approver Approves the Workflow	Tasks unlock — proposed changes are applied
Approver Rejects the Workflow	Tasks unlock — original values are restored
Requester Withdraws the Workflow	Tasks unlock — no changes are applied

What Should You Do If a Task Is Locked?

• Contact the requester who submitted the workflow to understand the pending change

• If you are the approver, review and act on the request promptly to unblock the team

• If the request is outdated or incorrect, the requester should withdraw it

• Do not attempt to delete or recreate tasks to bypass locking — this can corrupt project data