When you ban a member, they can appeal: ask your team to reconsider. Appeals wait in Admin → Moderation → Appeals, where you approve an appeal to lift the ban or reject it. This article explains what's in the appeals queue, how to decide, and what the member sees.
Who can do this: Owners, admins, and moderators. A custom role needs Resolve moderation items to approve or reject; with only View moderation queue, it can read appeals. · Where: Web, in the admin console. · Plan: No plan requirement.
Which moderation decisions members can appeal
| Decision | Can the member appeal it? |
|---|---|
| Ban (community-wide) | Yes. A banned member is taken to an appeal page when they try to sign in. |
| Suspension | No. It ends on its own after the suspension period. |
| Warning | No. A warning doesn't limit the member's account. A member who disagrees can contact your admins. |
| Content removal | No. |
| Ban Member or Mute Member in one space | No. These don't stop the member signing in, so no appeal is created. |
See Ban, suspend, or restrict a member.
Find appeals in the appeals queue
Go to Admin → Moderation → Appeals. On the admin dashboard, Pending Appeals shows how many are waiting and opens this page.
Use Filter by status to show All, Pending, Approved, or Rejected appeals. Each row shows:
- User: the member who appealed.
- Ban Reason: the reason recorded when they were banned.
- Appeal Reason: what the member wrote.
- Status and when it was Submitted.
After an appeal is decided, the row shows the note your team added, or No note.
Approve or reject a ban appeal
- On a Pending appeal, click Approve or Reject.
- Read the ban reason and the member's appeal again in the dialog.
- Optionally add an Admin Note (Optional). The member can read it, so write it for them.
- Click Approve or Reject to confirm.
- Approve Appeal: the member is unbanned automatically and can sign in again. They get the notification "Your appeal was approved and the restriction has been lifted", with your note if you added one.
- Reject Appeal: the ban stays, and the member is notified that their appeal was rejected. The next time they try to sign in, the appeal page shows Rejected and your note.
If another moderator decided the appeal first, you see "This appeal was already reviewed by another moderator", and the page refreshes to show their decision.
What the banned member sees
- Ban reason: the appeal page shows the reason recorded with the ban under Ban Reason. When you ban someone from a report, this is the moderator note you wrote. When you ban from a member's profile, it's the reason you entered, or "Banned by admin" if you left it empty. Write ban reasons for the member to read.
- Their appeal and your reply: the page shows the appeal's status (Pending Review, Approved, or Rejected), Your Appeal Reason, and your note under Admin Response.
- Limits: a member can have only one pending appeal at a time, and can appeal the same ban up to 3 times. After a rejection, they can appeal again once 24 hours have passed since their last appeal.
See Appeal a moderation decision.
Lift a ban without an appeal
You don't need an appeal to undo a ban. Go to Admin → Moderation → Banned & Suspended, open the Banned tab, and click Lift ban. If the member later opens their appeal page, it says the restriction has already been lifted.
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