is it possible to change "name of request" on the Microsoft teams form I had started from scratch? if so how?

Dear @Bray, Matt,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

I apologize for any inconvenience you may encounter when using our services/ products. Based on your description:

In the Approvals app, “Name of request” is a built‑in, required field for every approval you send. Therefore, You cannot rename/remove/edit the “Name of request” field or its placeholder text in the Teams Approvals form you created.

Kindly try these following workaround steps:

Use the template Description to instruct what to put in “Name of request”

Since templates support a description, you can use it to say something like:

• “In Name of request, enter the employee name + request type (e.g., ‘<User's name> – Laptop Purchase’).”
• This leverages the documented template “name, description, category” area.

Make “Name of request” the short title and put details in your custom fields

• Keep “Name of request” as a concise identifier (like a ticket title), and use your custom fields for the real payload (amount, dates, justification, cost center, etc.). Template “Form design” is intended for exactly those user-entered details. Discover templates in Approvals - Microsoft Support

I sincerely hope you understand that the initial steps I suggested may not have completely fixed the issue, as there may still be underlying causes that have not yet been identified. I am here to work closely with you, troubleshoot effectively, and explore every possible solution to ensure the best possible outcome.

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The "Name of request" field in a standard approval created from the Approvals app in Microsoft Teams is a built‑in required field and cannot be renamed, removed, or have its placeholder text changed when creating an approval "from scratch." The only editable label in that basic form is the template name when working with templates; the runtime field "Name of request" remains fixed.

To create more customized approval experiences (for example, with different field labels or additional fields), approvals must be built using Power Automate; those approvals will still surface in the Approvals hub, but the core "Name of request" field on the default Teams Approvals form itself is not customizable.

Steps to create a standard approval (where this limitation applies):

1. Open the Approvals app in Microsoft Teams.
2. Select New approval request.
3. Fill in Name of request, approvers, order, details, and attachments.
4. Select Send.

References:

• Create an approval
• What is Approvals?