Skool Membership Pending: What It Means and How to Approve

Skool membership pending means you have asked to join a group and its admins have not approved you yet. This guide covers what a member can do while they wait and, for owners, how to approve or decline people, who can do it, and when to turn on instant approval. Every fact was checked against Skool's help centre on 3 October 2026.

What does membership pending mean on Skool?

It means a person has to let you in. Your request waits until someone on the group's team approves or declines it. The screenshots in Skool's membership questions article show what you see:

• A MEMBERSHIP PENDING button on the group's page, where the join button was.
• A pop-up titled "Membership pending" that reads: "[Group name] admins are reviewing your request. You'll get an email when you're approved."
• A Cancel membership request link under the button.

Skool's analytics definitions use the same word: the Members number "excludes members who are still in a pending state". Until someone approves you, you are not counted as a member.

What can you do while your Skool membership is pending?

You cannot make a person check faster, but you can make your request easy to say yes to.

1. Answer every membership question. You must answer all of them before you can submit. In Skool's screenshot of a pending request, an ANSWER QUESTIONS button sits under MEMBERSHIP PENDING. If you see it, click it, answer each question and click SUBMIT.
2. Finish your profile. Skool makes a profile picture and a bio mandatory (profile pic article). Its spam guide says admins can review your bio, location and profile picture before approving you, so make them show a real person.
3. Check you used the right account. Skool recommends one account for every group, and accounts cannot be merged (multiple accounts article). If you asked from a second account, you may need to tell the group admin you are requesting access with a different account.
4. Message the admins. Skool's contact article says to open the group's Members tab, filter by Admins, and hit CHAT next to a name. It does not say whether this works before you are approved.
5. Watch your email. Skool's pop-up says you will get one when you are approved.

Changed your mind? Click Cancel membership request. Our guide on how to join a Skool community covers the whole join process, including paid groups.

How to approve or decline members on Skool

Skool's article on membership answers says "the group admins and moderators will be able to view them before approving or declining the member." Its screenshots show the web version:

1. A membership request pending link with a red count sits above your community feed.
2. On the Members tab, each request shows the person's name, when they asked, their bio and their answers.
3. Click APPROVE to let them in, or DECLINE to turn them down.

To hear about each new request, click your profile picture, then Settings, then Notifications, and CHANGE the notifications for your group. Skool lists Membership request as an admin-only notification (notifications article). After you accept someone, their answers stay under MEMBERSHIP SETTINGS, then the Questions tab.

Declining turns down one request. A ban goes further: Skool says it "stops them from requesting access or accessing the group completely" (ban article). Use it for spam accounts.

Who can approve members on Skool?

Skool's member roles article says moderators "can approve/decline new members". Admins have access to everything except billing settings, and billing managers have access to everything. So a moderator is enough for someone who only works the request queue. For more than one admin, Skool says you must be on the Pro plan (admin article). Our Skool admin vs moderator guide shows how to give someone a role.

How to set up membership questions

Membership questions work on both the Hobby and Pro plans (plugins guide). Skool's steps:

1. Click SETTINGS in your community and go to the Plugins section.
2. Click EDIT next to Membership questions.
3. Toggle it On and click ADD QUESTION.
4. Write your question and pick an answer type: text box, multiple choice or email address.

You can ask up to three questions, and only one can be an email address. Skool's plugins guide warns that harder questions mean a lower conversion rate but higher quality members.

Should you turn on instant membership approval?

Instant membership approval is a Pro plan plugin. Pro is $99 a month on Skool's pricing page. When it is on, people are accepted automatically. It sits under SETTINGS, then Plugins. Skool's help centre gives both sides:

So the trade-off is speed against spam. Skool's spam guide adds that AutoMod is active in all communities and flags high-risk users for admins to review. If you are running ads to grow, see our guide to getting more members on Skool.

Welcome the members you approve

Approving someone gets them in the door. What they hear from you next is up to you. Skool's AutoDM plugin, on the Pro plan, sends one message you write within 1 to 5 minutes of a member joining (AutoDM article).

Backpack adds Welcome Drip, which sends welcome messages to your new members in your own words. You write the messages and Backpack sends them, even with your computer off, because it runs on our servers. Backpack is a Chrome extension for Skool community owners that also messages members whose card fails or who cancel, and schedules your posts. It is $9 a month for every Skool community you admin, with 7 days free, and it is not affiliated with Skool.

So if you see Skool membership pending, the group's team has your request and has not answered yet. Members: answer every question, check your account and watch your email. Owners: work the queue from the Members tab, give a moderator the job if it gets busy, and save instant approval for when speed matters more than spam.

FAQ

How long does Skool membership pending take?

There is no set time. Skool's help centre gives no time frame, because a person on the group's team approves or declines each request by hand. Some groups never make you wait: owners on the Pro plan can switch on Instant membership approval, and people invited by email get in without a request.

Will Skool tell me when my membership is approved?

Yes. Skool's pending pop-up says the group's admins are reviewing your request and "You'll get an email when you're approved." Check the inbox for the email on your Skool account, including the spam folder. Skool's help centre does not say whether you get a message if your request is declined.

Can I cancel a pending Skool membership request?

Yes. In Skool's screenshots, a Cancel membership request link sits under the MEMBERSHIP PENDING button on the group's page. Click it to withdraw your request. If you asked from the wrong Skool account, Skool recommends picking one account and rejoining with it, because Skool accounts cannot be merged.

Can a moderator approve members on Skool?

Yes. Skool's member roles article says moderators can approve or decline new members, and its role chart lists approving and declining membership requests. Moderators cannot ban members, change roles or change group settings. The owner, billing managers and admins can approve requests too, and they can also ban.

How do I auto-approve members on Skool?

Turn on the Instant membership approval plugin under SETTINGS, then Plugins. It is a Pro plan feature. Skool suggests it when you promote lead magnets or run ads to a free group, and says to turn it off if you see a lot of new members joining and spamming your community feed.