Discord Pending Applications: Where to Find and Review Them

"Pending applications" means two different things on Discord. It can be people waiting to get into your server through Discord's own Apply to Join. Or it can be staff, whitelist or partner applications from people already inside, sent through a bot. They wait in different places, so this guide covers both.

Everything about Discord's feature below comes from Discord's support pages, checked in October 2026. Discord renames menus from time to time, so if a label differs on your screen, look for the closest match.

Where are pending applications on Discord?

On the Members page. When someone applies to join, Discord shows a notification next to the Members tab, which sits above your channel list.

If Members is not in your channel list, your server is probably not a Community server. Open Server Settings, then Members under User Management. From there you can switch on Show Members in Channel List, so the tab and its notification stay in view.

Discord says admins can also view, approve and deny applications on mobile. Turning the feature on needs the desktop app.

What do Approve, Reject and Interview do?

In Discord's own screenshots, the interview conversation keeps Approve and Reject at the top, so you can decide right there once you have your answer.

Who can decide: server admins and members with the Kick Members permission. So a moderator who should review needs Kick Members, which also lets them kick people. Discord sets no review deadline either: how fast applications are answered is up to your team.

How do you turn on Apply to Join?

Discord is rolling this out gradually, so some servers do not have it yet, and it can only be switched on from the desktop app.

What does the applicant see while it is pending?

Very little, on purpose. While their application is pending, the person cannot view any of your server's content.

• They cannot edit what they sent. They can withdraw it and send a new one.
• If you approve, they get in.
• If you reject, Discord tells them. They can apply again unless you ban them.

That last point matters on busy servers: Discord's article names a ban as the way to stop someone reapplying for good.

When is a bot the better tool?

When the application is not about getting into the server. Apply to Join is one form at the front door. Most servers that look for an application bot want something else: staff applications from members they already know, a whitelist for a game server, clan tryouts, partner requests. Those need several forms, different reviewers for each, and something to happen when someone is accepted.

How many panels, questions, reviewer roles and AI scores a server gets depends on its plan; the pricing page has the numbers. The AI score is advice, not the decision. What the AI score can and cannot tell you explains how to read it.

The honest split: if you only want to screen strangers before they see your server, Discord's feature is built in and may be all you need. If you run several kinds of applications, or want reviewers who are not moderators, a bot does more.

Where are pending applications in Mico?

Mico calls them waiting: sent by the applicant, not decided yet. You find them in three places.

In the review channel. Each panel posts every new application to its own private review channel, with the answers, the AI score and the buttons to decide.

With /review. Run it in your server. The menu is private to you and covers only the panels you review.

History needs Premium or Pro. The /review reference lists who can use what.

On the dashboard. Open your server on micoapp.io and go to Applications. The list opens on the Waiting view; the others are Accepted, Denied, In progress, Withdrawn or closed, and Trash. You can filter by panel or show one person by their Discord user ID, and in Waiting you can select several and accept or deny them together. Reviewers who do not manage the server see only the panels they review.

A decision made in the review channel, in /review or on the dashboard is the same decision, and only the first click counts. Reviewing as a team covers who should press the button.

Can you use both?

Yes. They answer different questions. Apply to Join decides who gets into the server. Mico decides who becomes staff, gets whitelisted or becomes a partner, and only members of the server can apply, in their DMs or on the website.

If you would rather not use Apply to Join at all, another way is to keep your channels behind a role and let a Mico panel give that role on accept. New members see the apply channel, apply, and get the rest once accepted. A panel can also require a minimum number of days in the server before anyone applies. Making sure the bot is allowed to give that role is covered in giving a role on accept.

To try it, run /setup. It makes an apply channel, a private review channel, a reviewer role and a ready panel, using what your server already has.