How to prevent SharePoint “Members” from approving documents?

hi VictorShinto01​  What usually controls this is the Approve Items permission, not just whether someone is a “Member” of the site.

In SharePoint, if site Members are able to approve documents, it typically means their effective permission level on that library includes Approve Items somewhere either through the default group/permission setup, a custom permission level, or broken inheritance on the library. SharePoint’s approval capability is tied to approver permissions, and Microsoft’s guidance also points to approvers being in a higher permission group rather than ordinary members.

What I’d recommend:

Check the library permissions, not just the site permissions.

Verify whether the Members group (or any group the user belongs to) has a permission level that includes Approve Items.

If needed, break permission inheritance on the library and grant:

Members = Edit/Contribute only, without Approve Items

Approvers group = Approve (or Design / custom level with Approve Items)

If you want tighter control, create a separate approvers group and only assign approval rights there. Microsoft examples for approval flows also call out using a more elevated permission group for approvers.