# What your client sees (and approves)

> The portal from your client's side: dashboard, action items, approvals and messages.

Category: Client Portal & updates
Web version: https://www.monodesk.com/help/client-portal/what-your-client-sees
Last updated: October 23, 2026

Your client opens their link, with no account and no password, and lands on a branded dashboard: *"A live snapshot of your project and anything that needs your attention."*

![The client's dashboard](https://www.monodesk.com/help/screenshots/portal-client-view.png)

## Their dashboard

- **Current phase** and **next milestone** (when the project uses milestones), so they see where the project is at a glance
- **Waiting on you:** the approvals and requests you've sent them, each with a one-click **Review** or **Open**
- The **project timeline** with your milestone phases, or a **Project board** card if you've chosen the board view
- Every **shared project**, with anything outstanding flagged on its card

Their navigation covers **Dashboard**, **Project Plan**, **Action Items** and **Messages**.

## Project Plan

What your client sees here depends on the view you picked when you [set up the project plan](https://www.monodesk.com/help/client-portal/share-a-project-through-the-portal):

- **Milestones:** each phase with its dates, progress and status. A milestone shows *In progress* as soon as one of its tasks starts. Where you've turned it on, they also see the task names, with a *To do*, *Doing* or *Done* label on each
- **Board:** three columns, **To do**, **Doing** and **Done**, with the project's main tasks by name

![The client's Project Plan as a To do, Doing and Done board](https://www.monodesk.com/help/screenshots/portal-client-board.png)

If the project came from a [proposal](https://www.monodesk.com/help/proposals-invoices/create-and-send-a-proposal), **Your proposal** appears under **Project Documents**, so they can look back at what they agreed. It only shows if your client has already opened that proposal in MonoDesk and its link is still on. MonoDesk never makes a new link for it.

## Viewing vs participating

- Anyone **with the link** can view everything you've shared
- To **participate** (approve deliverables, answer requests, join message threads), a person needs to be invited by email from the client's Client Portal tab

## Approvals

When you mark a deliverable **Requires Approval**, it appears in their *Waiting on you* list. They review and approve right in the portal: no email chains, and you see the status change on your side the moment they do.

## Answering your requests

Your client answers a request with a **File**, a **Link** or **Text**.

- They can attach several files in one reply, picking or dropping more as they go
- There's an optional **Comment** box for files and links, so they can add a note to whatever they send
- After sending, they can see what they sent: the text, the link, their comment and the file names

You get an email when a client answers, whether they sent files, a link or text. Which clients email you is up to you, in [Settings → Notifications](https://www.monodesk.com/help/teams-account/your-profile-and-settings#client-portal-emails).

## Messages

If the page refreshes while your client is typing a message, their unsent text is still there when they come back. The same goes for your side of the conversation in the client's **Client Comms** tab.