diff --git a/docs/openapi.yaml b/docs/openapi.yaml
index 2c5801b..5f007ae 100644
--- a/docs/openapi.yaml
+++ b/docs/openapi.yaml
@@ -5764,7 +5764,9 @@ paths:
           description: >-
             The per-user submission allowance is spent — too many of the
             caller's submissions are awaiting review, or their stored-upload
-            budget is full (submission_quota_exceeded).
+            budget is full (submission_quota_exceeded). The budget counts
+            pending uploads and rejected ones until they are reaped, 7 days after
+            review; approved uploads leave it.
         '429':
           description: >-
             A submission was created within the per-user cooldown window
@@ -5890,7 +5892,8 @@ paths:
         '403':
           description: >-
             The upload would exceed the caller's per-user stored-context budget
-            (submission_quota_exceeded).
+            (submission_quota_exceeded), which counts their pending and rejected
+            uploads; approved ones leave it.
         '404':
           $ref: '#/components/responses/NotFound'
         '409':
diff --git a/internal/submit/submit.go b/internal/submit/submit.go
index 18e90f0..9284dce 100644
--- a/internal/submit/submit.go
+++ b/internal/submit/submit.go
@@ -155,10 +155,12 @@ const (
 	// enough to stage a couple of packs, far short of a flood. Override per
 	// Manager via MaxPendingPerUser.
 	defaultMaxPendingPerUser = 5
-	// defaultMaxStoredBytesPerUser caps the total bytes one user's stored
-	// contexts may occupy on the uploads store. The uploads PVC renders at a
-	// fixed 5Gi (platform/workloads.go); without a per-user budget one account
-	// could fill it and every other user's upload would start failing. Two GiB
+	// defaultMaxStoredBytesPerUser caps the total bytes one user's unapproved
+	// contexts (pending, and rejected ones until ReapRejected takes them) may
+	// occupy on the uploads store; approved ones count only toward the total,
+	// since an admin chose to keep them. The uploads PVC renders at a fixed 5Gi
+	// (platform/workloads.go); without a per-user budget one account could fill
+	// it and every other user's upload would start failing. Two GiB
 	// leaves room for a couple of full-size modpacks (a single blob may be 1 GiB)
 	// while keeping a small user base from exhausting the volume; size the PVC
 	// above users × this budget before raising it. Override per Manager via
@@ -597,7 +599,7 @@ func (m *Manager) Create(ctx context.Context, req CreateRequest) (*Submission, e
 //     has already consumed it, once rejected it is dead;
 //   - the body must be a gzip tarball (context.tar.gz) and is size-capped, so a
 //     wrong-format or oversize upload is rejected as a 400 without persisting;
-//   - a user's stored contexts are budgeted (MaxStoredBytesPerUser): the write
+//   - a user's unapproved contexts are budgeted (MaxStoredBytesPerUser): the write
 //     is capped at the remaining budget, so an upload that would exceed it is
 //     refused as a spent allowance (403) before the excess is persisted;
 //   - so are everyone's together (MaxStoredBytesTotal), and a local store checks
@@ -825,15 +827,19 @@ func (m *Manager) ReapStaleParts(olderThan time.Duration) (int, error) {
 	return m.Parts.Reap(m.now().Add(-olderThan))
 }
 
-// storedBytes sums the stored-blob sizes of submittedBy's submissions (user) and
-// of everyone's (total), excluding excludeID — the submission a pending re-upload
-// is about to replace, whose bytes must not be counted twice. Sizes are read from
-// the blob store itself, the same source of truth uploads/approval consult, so
-// the sums cannot drift from what is actually occupying the volume (including
-// blobs uploaded before any budget existed). A staged chunked upload counts as
-// well, so parts spread over several pending submissions cannot hold more than
-// the budget allows. With fresh unset, a blob size read or written within
-// blobSizeTTL is used as it stands (blobSize). A size that cannot be read is
+// storedBytes sums the stored-blob sizes of submittedBy's unapproved submissions
+// (user) and of everyone's submissions (total), excluding excludeID — the
+// submission a pending re-upload is about to replace, whose bytes must not be
+// counted twice. An approved context leaves its uploader's budget: an admin chose
+// to keep it (it rebuilds the image after a registry loss), and the uploader can
+// neither withdraw nor replace it, so charging it would spend their allowance for
+// good. It still fills the store, so it stays in total. Sizes are read from the
+// blob store itself, the same source of truth uploads/approval consult, so the
+// sums cannot drift from what is actually occupying the volume (including blobs
+// uploaded before any budget existed). A staged chunked upload counts as well, so
+// parts spread over several pending submissions cannot hold more than the budget
+// allows. With fresh unset, a blob size read or written within blobSizeTTL is
+// used as it stands (blobSize). A size that cannot be read is
 // ErrStoreUnavailable, for the caller to try again.
 func (m *Manager) storedBytes(ctx context.Context, submittedBy, excludeID string, fresh bool) (user, total int64, err error) {
 	subs, err := m.Store.ListSubmissions(ctx)
@@ -856,7 +862,7 @@ func (m *Manager) storedBytes(ctx context.Context, submittedBy, excludeID string
 			n += staged
 		}
 		total += n
-		if s.SubmittedBy == submittedBy {
+		if s.SubmittedBy == submittedBy && s.Status != StatusApproved {
 			user += n
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/internal/submit/submit_test.go b/internal/submit/submit_test.go
index bb9c240..fca043d 100644
--- a/internal/submit/submit_test.go
+++ b/internal/submit/submit_test.go
@@ -887,6 +887,58 @@ func TestUploadContextStorageBudget(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// An approved context stays on the store for rebuilds, out of its uploader's
+// hands; it leaves their budget, so approval gives the allowance back. It still
+// fills the store's total, and a rejected context keeps its uploader's budget
+// until it is reaped.
+func TestApprovedContextsLeaveTheUploadersBudget(t *testing.T) {
+	m, _, _ := newManager()
+	fb := newFakeBlobs()
+	m.Blobs = fb
+	m.MaxStoredBytesPerUser = 5 // one gzBody("x") of 5 bytes
+	m.MaxStoredBytesTotal = 10
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	create := func(user string) *Submission {
+		t.Helper()
+		sub, err := m.Create(ctx, CreateRequest{DisplayName: "P", SubmittedBy: user})
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("create for %s: %v", user, err)
+		}
+		return sub
+	}
+	upload := func(sub *Submission) (*Submission, error) {
+		return m.UploadContext(ctx, sub.ID, sub.SubmittedBy, strings.NewReader(gzBody("x")))
+	}
+
+	a, b := create("user-1"), create("user-1")
+	a, err := upload(a)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("upload A: %v", err)
+	}
+	if _, err := upload(b); !errors.Is(err, ErrQuotaExceeded) {
+		t.Fatalf("upload B beside a pending A = %v, want ErrQuotaExceeded", err)
+	}
+	if _, err := m.Approve(ctx, a.ID, "admin@example.test", a.ContextSHA256); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("approve A: %v", err)
+	}
+	if _, err := upload(b); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("upload B beside an approved A = %v, want accepted", err)
+	}
+
+	// A (approved) and B hold the store's 10 bytes between them.
+	if _, err := upload(create("user-2")); !errors.Is(err, ErrUploadsFull) {
+		t.Fatalf("upload into a store the approved A helps fill = %v, want ErrUploadsFull", err)
+	}
+
+	if _, err := m.Reject(ctx, b.ID, "admin@example.test", "no"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("reject B: %v", err)
+	}
+	m.MaxStoredBytesTotal = 100
+	if _, err := upload(create("user-1")); !errors.Is(err, ErrQuotaExceeded) {
+		t.Fatalf("upload beside a rejected B = %v, want ErrQuotaExceeded", err)
+	}
+}
+
 // A single oversize blob stays a 400 (ErrInvalid), distinct from the 403 the
 // per-user budget answers with — the two failure classes must not collapse.
 func TestUploadContextOversizeIsNotQuotaError(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/panel/src/i18n/resources/en-US/errors.json b/panel/src/i18n/resources/en-US/errors.json
index 0db1af4..18b1aae 100644
--- a/panel/src/i18n/resources/en-US/errors.json
+++ b/panel/src/i18n/resources/en-US/errors.json
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@
   "build_logs_unavailable": "Build logs aren't available right now.",
   "already_reviewed": "This submission has already been reviewed.",
   "context_changed": "The submitter uploaded the build context again after you reviewed it. Download and review the new upload before approving.",
-  "submission_quota_exceeded": "Your submission quota is full: too many pending reviews, or your stored uploads are at the limit.",
+  "submission_quota_exceeded": "Your submission quota is full: too many pending reviews, or your pending and rejected uploads fill your storage allowance. Withdraw a pending one, or wait: a rejected upload frees its space 7 days after review, and approved ones don't count.",
   "submission_cooldown": "Too many submission requests — try again shortly.",
   "submissions_unavailable": "Submissions aren't available right now.",
   "uploads_unavailable": "Uploads aren't available right now.",
diff --git a/panel/src/i18n/resources/zh-CN/errors.json b/panel/src/i18n/resources/zh-CN/errors.json
index 1d3f634..5bca344 100644
--- a/panel/src/i18n/resources/zh-CN/errors.json
+++ b/panel/src/i18n/resources/zh-CN/errors.json
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@
   "build_logs_unavailable": "构建日志暂时不可用。",
   "already_reviewed": "该提交已经审核过了。",
   "context_changed": "提交者在你审阅之后重新上传了构建上下文。请重新下载并审阅新的上传再通过。",
-  "submission_quota_exceeded": "你的提交配额已满：待审核提交过多，或已存上传总量达到上限。",
+  "submission_quota_exceeded": "你的提交配额已满：待审核提交过多，或待审核和被拒绝的上传占满了存储额度。可以撤回一个待审核的提交；被拒绝的上传在审核 7 天后释放空间，已批准的不占额度。",
   "submission_cooldown": "操作太频繁——请稍后再试。",
   "submissions_unavailable": "提交流程当前不可用。",
   "uploads_unavailable": "上传功能当前不可用。",
diff --git a/panel/src/lib/openapi.gen.ts b/panel/src/lib/openapi.gen.ts
index a276c05..059cb25 100644
--- a/panel/src/lib/openapi.gen.ts
+++ b/panel/src/lib/openapi.gen.ts
@@ -7766,7 +7766,7 @@ export interface operations {
             };
             400: components["responses"]["BadRequest"];
             401: components["responses"]["Unauthorized"];
-            /** @description The per-user submission allowance is spent — too many of the caller's submissions are awaiting review, or their stored-upload budget is full (submission_quota_exceeded). */
+            /** @description The per-user submission allowance is spent — too many of the caller's submissions are awaiting review, or their stored-upload budget is full (submission_quota_exceeded). The budget counts pending uploads and rejected ones until they are reaped, 7 days after review; approved uploads leave it. */
             403: {
                 headers: {
                     [name: string]: unknown;
@@ -7833,7 +7833,7 @@ export interface operations {
             };
             400: components["responses"]["BadRequest"];
             401: components["responses"]["Unauthorized"];
-            /** @description The upload would exceed the caller's per-user stored-context budget (submission_quota_exceeded). */
+            /** @description The upload would exceed the caller's per-user stored-context budget (submission_quota_exceeded), which counts their pending and rejected uploads; approved ones leave it. */
             403: {
                 headers: {
                     [name: string]: unknown;