> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/issues/460) in [GitLab Premium](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/) 12.8.
Approval rules are often only relevant to specific branches, like `master`.
When configuring [**Default Approval Rules**](#adding--editing-a-default-approval-rule)
these can be scoped to all the protected branches at once by navigating to your project's
**Settings**, expanding **Merge request approvals**, and selecting **Any branch** from
the **Target branch** dropdown.
Alternatively, you can select a very specific protected branch from the **Target branch** dropdown:
![Scoped to Protected Branch](img/scoped_to_protected_branch_v12_8.png)
To enable this configuration, see [Code Owner’s approvals for protected branches](../protected_branches.md#protected-branches-approval-by-code-owners-premium).
## Adding or removing an approval
When an [eligible approver](#eligible-approvers) visits an open merge request,