Connect results to Excel as a data source rather than opening a new workbook each time
The form is great in terms of collecting responses. That said, if you need to view all the data at once, you need to open the form results in Excel. If you do that, it appears to open a separate result each time. There is no way to edit the results workbook. For example, I want to add a column to the results where I can keep track of whether or not I have contacted the person since they have filled out the form. If I add that column to the table, it will be gone when I next click "Open in Excel" to get the latest data. It would be great if it creates a connection to the workbook and is treated like a data source for the workbook.

Hi Forms users,
Thanks for using Microsoft Forms and providing feedback.
We just enabled a new feature “Forms for Excel” for all Microsoft Forms customers. When you create Forms for Excel in your OneDrive for Business / modern SharePoint team sites, you will get an Excel workbook at the same time. All the responses data will show up in your Excel workbook in real time.
You could get more detail from – https://aka.ms/formsforexcel
Please be free to leave comments if you have any question.
Regards,
Microsoft Forms Team
125 comments
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Anonymous commented
how do i change the value of the cells in my spreadsheet to number, rather than the default of a text value so i an total things in the spreadsheet
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Em commented
I have added my Excel forms to my TEAM in Microsoft Teams, however I would like to be able to add the LIVE spreadhseet (of the responses to the forms) to my management TEAM (within Microsoft Teams) as well and can not figure it out. If I upload the file the spreadsheet does not update automatically within Microsoft Teams. I need them to be able to view the worksheet and not the summary
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Deb W commented
Option to send it to a list...so I can add a column and manage my results (actions etc)
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Joel Myers commented
It seems pretty obvious that people would need this. Any updated
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Anonymous commented
Any reason "Forms for Excel" is only available on individual level and not group level? I'd like to be able to make forms and their excel workbooks available for several people in my team. However, when I create a group form, the excel workbook is automatically created in the main "Documents" folder in sharepoint, with no apparent fix to sort this into a specificly chosen folder within our structure.
It's causing major clutter.
As soon as we try and move the workbook to a different folder, the link with the form is lost and Forms automatically creates a new workbook for new responses. -
Anonymous commented
I have built and published a number of eLearning content for my organization that includes links to quizzes. I was hoping I could link any quiz I made to the same Excel file, but there doesn't appear to be an option for this.
I can create an Excel file and create a form for it, but it doesn't give you the option to create a quiz. Even if the option was there, I would not be able to link multiple Quizzes to the same Excel file.
So if I wanted to create a dashboard of all the quiz results using data from all the quizzes from separate sheets in one Excel file, I can't.
Google does this....(YOU NEED TO PROVIDE AN OPTION TO LINK MULTIPLE QUIZZES OR FORMS TO THE SAME EXCEL FILE) that way data from multiple places/forms/quizzes can be compiled and reviewed.
If there is already a solution for this, where is it???
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shazni commented
In the results, can we choose only to see results from specific question(s) from the form? Also, can we have results from multiple forms combined in one spreadsheet.
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Rick Hyne commented
I am in Teams.
I create an employment application form.
The excel book is stored on SharePoint under the Teams channel.
I don't want to destroy the data in that book, so I create another book and pull from the first book.
All is good as I can refresh the second book. I can pull subset data and put it in a separate sheet.
Problems:
On the first book the questions were part of the header row. Now they are gone and the header is named column 1, column 2.
When reviewing the entries from the form and selecting delete entry, it does not delete from the excel book. .
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Dan Taylor commented
How do I save the excel file without the data source features attached to it? I'm importing the excel file into Cognos for reporting purposes and it appears that Cognos doesn't like the form feature within the excel file. Please help? Hope that made sense.
Thanks, Dan
dptaylor@uci.edu -
Anonymous commented
Why not SaveAs a Master the first downloaded workbook, then just transfer new information into it manually when you download new information. Added columns remain.
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Rick Kane commented
The new feature is really not useful for existing forms. There should be an option, regardless of where the starting point for the form was, to choose a location for responses to be output to excel. This is basic basic stuff here and REALLY limits the usefulness of Forms.
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renaud commented
and what about new feature "Quiz for Excel" ? "Forms for Excel" doesn't include note and feedback because it generates a survey only. we can't choose between survey and quiz. I would like to get en Excel workbook with all the responses data of a quizz in real time + 1 vote for me
There s NO solution today to host Quiz for excel directly into Sharepoint as far as i searched for
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Natalie Crosby commented
Forms for Excel WAS a feature and now seems to have disappeared. Can we expect an update to Forms?
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Anonymous commented
Is there a way to have two forms feeding into one excel file?
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Raul Eduardo Cabra commented
Please return the function, this seems to me to be gross, I don't want to have to go to google forms to do the work I've been doing with excel survey.
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Anonymous commented
This is a critical feature. If you really want us to move to the cloud, you have to give us the tools in a cloud way. Downloading an new copy of a Excel sheet each time we want to look at the data completely defeats the point of cloud-based collaboration. There is a work around for normal Forms, but teachers creating quizzes have no option to do this.
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Piyush Soni commented
I mean, who would have thought MS would do such a STUPID implementation! So, turns out you create a form and get the data, and a SINGLE change you make to the Excel sheet, the form looses its connection to the sheet and stores data at SOME UNKNOWN LOCATION that you can't find! Man, you have the data table right in front of you ! Why don't you just use that as your single data source? Secondly, if I just want to add a single column (Status - Resolved/WONTFIX etc.) to the excel sheet for my own reference, it still loses the form<->excel connection. Don't know how Google just gets it right the first time every time.
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Anonymous commented
This is not an option for educators who want to create a Quiz
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teqs commented
quote: Tracy
"Is there a way that Forms can add data to an existing Excel spreadsheet? Like the way Google Forms does?"No, we are waiting 2,5 years for it. But you posted in the correct idea.
And you are correct, save data to an data sheet like google do it would be nice. And don't forget to mention that google do it for years in the correct way. The connection between of excel online and forms of MS is simply a design issue. I hope they fix in in the next 5 years. :-)Simply save forms data to editable excel sheets. Save forms data to a sheet, let the use edit all data and also all columns beside the forms data as the user want. To be able to add custom columns and save custom data beside the form data. Everything... simply as google does it. ;-)
Google must have great developer to achieve all the things years ago. The idea forums of "excel" and "forms" is full of important features google has for a long time.
And all idea forums for "forms", "excel" and "ms flow" have a lot of great suggestions/ideas which are top voted for years. It's a pity. -
Tracy commented
Is there a way that Forms can add data to an existing Excel spreadsheet? Like the way Google Forms does?