Audience

Individuals or teams looking create and distribute compliant forms to internal stakeholders integrated into Microsoft Office 365.

Overview

Microsoft Forms is a web-based app that allows users to create and share customized surveys, quizzes, and feedback forms. This tool can be utilized to gather feedback, knowledge checks, or to obtain data for research purposes. Before being published, Forms can be shared with individuals or groups for corroborative form creation and viewing of results. Data is collected and summarized within the Form or can be saved directly to Excel. Data can be further manipulated using Power Automate.

Name and Save

1. Click the Untitled form text.
   
    
2. Type the title (1) for the form. Optionally type a Form description (2) and/or click the icon to add an image (3) that will appear above the title.
   
    
3. The survey will be automatically saved with the same name as the title. If the title is changed, the file name will also change to match the form title.
   

Adding Form Elements

1. Based on the title, recommended form elements (1) will be shown. In order to add these questions to the form click once on any element (2) that applies, then click the Add selected (3) link.
   Note: If all questions should be added, click the Add all link before selecting individual elements. 
   If none of the questions apply to the form, click the X (4) to close the recommendations.
   
2. Click the + Add new button to add a question.
   
   
   
3. Click the type of question to add. Click the carrot to show more options.
   Microsoft Documentation details each question type.
   

Editing Questions

Questions added to the form can be edited, moved, or deleted. Some options will be specific to the question type. 

1. Click on question to edit. Changes are saved automatically when clicking an option or clicking off of the question.
   
   
2. These are the common options for most question types.
   (1) Slide to the right to make a question required.
   (2) Click to duplicate a question. The text or settings can be edited on the new question.
   (3) Click to delete a question. Delete carefully as there is no undo button and the survey is saved automatically.
   (4) Click to move the question earlier or later in the survey. Questions are renumbered automatically.
   

Organizing Questions

Questions can be organized into sections to make a long form easier to complete. Each section can contain a heading with instructions. Sections can be duplicated or removed with the choice of removing all questions or just the section divider.

1. To insert a section, click the + Add new button.
   
   
   
2. Click the carrot (1) and select Section (2).
   
   
   
3. Click in the area of the section to enter a title or subtitle for the section (1). Changes are saved after clicking outside of the section.
   Click the three-dot meatball menu (2) to bring up the section options.
   
   Duplicate section - Make a copy of the questions within that section.
   Remove section - Select Just section to remove just the section header, or select Section and questions to remove the section and all questions within it.
   Move section - Use the Move up and Move down arrows to rearrange the order of your sections.
   Add branching - Branch your section so that responders only see questions that are relevant to them. If the questions don't apply, the responder will be redirected to a different set of questions or skip a set of questions altogether. Learn more about branching
   
   

Style the Form

1. The colors of the form can be adjusted by clicking on the Style icon (1).
   (2) Microsoft provides themes with colors and images.
   (3) Background colors can be added by clicking a color swatch under the View all carrot.
   (4) Custom colors and a background image for the form can be added.
   
   
   
2. An image can be added to the top of the form by clicking on the form title (1) and then the media icon (2).
   
   
   
3. Click the location of the image from a Bing Image Search, OneDrive, or Upload from your computer.
   

Preview the Form

The form can be previewed to make sure it looks and operates as expected on a Computer or Mobile device.

1. Click the Preview icon.
   
   
   
2. Click the Computer or Mobile choice (1) to preview the form on these devices.
   Click the Back button (2) to exit preview mode.
   
   
   
3. It is possible to complete the form in preview mode. This will replicate how the entire form operates when sent. No email notifications will be sent upon completion and the preview results will not be recorded.

Form Settings

Settings for the form should be checked before the form is sent out. There are many options that impact how the form operates.

1. Click the three-dot meatball menu (1) and then Settings (2).
   
2. The Who can fill out this form section dictates who can fill out the form and if the user's name is automatically collected.
   
   
   
3. Review the Options for responses section.
   Microsoft provides tips on the Customize thank you message option.
   

Collaborate with Editors

Collaborators can be added to the form in order to edit any question or settings as well as view the form results. Forms created in Teams can already be accessed by those in the team.

1. Click the three-dot meatball menu (1) and then Collaborate or Duplicate (2).
   
   
   
2. Click the + Share the link to collaborate and view results link.
   
   
   
3. Click the carrot (1) and one of the options (2) to set the permissions for the collaboration link.
   
   
   
4. Click the Copy button (1) then paste the link in an email to the collaborator(s).
   Note: the trash can icon (2) and the the Remove link button can be used to delete the link so it is no longer accessible.
   

Send the Form

The form can be distributed in a number of ways.

1. Click the Collect responses button.
   
   
   
2. Verify the settings for who can fill out the form (1).
   (2) Select how to distribute the form by link, Outlook or Teams message, download a QR code, or copy embed code for a webpage.
   Details for each choice can be found in this Microsoft documentation.
   

For assistance, contact Ed Tech.