What you need to know
- Syncing data from Microsoft Forms to Excel spreadsheets is about to become more reliable.
- Microsoft announced improvements to using Excel and Forms together, which include a bump up in performance.
- Microsoft will phase out the older data sync solution by October 20, 2024 in favor of the better solution.
- You can upgrade a workbook to the improved sync setup as long as you update the workbook before the October 20 cutoff.
Keeping up to date with Microsoft Forms responses is about to get better and more reliable. Microsoft just announced an improved syncing solution for keeping data in sync between Microsoft Forms and Microsoft Excel.
Until now, some forms relied on an older syncing solution that left room for improvement regarding reliability and performance. Additionally, data sync was only available for two types of forms: Forms made with OneDrive for Business and Excel for the web and group forms made with SharePoint Online, Teams, and Microsoft 365 Group. The new syncing solution works with a wider range of forms.
The older syncing solution is being phased out and will be replaced by October 20, 2024. Ahead of that cutoff, you'll need to upgrade any current workbooks to the new syncing solution if you'd like data to continue to be synced. If you don't upgrade a workbook, the data will still be there, but it won't be updated with new responses from Microsoft Forms.
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If you open a form that uses the old syncing solution through the Forms website, you'll see a pop up prompting you to upgrade the form. Clicking "Update sync in Excel" will complete the process. Upgrading syncing through Excel on the web requires a similar process, though the prompt will appear in the pane on the right side of Excel. If you upgrade through Excel on the web, the workbook will create a second sheet so you can see the original data and the data that's now powered by the new syncing solution.
At the moment, syncing only works with Excel for the web but Microsoft is working on bringing the same functionality to Excel for Windows and macOS.
If you're unsure if a workbook has been upgraded, you can check by looking at the UI that appears when viewing results. If Forms shows "Open in Excel" with an ellipsis menu, you're on the old sync solution.
I use Microsoft Forms quite a bit to track responses from my American football team. I have photo release forms, team quizzes, and other bits of information I need to stay on top of when managing my team. Having responses sync with workbooks reliably saves me from using incomplete or incorrect data. It also prevents confusion created by juggling several static workbooks based on the same forms.
I've played around with the new syncing solution a bit and it seems to work as advertised. I have some forms with hundreds of responses that I need to be able to browse ahead of games. For example, since my team has players under the age of 18, I have to have certain forms filled out by parents or guardians. Being able to trust that those forms are up to date before a specific event is key to my team.
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