You Need to Gather Feedback, But Email Threads Are a Mess
Your team needs to decide on the new office layout. You’ve tried a chaotic email chain, but replies are scattered, and tallying votes is a nightmare. A client project requires structured feedback from multiple stakeholders, and you’re losing track of who has responded.
This is where a SharePoint survey becomes your secret weapon. It’s not just another form; it’s a centralized, professional tool built directly into the platform your organization already uses. You can design it in minutes, distribute it with a link, and watch the results populate a clean, sortable list automatically.
Let’s walk through exactly how to build one from scratch, whether you’re planning an event, conducting a training evaluation, or making a group decision.
What Makes a SharePoint Survey Different?
Before we dive into the steps, it’s helpful to understand what you’re working with. A survey in SharePoint is a specialized type of list. Think of a list as a spreadsheet with superpowers—each column is a question, and each row is a respondent’s submission.
The survey list type adds key features tailored for questionnaires, like branching logic (skip certain questions based on answers) and a dedicated, simplified interface for people taking the survey. The data collects in one secure location, accessible only to those with permission, and you can export it to Excel for deeper analysis with a single click.
Prerequisites You’ll Need Before Starting
You can’t create a survey out of thin air. You need a place to put it. Specifically, you need contribute permissions to a SharePoint site. This is usually a team site, a communication site, or a dedicated project site.
If you’re not sure, try navigating to the site where you want the survey to live. If you can see the “New” button and list options, you likely have the rights. If you get access errors, you’ll need to contact your site owner or IT administrator.
Also, have a clear idea of your goal. What decision will this data inform? This focus will help you craft relevant, concise questions.
Creating Your Survey List: The Foundation
Start at your chosen SharePoint site. Look for the “New” button, typically at the top of the page or in the site contents. Click it and select “List” from the dropdown menu.
In the panel that opens, you’ll see several templates. Click on “Blank list,” but don’t be fooled by the name. A more straightforward path is to use the search bar within this creation panel. Type “Survey.” The “Survey” list template should appear as an option. Select it.
Now, give your survey a name. Be descriptive. “Q4 Project Feedback” is better than “Survey 1.” You can add an optional description to remind yourself and others of its purpose. Click “Create.”
SharePoint will build the list and take you directly to its settings page, ready for you to add your first question.
Adding and Configuring Your First Questions
You’ll land on a page titled “New Question.” This is your question editor. Start with the basics.
In the “Question” field, type your first query, like “Which department are you in?” Next, select the “Answer type.” This is critical. For a department name, “Single line of text” is fine. For a rating, you’d choose “Choice (menu to choose from).”
If you selected “Choice,” additional fields will appear. Enter the options (e.g., Marketing, Engineering, Sales) each on a new line. You can also set a default value if needed.
Decide if the question is “Required.” Making the department question required ensures every response can be categorized. Click “OK” to save this question and move to adding the next one.
Repeat this process for all your questions. Build the survey logically, starting with broad categorizing questions before diving into detailed ratings or open-ended feedback.
Implementing Advanced Survey Logic
Basic surveys are useful, but conditional branching makes them intelligent. This allows you to ask “Why were you dissatisfied?” only to those who gave a low rating, skipping it for happy respondents.
To set this up, you need to use a “Choice” question first. For example, create a question: “How would you rate the training?” with choices: Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor.
Now, add your follow-up question: “What could be improved?” Set its answer type to “Multiple lines of text.”
Here’s the key step: In the settings for the follow-up question, look for the “Branching Logic” section. You’ll see a dropdown for each previous choice-based question. For the “How would you rate…” question, select the “Poor” and perhaps “Fair” choices from the dropdown corresponding to your follow-up question. This tells SharePoint: “Only show the ‘What could be improved?’ question if the user selected ‘Poor’ or ‘Fair.'”
Test this thoroughly by taking the survey yourself with different answer paths.
Customizing the Survey Experience
You can control more than just the questions. Go to your survey list and click the “Settings” gear icon, then select “List settings.”
Here, you’ll find options to manage the survey’s behavior. Under “General Settings,” click “Title, description, and navigation.” You can edit the survey name and description here, and more importantly, decide if you want the survey to appear in the site’s quick navigation.
Another useful setting is “Rating scale settings.” If you’re using a numeric rating question, you can define the range (e.g., 1 to 5) and the labels for the low and high ends.
For a polished look, you can also modify the survey’s “New Form” page using SharePoint’s modern page editor if your site supports it, adding explanatory text or images above the questions.
Distributing Your Survey and Collecting Responses
Your survey is built. Now, get it in front of people. The primary method is sharing a link. From your survey list, click the “Integrate” button (it might look like a share icon or be in the command bar) and select “Copy link.”
This link goes directly to the response form. Paste this into a Teams chat, an email, or a news post on your SharePoint site. You can also embed the survey on a SharePoint page using the “List” web part, making it seamlessly part of your site.
As responses come in, you can view them directly in the list. Each submission is a new item. To see all responses in a spreadsheet view, go to the list and click “Export to Excel” from the command bar. This is invaluable for creating charts and pivot tables.
For real-time tallies on choice questions, switch to the “Chart” view or create a quick Power BI report connected to this list.
Managing Permissions and Anonymity
By default, SharePoint surveys are not anonymous. The system records the respondent’s name and the time of submission. This is great for tracking who hasn’t responded but not for sensitive feedback.
To make it anonymous, you must change the list settings. Go to “List settings” > “Advanced settings.” Find the “Read Access” and “Create Access” options. Set both to “Read items that were created by the user” and “Create items and edit items that were created by the user.”
This setting means users can only see and edit their own responses, not each other’s. However, site owners and list administrators with full control permissions will still see all responses with names attached. For true anonymity where even admins cannot see names, a third-party form tool or a custom Power App might be necessary.
Solving Common Survey Creation Hiccups
You might hit a snag. Here’s how to troubleshoot the frequent ones.
The “Survey” template option is missing. This usually means your site is running on a very old template or has certain features disabled. Try creating a “Blank list” and then manually adding the special “User Name” and “Response Time” columns that a survey uses. It’s more work, but it functions the same.
Branching logic isn’t working. Double-check that your initial question is of the “Choice” type. Branching only works from choice questions. Also, ensure you’ve correctly selected the branching conditions in the follow-up question’s settings.
Respondents see a messy list view instead of a clean form. You’ve likely shared the link to the survey list itself, not the “New Form” page. Always use the “Copy link” function from the Integrate menu or get the URL that ends in “/NewForm.aspx”.
You need to edit a question after responses have come in. You can usually change the question text and add new choice options without breaking existing data. However, deleting a question or changing its type (e.g., from text to choice) can corrupt or delete the existing answers for that question. It’s best to finalize your questions before wide distribution.
Your Data Is In: Now Make It Actionable
Collecting data is only half the battle. The value is in the insight. Use the built-in “Charts” feature to visualize choice responses. Group responses by your categorizing question (like department) using filtered views to see patterns.
For text responses, use the “Export to Excel” function and then utilize Excel’s text analysis features, like word clouds or simple keyword counting, to identify common themes.
Most importantly, close the loop. Share a summary of the findings and the resulting decisions with the people who took the survey. This builds trust and increases participation rates for your next one.
Start with a simple, five-question survey for your next team meeting agenda. Get comfortable with the creation flow, then experiment with branching logic on your next project retrospective. This tool, sitting quietly in your SharePoint suite, can transform how you listen and make decisions.
