How to Easily Harvest Feedback with Microsoft Forms
Welcome to the world of Microsoft Forms, a powerful yet often underutilized tool within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. If you’re looking for a straightforward way to gather feedback, opinions, or data from colleagues, students, clients, or any group, Microsoft Forms is an excellent solution. Gone are the days of paper surveys or clunky online forms; Microsoft Forms offers a seamless, integrated experience that can be embedded directly into your familiar Office 365 applications. In this article, we will delve into the intricacies of how to get feedback from Microsoft Forms, exploring various methods, advanced features, and best practices to ensure you collect the information you need effectively and efficiently.
Getting Started: Basic Methods for Sharing Your Form
Before you can start collecting feedback, your form needs to be visible to your target audience. Microsoft Forms provides several simple and effective ways to share your creation. The key is to select the right method based on who you are sharing it with and how you want them to respond.
Selecting Your Form and Sharing Options
The first step in the process is to select the specific form you’ve created or want to use for gathering feedback. Navigate to the Microsoft Forms website (forms.office.com) or open the relevant form within an application like Outlook or Word.
Once you’ve opened your form, look for the action that allows you to collect responses. This is typically labeled “Share” or “Collect responses”. Clicking this button opens a menu of sharing options, each catering to different scenarios.
Method 1: Copy Link and Share via Email
This is perhaps the most direct method for sharing your form with individuals or small groups. It’s ideal when you know the specific email addresses of the people who need to respond.
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Click the “Copy link” button. Microsoft Forms will generate a unique URL for your form.
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Copy this URL to your clipboard.
Now, paste this link into the body of an email you compose to the recipients. Clearly state in the email that they should click the link to open the form and provide their feedback.
The advantage of this method is its simplicity and directness. Recipients get a clear action item right in their email inbox. You can track who has clicked the link and submitted responses directly within Microsoft Forms.
Method 2: Embedding in Websites or Microsoft 365 Applications
If your target audience is already using a website, SharePoint site, or Microsoft 365 application like Teams, embedding your form directly into their environment can significantly increase response rates by making it easily accessible without requiring them to navigate away.
Embedding in SharePoint or a Website:
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Navigate to the SharePoint page or website where you want to embed the form.
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Edit the page (usually by clicking an “Edit” button).
Look for the option to add a web part or embed a code snippet. This might be found under the “Insert” tab or a similar section in the page editing interface.
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Choose the option to embed a web application or add a link.
Copy the link you generated earlier (the “Copy link” URL from your Microsoft Form).

In the embed options, you typically paste the URL into a designated field. Some platforms might require you to paste the code provided by Microsoft Forms directly, but the standard link often works.
Customize the size and appearance of the embedded form if possible, then click “Insert” or “Save”. Once published, the embedded form will appear on your SharePoint page or website.
Embedding in Teams:
Microsoft Teams offers a seamless way to integrate feedback directly into channels or even directly into a chat conversation.
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In Microsoft Teams, navigate to the channel where you want the form to appear.
If you want the form visible to the entire channel:
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Click “+ Add” under the channel’s activity feed.
Select “Link”.
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Paste the copied form URL into the “Website URL” field.
Teams will often automatically convert this into an embedded card displaying your form. You can adjust the height and other settings before saving.
If you need the form for a specific chat or private conversation, you can simply share the link via chat, just like you would via email.
Embedding is particularly powerful for how to get feedback from Microsoft Forms within existing workflows. It removes friction and makes feedback collection a natural part of the platform users already frequent.
Advanced Techniques: Leveraging Microsoft 365 for Deeper Insights
While basic sharing methods are effective, Microsoft Forms truly shines when integrated within the broader Microsoft 365 suite. These integrations allow for more sophisticated feedback collection, analysis, and follow-up actions, making the process more efficient and insightful.
Integration with Microsoft Lists
Microsoft Lists provides a powerful way to manage and analyze data collected from your forms. Instead of just seeing raw response data within Forms, you can transform it into a structured list format that’s highly customizable.
Steps to Connect Microsoft Forms to Microsoft Lists: Here are several options for an attractive article title including the keyword “360 feedback tool”:
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5. **How
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Open your Microsoft Form and click “Collect responses”.
Look for the “Connect” button or an option related to exporting data. This might be found under the “Settings” (gear icon) or specifically within the “Collect responses” menu. Unlocking the Potential of the Feedback Hub: A User’s Guide to Effective Feedback Management
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Select “Export responses to Microsoft Lists”.
Microsoft Forms will guide you through the process of connecting to your Microsoft Lists service and selecting or creating a new list to which the form responses will be exported.
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Choose the desired list and configure any necessary settings.
Once connected, every response submitted to your form will be automatically added as an item to your Microsoft List. This integration unlocks powerful features:
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Custom Views: Create tailored views of the feedback data filtered by specific criteria.
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Sorting and Filtering: Easily sort feedback by date, name, specific answers, or any column you define.
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Integration with Power Automate: Automate follow-up actions based on specific feedback received.
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Power BI Integration: Visualize your feedback data using charts and graphs in Power BI for deeper analysis.
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Collaboration: Share the Microsoft List with colleagues for joint analysis and discussion.
Using Microsoft Lists transforms the simple act of collecting feedback into a structured data management task, directly answering the question of how to get feedback from Microsoft Forms in a way that facilitates better decision-making.
Integration with Power Automate for Automated Workflows
For organizations looking to streamline their feedback processes even further, Power Automate (formerly known as Microsoft Flow) is the perfect tool. By connecting Microsoft Forms to Power Automate, you can automate responses, notifications, and actions triggered by specific feedback entries.
An Example Scenario: Imagine you run a customer satisfaction survey via Microsoft Forms. When a customer selects a low satisfaction score, you want an immediate notification sent to your support team.
Steps to Set Up a Basic Flow:
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Navigate to Power Automate (powerautomate.com).
Sign in with your Microsoft 365 credentials.
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Create a new automated flow. Choose the trigger that corresponds to a new form response. Look for a trigger like “When a new response is submitted in a Microsoft Forms form”.
Configure the trigger by selecting the specific form you want to monitor.
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Add an action step. Search for an action related to your desired outcome, such as sending an email or updating a SharePoint list.
Configure the action step based on the details of the form response. For example, if you want to send an email when a specific question (e.g., “Overall Satisfaction”) has a particular value (e.g., 1 out of 5), you need to add a condition.
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Add a condition. This checks if the value of a specific question in the form response meets your criteria.
Configure the condition (
References
- Send a form and collect responses – Microsoft Support
- Microsoft Forms – Free tool to create online surveys, forms, polls, and …
- Create Effective FEEDBACK Forms in Minutes with Microsoft Forms
- How to Get Live Feedback with Microsoft Forms in PowerPoint
- creating a feedback survey using Microsoft Forms and then integrate …

