How to Use Microsoft Forms for Your Company
Although you may already be using several Microsoft tools, many people overlook Microsoft Forms. However, if you already use Microsoft 365, then you have access to this underrated tool and don’t need to pay for a different service or use a limited free form tool! With forms, you can request information from your staff, partners, and even clients without having to edit any code, and it’s all thanks to the easy-to-use interface.
To create your first form, head to http://forms.microsoft.com/ and sign in if prompted. Forms will also appear as an app in the Office 365 menu if you’re already logged in. Click the button to create a new form. You can enter a title and description for your form, although both are optional.
What Items Can You Add With Microsoft Forms?
Add your first question or form element by clicking the add button and choosing the type. Microsoft Forms gives you a few options:
- Multiple choice: you label with the question and provide at least two options; you can select whether the visitor can choose more than one option.
- Text: enter a question that your respondent can answer with their own words; choose “long answer” for a larger textbox.
- Rating: choose a star or point-based system for rating a single option.
- Date: ask a question to get any date.
- Ranking: enter several options that visitors will click and drag to rank.
- Likert: add several items in a grid for respondents to rate or agree/disagree with.
- File upload: allow visitors to upload files; you specify the quantity and file size limits.
- Net Promoter Score: create a 0–10 scoring with options to specify the values at either end.
For each form question, Microsoft Forms allows you to require an answer. You’ll also see a few options based on the specific question type. Arrows let you change the order of the questions on your form, while you can easily delete or copy a question, too. The latter option is great if you’ll have several similar questions and want to save time adding them to your form.
What Can You Do with Microsoft Forms?
Microsoft Forms also lets you create a new section with a heading and description, which you can use to group similar questions together. Furthermore, you can send respondents to different parts of the form depending on their answers using branching.
Finally, you can change the appearance of your form by selecting a premade color or image theme, uploading your own image, or entering a color’s hex code. You can match your company’s branding or website with this option. For example, if your form is a survey about your company but someone answers “No” when asked if they’ve used your products, you can send them to the end of your form. You can also use branching to skip questions that don’t apply to specific visitors.
Once you’re happy with your form, click “Preview” to see how your form will look for mobile and desktop users. Preview mode lets you test the form without sending data. Your created forms will save to your personal Microsoft account, and you can directly link to the form, embed it into your website, or create a scannable QR code for people to access. There’s also an option to share the form template for others to use as the basis for their own forms, and if you want, you can allow others on your team to edit the form.
As replies start rolling in, Microsoft Forms will create charts that enable you to quickly analyze data. This includes charts based on pre-selected answers. You can conveniently port responses from Microsoft Forms to Excel if you need to.
Of course, you don’t need to get fancy with Microsoft Forms. It’s simply a reliable tool to create forms that can improve communication and provide you with data.
