Polls are a great way to interact with customers or colleagues to settle a discussion or get a quick opinion on a specific product or service, and Microsoft Forms can help you create and share this type of survey quickly and free.
Microsoft Forms is an online service like Google Forms that ease the process of creating all sorts of forms with a variety of question types, including multiple choice, text, rating, Likert, and net promoter score, which you can share with other people to collect feedback from virtually anywhere using a laptop or desktop device running Windows 10 or any other operating system or mobile device. The service even offers tools to check results in real-time, analytics, and more.
The service is free and it features all the basic tools to create a poll, but you will need a Microsoft 365 or business subscription to access the premium options.
In this guide, you will learn the steps to create and share a quick poll using the free version of Microsoft Forms.
- Create quick poll using Microsoft Forms
- Check quick poll results with Microsoft Forms
Create quick poll using Microsoft Forms
To create and share a poll with Forms, use these steps:
Open Microsoft Forms online.
Sign in with your Microsoft account (if applicable).
Click the New From button.
Click on Untitled form and write a title and description for the poll.
Poll title and description
(Optional) Click the Image button to insert an image for form using Bing, OneDrive, or manual upload.
Click the Add new button.
Select the Choice, Rating, or another question type.
Microsoft Forms select poll question
Create a question for the poll.
Microsoft Forms poll question
Specify the answers you want people to select.
(Optional) Click the Add option button to include more options.
(Optional) Click the Add “Other” option button.
(Optional) Turn on the Multiple answers toggle switch.
(Optional) Turn on the Required toggle switch.
Click the Theme button in the top-right corner to select a background image and color scheme for the survey.
Quick tip: You can also use the Upload image option at the end of the list to insert a custom background image.
Select poll theme
Click the Preview button in the top-right corner to review the complete survey before publishing.
Click the back button in the top-left corner.
Click the More form settings (ellipsis) button in the top-right corner and select the Settings option.
Microsoft Forms poll settings option
Select the settings you want to enable in the poll, Accept responses, Start date, End date, or Email notification of each response or Customize thank you message.
Quick note: The free version of Forms or the one available with Microsoft 365 Personal or Family does not include the “Who can fill out this form” setting to record participants names, you will need a business subscription to access this and other options.
Microsoft Forms settings for polls
Click the Send button.
Select the link option.
Microsoft Forms poll link
Click the Copy button.
Once you complete the steps, you can paste and send the link to every person you want to answer the poll. Also, you can get a QR code that recipients scan with their phones to access the poll. There is an embed option to copy a code to embed on a web page, or you can even select the email option, which simply copy the form’s link to the clipboard and opens the default email client.
In the case you want to delete the poll or any other form, while in Microsoft Forms main page, click the “All my forms” option from the bottom-right side, and then click the ellipsis menu button in the form and select the Delete option.
Check quick poll results with Microsoft Forms
Once you published the poll, you can check the responses from within the form.
To view poll responses, use these steps:
Open Microsoft Forms online.
Sign in with your Microsoft account (if applicable).
Click on the poll you published.
Click the Responses tab.
Microsoft Forms recent items
Confirm the number of people that sent their responses to the quick poll and average time that took to complete the question.
Click the View results button.
Microsoft Forms poll results
Once you complete the steps, you will have a better understanding from the participants, and you can use that data to improve products or services you are providing.
