How can I set up my excel spreadsheet inside Forms to retain all entries even if they are deleted on the forms site?

Hi @Ben Schultz, 

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.  

According to your concern about whether the data in the Excel sheet retains if you delete submissions on the form, the answer is yes, with Microsoft Forms and its auto-generated Excel spreadsheet, even if you delete responses directly in the Forms, that data won't be removed from the linked Excel sheet. 

When you use Microsoft Forms and click “Open in Excel”, a linked Excel workbook is created to store all form responses. Each new submission adds a new row to the spreadsheet. If you later delete responses within Forms, this action only clears the response data and resets the count within Forms itself - it does not affect the data already stored in Excel. Just a quick reminder: If you haven’t clicked “Open in Excel” at least once, Forms will not generate the Excel file, and any deleted responses will be permanently lost when you delete it. To highlight the main points:

• The Excel file retains all submitted data, even if responses are deleted from Forms.
• Deleting responses in Forms only affects the form interface, not the Excel data.
• Be sure to click “Open in Excel” early to ensure your data is saved externally.

I hope this information is helpful. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.  

I'm looking forward to your reply.

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