Forms stopped syncing with excel.

Question

I have a form set up to sync with a one drive excel file. It has been working great for months.

It just stopped syncing 2 days ago. Nothing has changed...

The error I get when I open the excel file is: Open from FormsThis form is linked to a different workbook. Go to Forms to open the linked workbook. (preview)

I got this message after accessing the workbook from the form.

I searched these "community" and don't see any actual answers just others having the exact same problem.

I went through office support and was told my only option was to post a blind message to a message board and hope someone gets back to me with an answer. The support didn't even know what Microsoft forms was. They thought it was a google form.

Answer 1

Hello, Lonnie Smith Welcome to the Microsoft community!We understand that your form is experiencing synchronization issues with Excel, and we truly understand the impact and inconvenience this may have on your workflow.As you have provided limited information, in order to better understand your issue, could you please share some details with me:1. For newly created files, are they able to synchronize with Excel successfully?2. Could you tell me what type of account you are using? Is it a personal account or a company account? This will help us determine if the synchronization issue is related to account permissions.3. Additionally, I would like you to try downloading the Excel files in two different ways and let me know if you can open them successfully:This will help us diagnose if the issue lies in the file download or opening process.We appreciate your patience and assure you that we will do our utmost to assist you in resolving this issue.If you encounter any difficulties while trying the above steps, or if there is any new information you need to share, please feel free to contact us anytime.We look forward to your response and hope to help you resolve the issue as soon as possible.Wishing you a pleasant day!Navian - MSFT |Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 2

Answers to the questions in order.

1. When I create the form it creates the initial excel document and successfully syncs the first form data.

Once I add a second submission to the form it shows in the summary data but does not sync to the spreadsheet. Instead, I get the original error I provided in the initial post.

2. It is a personal Microsoft account.
3. I am able to download the file and open locally, but it will only open in read only. I cannot make changes to it and save it to the same file.

I am able to disconnect and sync to a new notebook. Once I do this it will import the new first record and then give me the same error message again.

Answer 3

Hello, Lonnie Smith We are delighted to receive your response, and we appreciate your efforts and the information you have provided.Based on the testing steps we have carried out, we found:1. Create a new Microsoft Forms form.2. Fill out and submit the first data entry.3. Generate the corresponding Excel spreadsheet document.4. Fill out and submit a second data entry.5. Check if the Excel document has been updated to synchronize with the second data entry.According to our test results, the data synchronization feature of the created Excel document is working correctly.Therefore, we suspect that there may be some issues with the form you previously created. To further validate and troubleshoot the issue, we recommend that you:- Create a brand new form.- Collect data through this new form.- Then, check again if the generated Excel document can successfully synchronize and update the data.If the issue persists after following the above steps, we suggest that you submit a problem report through the feedback channel of Microsoft Forms Microsoft Forms · Community（English only）Your feedback is invaluable to us, as it helps us improve our product and address any issues you may encounter.We appreciate your patience and understanding, and we are committed to continuing to provide you with the necessary support.We look forward to your further response and hope that together we can find a solution to the problem. Have a great day! 

Navian - MSFT |Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 4

Hi Navian,

I faced the same problem. the online excel file only started to sync with the data entry from the form after i clicked and viewed it. In the past, it was automatically synced. Due to this, the automated was fail as it could not capture the newly added data from the form, until i clicked the online excel file.

i would appreciate if you could guide me on this.

thank you.

Mieow Kee

Answer 5

Hi Navian,

I am having the same issue.

My form has collected over 600 responses and is now not syncing the answers unless I open the xlsx online and watch the sync counter go from 0 to 100%.

I usually open another xlsx that has a powerquery back to the captured answers and that spreadsheet is also now slow to sync the latest answers.

For example:

A submission was made 3 days ago and I have just forced the forms xlsx to show the submission and yet my power query is not seeing the new information.

Another submission was 3 hours ago and the submission showed when I forced the sync and is also yet to show via my power query.

I have been using this method for 2 years with no issues with syncing before.

I am using a business Microsoft 365 licence if that is of any help.