Issue with microsoft form

Question

I started having issue with the forms syncing with excel. Before it used to sync with the excel spreadsheet while we update data (highlighting the entered data in rows in yellow). Whenever we make certain changes the spreadsheet stop updating the excel. The only way to retrieve the updated responses is by opening another worksheet. Please help.

Answer 1

Hi John,

Thanks for posting back.

Based on your last reply, I would like to share some information.

Currently, based on the way forms were created, there are two ways for forms to sync data to Excel workbooks. One is to automatically sync all new responses to the workbook when the form/quiz receives a new response (the data will be added to the workbook in real-time). The other way is to automatically sync all new responses only when the user opens the workbook (after opening the workbook and waiting for several seconds, new responses will be added).

For "It will show in the responses that we have new submissions but when we click the 'open excel' it will take a while for the update to show up. ", it appears that your form is using the second way to sync responses to the workbook. To verify this, you can check the Excel icon in the form.

![](https://learn-attachment.microsoft.com/api/attachments/3ac01bf1-9a2e-4a67-94f9-7bfe9b83c8d9?platform=QnA"https://learn-attachment.microsoft.com/api/attachments/45cb80f2-b1ca-49fd-9fb3-ecf469c6ef04?platform=QnA" title="filestore.community.support.microsoft.com" rel="ugc nofollow">![](https://learn-attachment.microsoft.com/api/attachments/45cb80f2-b1ca-49fd-9fb3-ecf469c6ef04?platform=QnA"https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/how-do-i-force-forms-and-excel-to-sync-before-my/17864d14-cb31-4357-83a6-5151d76ac086?messageId=4a0dd813-7da1-4ff5-a8f9-de66479ca80a" title="answers.microsoft.com" rel="ugc nofollow">view this thread.

Answer 2

Hi John,

Thanks for posting in the community. We are happy to help you.

Based on your description, for "Whenever we make certain changes the spreadsheet stop updating the excel.", do you mean you have manually edited the workbook?

If not, please point it out and let us know. We will keep on assisting you.

If so, it is not recommended that you manually edit the linked workbook. This will likely result in a sync error. If for some reason you need to edit that linked workbook, I recommend that you build a Power Automate flow to copy all responses from the form workbook to another Excel workbook. After that, you can edit this Excel workbook without breaking the sync.

For your reference:

How to ensure your form and workbook are in sync

Add or Update a Row from One Excel to Another with Power Automate

Appreciate your understanding and patience.

Sincerely,

George | Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 3

I am having the same issue. When I edit the form, the attached excel spreadsheet does not update. This is a recent issue as the last form I created 2 months ago, I was able to update and edit the form all day long and the attached spreadsheet would update automatically with no problem. We have to be able to edit the form, that shouldn't break the excel spreadsheet. Please help.

Answer 4

Hi John,

Thanks for posting back.

Yes, I know it's possible to both manually edit the form workbook and keep it synced. In fact, I did a simple test today and it still works fine. I edited the previous response in the workbook and then submitted a new response. The workbook can still sync the new response.

But considering that manually adding changes to the linked form workbook can easily break the sync, using a flow to sync the data to another workbook and edit this workbook can better prevent this problem.

For "The only way for us to view the responses is by always opening a new spreadsheet.", do you mean that after syncing current form data to a new workbook, users submit new responses, but the new workbook cannot sync the new responses?

If so, I suggest you go to the SharePoint library or OneDrive (you can open the workbook in the browser, click its name, and then click the relevant link in Location), and make sure someone else from your organization hasn't locked the file or checked it out.

If the file hasn't been locked or checked out, as it worked fine before, the problem may be caused by the server. I suggest you report the problem to your tenant admin or IT team and ask them to raise a support ticket via Microsoft 365 Admin Center> Support> New service request. The support team there has the correct channel and resources to help you investigate more and check if it is caused by the service incident.

Appreciate your understanding and patience.

Sincerely, 

George | Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 5

It started not syncing this morning. We have always managed to edit and highlight some of the info on the excel spreadsheet that is link to the form without having any issues.

The only way for us to view the responses is by always opening a new spreadsheet. Appreciate the help. Thanks.