“File upload” option is greyed out when ‘Anyone can respond’ is selected in Forms.

Question

Dear Microsoft team,

We are encountering an issue in Microsoft Forms. When creating a new form, we select the option “Anyone can respond” so that external users (outside our organization) can fill out the form.

However, when this setting is enabled, the “File upload” question type becomes unavailable (it appears greyed out).

Could you please help us in fixing the issue: Why file uploads are not allowed for external/anonymous respondents? Whether there is any supported method or admin setting that allows safe external file uploads through Microsoft Forms?

Our goal is to collect files (like documents/PDFs) from external users securely, without requiring them to sign in.

Thank you for your guidance.

Best regards, REMOVE PII

Answer 1

Hi @CSTIP INSA,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Q&A Forum.

In Microsoft Forms, the Upload file question type is only available when the form is set to Only people in my organization can respond or Specific people in my organization can respond. This is by design for security and compliance reasons, as allowing anonymous respondents to upload files can introduce risk.

Therefore, there is currently no admin policy or setting that enables file uploads from external/anonymous users when Anyone can respond is selected. This limitation is intentional to help protect your organization’s data and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

As a workaround, I recommend you create a File Request by following this article: Create a file request and share that upload link within your form.

I hope this helps clarify your concern. Please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any further updates.

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