MS Forms not giving me the option to open responses in Excel Desktop, only option to download a copy.

Question

No option available to open results dynamically.

Answer 1

The only working fix in this state

Clone the form using “Copy” (NOT recreate)

This preserves:

All questions

All settings

Branching logic

Theme

…and forces Forms to provision a new response backend.

Step-by-step

• Go to forms.microsoft.com
• Locate the affected form
• Click the ⋯ (three dots) on the form card (not inside the form)
• Choose Copy

This creates Form (1) or similar.

Then:

• Open the copied form
• Submit one test response
• Go to Responses

In almost all cases, you will now see:

Download a copy in Excel working

Often Open in Excel Desktop / Online restored

The export engine is newly created for the copy.

What about the old responses?

Because your original form cannot export at all, there is no supported way to recover those responses into Excel.

However, you can still:

Use Check individual results

Manually copy/paste response values if absolutely necessary

Keep the original form for audit/reference

Use the copied form going forward

Microsoft does not offer backend recovery for corrupted Forms exports unless you open a tenant support ticket.

Answer 2

Thanks for sharing this, Tara! Try to re-enable dynamic Excel by forcing Forms to recreate the response workbook

Microsoft Forms creates one hidden Excel file the first time responses are viewed. If that file:

was created while Excel Desktop wasn’t registered correctly, or

was created during a policy / update change,

Forms permanently disables Open in Excel Desktop, even though nothing is “wrong” with your account.

Steps to force Forms to regenerate the Excel link

Step 1 - Open the form

Go to Responses tab.

Step 2 - Click the three dots (⋯) next to “Download a copy in Excel”

Not the green button itself — the menu arrow.

Select:

Open in Excel Online

This step is critical — do NOT download.

Step 3 - In Excel Online

Once the responses open:

• Click File
• Select Open in Desktop App
• Confirm when prompted

In many cases, this reactivates the Desktop link permanently.

Step 4 - Close everything

Close Excel Desktop

Close the browser

Reopen Forms → Responses

You may now see “Open in Excel Desktop” enabled instead of greyed out.

See if this helps. If you need further assistance just let me know.

Best regards,

Kimberly

Answer 3

You're welcome! Great to hear that it worked!