Microsoft Forms - add a question that auto populates multiple names

Question

I would like to use Microsoft Forms for an employee nomination program. One of the mandatory questions is to list team members names (it could be upwards of 20 names). Is there a way to have Microsoft Forms auto-connect to SAP or another system to autopopulate names as someone begins typing an employee name?

Answer 1

Microsoft Forms does not support auto-completing or auto-populating answers from external systems such as SAP or other HR systems.

Forms can collect free-text responses (for example, using a Text question where the responder types multiple names) or structured responses (for example, Choice questions, Ranking, Likert, etc.), but there is no built-in connector that queries an external directory or database in real time as someone types.

To support an employee nomination scenario, typical options are:

1. Use a Text question and ask nominators to type the names manually (optionally with instructions on format).
2. Use a Choice question with a predefined list of names if the list is short enough to manage and maintain.
3. Combine Forms with downstream tools (such as Excel, Power Automate, or other systems) after submission to validate or match the entered names against SAP or another HR system, rather than during data entry.

There is no configuration in Forms itself that will auto-connect to SAP to provide type-ahead or lookup behavior while the responder is filling out the form.

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References:

• Create a form with Microsoft Forms
• Create polls to survey employees
• Microsoft Forms help & learning