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Microsoft Forms Not Updating Excel: 9 Proven Solutions
7 min. read
Published onJuly 23, 2024
published onJuly 23, 2024
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Is Microsoft Forms not updating Excel properly? Read on to learn the proven fixes that’ll surely work.
Microsoft Formsallows you to extract the raw data in a database format in an Excel workbook. However, due to many technical reasons, form entries may not update appropriately.
Luckily, I’ve reproduced all possible issues with MS Forms and Excel and listed all the fixes that actually work below. Ready?
How To Fix Microsoft Forms Not Updating Excel
I arranged the solutions, starting with the simplest ones for your convenience:
Perform These Basic Checks
Before going ahead with the detailed troubleshooting, check these settings first:
Ensure the Excel Workbook Is Online
You should check whether the workbook is offline.
Microsoft Forms and Excel file linking only works when the Excel file is hosted online onSharePoint,OneDrive, or Excel for the web.
If it isn’t getting updated, you’ve likely downloaded an offline copy by using the dedicated button.
To avoid this,bookmark the Excel web or OneDrive workbook. Now, whenever you need the latest survey data, you can access this bookmarked online file.
Force Sync the Excel File With Your Form
You can try these steps for a manual sync:
Sync Data to a New Excel Workbook
You won’t be able to update the existing Excel workbook with the latest survey data from the new responses for the following reasons:
Free Up Data From the Existing Excel Workbook
All online Excel files hosted on SharePoint Online, OneDrive, and OneDrive for Business have a maximum file size capacity of 100 MB. If a workbook goes past this limit, Microsoft Forms won’t be able to record new survey data in the existing form.
Here’s what you can do:
Clear Browser Cache and Data
Perform these steps on Microsoft Forms and Excel web apps to refresh content from the servers:
Open the linked Excel file of your forms to test the synchronization status.
Use a Different Browser
Are you fulfilling all conditions for Microsoft Forms and Excel online and are still unable to get the latest form data automatically? It might be an issue with the browser you’re using.
If you’re on outdated or unsupported browsers like Internet Explorer, switch to one of the popular services like Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.
If these don’t work, you should also give Microsoft Edge a try. Should you need to contact Microsoft’s technical support team, they’ll ask you to try this before moving on with helping you.
Disable Excel Add-Ins
Did you notice MS Forms not updating Excel right after installing one or more Excel add-ins? In that case, you should uninstall them and test the form again. You can try these steps:
Get Support for Microsoft 365 Admins
If none of the above works for you, contact the Microsoft 365 admins specialist support team by following these steps:
Summary
So, now you know how to fix Microsoft Forms not updating Excel for MS Forms, SharePoint, and OneDrive.
If you can’t resolve it and must move to a different online form tool, check out thisMicrosoft Forms vs Google Formscomparison. Moreover, ifForms isn’t accepting responsesor ifbranching doesn’t work, we can help out!
More about the topics:How to,Microsoft Forms,Microsoft forms error
Vlad Turiceanu
Windows Editor
Passionate about technology,Windows, and everything that has a power button, he spent most of his time developing new skills and learning more about the tech world.
Coming from a solid background in PC building and software development, with a complete expertise in touch-based devices, he is constantly keeping an eye out for the latest and greatest!
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Vlad Turiceanu
Windows Editor
Coming from a solid background in PC building and software development, he’s a Windows 11 Privacy & Security expert.
