How to Restrict SharePoint Survey Responses and Quiz Attempts
Question details
The user wants to restrict participants from viewing, editing, or exporting other users' responses in classic SharePoint Surveys, and control the number of quiz attempts.
- Product
- Microsoft SharePoint
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Configuring permissions for a SharePoint survey or quiz to ensure privacy and prevent multiple attempts by the same user.
- Observed behavior
- Classic SharePoint Surveys allow configuring basic view and edit permissions, but fully restricting graphical summaries, response exports, and multiple attempts requires specific advanced settings or alternative tools.
Ensure you have Site Owner or Full Control permissions for the SharePoint site where the survey is hosted before attempting to modify list permissions.
Configure Item-Level Permissions in Survey Advanced Settings
Modify the list settings to restrict users so they can only view and edit their own survey responses.
By adjusting the Item-level Permissions within your SharePoint Survey list, you can ensure that participants cannot browse through responses submitted by their peers, enhancing the overall privacy of the survey.
Navigate to your SharePoint site and open the survey list you want to restrict. Click on 'Settings' (the gear icon) or the 'List' tab on the top ribbon, then select 'List Settings'.
Under the 'General Settings' column in the List Settings page, click on 'Advanced settings'.
In the 'Item-level Permissions' section, locate 'Read access' and change the selection from 'Read all responses' to 'Read responses that were created by the user'.
Right below, set the 'Create and Edit access' option to 'Create responses and edit responses that were created by the user'.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click 'OK' to save your new permission settings.
Use Microsoft Forms for Advanced Restriction Controls
If classic SharePoint surveys do not offer enough restriction for your needs, migrate to Microsoft Forms for native one-attempt controls and better privacy.
Looking for a Better Way to Manage Office Documents?
While SharePoint handles complex intranet surveys, analyzing the resulting data and managing your daily document tasks doesn't have to be complicated. WPS Office provides a free, lightweight, and highly compatible alternative for opening, editing, and analyzing your exported survey data, along with comprehensive support for text documents and presentations.
- 1. Download and Install WPS Office: Get the free installation package from the official WPS website and follow the on-screen instructions to install it on your device.
- 2. Open Exported Survey Data: Launch WPS Spreadsheets and open the .xlsx or .csv file exported from your SharePoint or Microsoft Forms surveys.
- 3. Analyze and Visualize: Use built-in pivot tables, charts, and conditional formatting tools in WPS Spreadsheets to safely analyze responses without modifying the original online survey.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I completely hide the 'Graphical Summary' in a SharePoint survey?
In classic SharePoint Surveys, hiding the graphical summary completely from all users can be difficult without custom coding, modifying the web part view pages, or restricting site-wide permissions. Migrating to modern alternatives like Microsoft Forms is recommended for better privacy control.
How do I prevent users from taking a SharePoint survey more than once?
Classic SharePoint surveys do not have a simple built-in 'one attempt only' toggle. You can somewhat limit users by adjusting item-level permissions, but utilizing Microsoft Forms—which natively supports a 'One response per person' setting—is the most reliable method.
Why can users still export my SharePoint survey to Excel despite permissions?
If users have standard Read permissions at the site level, they may still access the list view and utilize the 'Export to Excel' feature. To prevent exporting, you must create a custom permission level that explicitly unchecks the 'Use Client Integration Features' option, and assign that level to your participants.
