Permission & Access Issues

How to Take Ownership of a Microsoft Form After the Owner Leaves

Bushra Parveen Sep 30, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs to claim ownership of a Microsoft Form created by a former employee whose account was converted to a shared mailbox more than six months ago.

How to Take Ownership of a Microsoft Form After the Owner Leaves

Product: Microsoft Forms
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: An employee left the company and their account was converted to a shared mailbox, but their Microsoft Forms still need to be managed by the remaining team.
Observed behavior: The form remains tied to the former employee's account, preventing other team members from managing it unless ownership is properly transferred.

Before you start

Verify that the former employee's account has not been permanently deleted or blocked from sign-in, and ensure you have the necessary credentials to access the shared mailbox.

Solution 1Recommended

Transfer the Microsoft Form to a Microsoft 365 Group

By signing into the former employee's account, you can manually move the form into a shared Microsoft 365 group to ensure permanent team access.

Microsoft Forms remain fully available as long as the owner's account has not been hard-deleted. Converting an account to a shared mailbox does not automatically remove the Forms associated with it, making manual transfer possible.

Sign in to the account

Log in to Microsoft Forms using the credentials of the former employee's account (which is now acting as a shared mailbox).

Locate the target form

Scroll through the dashboard to find the specific form you want to take ownership of.

Open form options

Click on the 'More form options' icon (the three dots) located in the top right corner of the form tile.

Select the Move option

Click 'Move' from the dropdown menu, and select the appropriate Microsoft 365 group to transfer the form to.

Transfer the Microsoft Form to a Microsoft 365 Group

Form Availability: Once moved to a Microsoft 365 Group, all members of that group will share ownership and have full access to edit the form and view responses.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What happens to Microsoft Forms if an employee's account is permanently deleted?

If an account is permanently deleted and the 30-day recovery window has passed, the forms associated with that account are permanently deleted and cannot be recovered.

Can an administrator force a form transfer without logging into the user's account?

Yes, if the account was deleted but is still within the 30-day retention period, an administrator can generate a special URL to access and move the deleted user's forms without needing their password.

Does converting a user account to a shared mailbox delete their forms?

No, converting an active user account to a shared mailbox does not affect or delete the forms associated with that account. The data remains intact and accessible.

Document & File Issues