Recover Missing Microsoft Forms Responses After Duplicating a Form
Question details
The user needs to locate or recover Microsoft Forms responses that appear missing after a form was duplicated or edited.
- Product
- Microsoft Forms and Microsoft Excel response exports
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- A form has been duplicated or edited, and the user wants to retrieve the original submissions and question-specific results.
- Observed behavior
- The original form may still show a response count, while results, charts, or exported answers for particular questions appear incomplete.
Sign in with the Microsoft account that owns the form, and identify the original form separately from its duplicate. Locate any Excel response exports saved before the edits, including files in OneDrive, SharePoint, or your Downloads folder.
Check the original form and its response views
Use this first to determine whether you are viewing a new copy, a summary display issue, or genuinely missing question data.
Copying a Microsoft Form creates a separate form without transferring the original responses. Duplicating a form alone should not remove responses from the original; deleting questions from the original can remove the response data associated with those questions.
Go to Microsoft Forms, sign in with the owner's account, and open the original form from your forms list. If the forms have identical names, compare their share links and response counts rather than relying on the title alone.
Select the Responses tab, then use the option to review individual responses, such as Review answers or View results. Compare the individual answers with the summary charts to see whether the missing information is limited to the summary view.
From the original form's Responses tab, select Open in Excel or the available Excel export option. Check whether the affected question columns and answers are present in the workbook.
Recover previously saved answers from Excel exports
Use an export created before the questions or answers went missing to retrieve data that may no longer be available in Microsoft Forms.
Ask Microsoft support about remaining recovery options
Use this when the original response views and existing exports do not contain the missing data.
Review Recovered Forms Exports with WPS Spreadsheets
WPS Office is a free, lightweight alternative for reviewing Excel response exports. Its familiar spreadsheet interface and Microsoft Excel format compatibility make it easy to work with existing files without rebuilding your workflow. It cannot restore data deleted from Microsoft Forms.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does copying a Microsoft Form also copy its responses?
No. A copied form contains the form structure but starts without the original submissions. Open the original form in Microsoft Forms and select Responses to review the existing data.
Why does my form still show responses when some question results are missing?
The count reflects submissions and does not necessarily mean every question's answers remain available. In the original form, open Responses and inspect individual submissions, then use the Excel export option to check the available question columns.
Will recreating a deleted question bring back its old answers?
No. Adding a question with the same wording creates a new question and does not reconnect it to the deleted question's answers. Look for an Excel export saved before the deletion.
Can an older Excel workbook help recover missing Forms answers?
Yes, if it contains the answers from before the change. Search for previous exports, or open the workbook's Version history in OneDrive or SharePoint. Save a separate copy of any version containing the missing data.
Can WPS Office restore responses inside Microsoft Forms?
No. WPS Spreadsheets can open and help you review saved Excel response exports, but it cannot access or restore deleted Microsoft Forms data. Use WPS Office's Open command to load an existing .xlsx or .xls workbook.
