How to Fix Microsoft Forms Contact the Form Owner Access Error
Question details
Users and owners are unable to access a specific Microsoft Form, receiving an error prompting them to contact the form owner instead of displaying the form contents.
- Product
- Microsoft Forms
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Attempting to open, fill out, or share a Microsoft Form with permitted respondents.
- Observed behavior
- The form blocks access and displays a 'Contact the form owner' message, even if the person trying to open it previously had permission or is the actual owner of the form.
Verify that you are logged into the correct Microsoft 365 account associated with the form and ensure you have an active internet connection before modifying access permissions.
Review Sharing and Response Settings
Check the "Who can respond" list to ensure respondents have the correct permissions to view and submit the form.
The most common cause of this error is restrictive sharing permissions. If the form is set to allow only specific people or people within your organization, external users or removed group members will see the access error.
Open the affected form in Microsoft Forms and click on the 'Collect responses' or 'Share' button located in the top right corner.
Examine the 'Who can respond' drop-down menu and see if it is restricted to 'Only people in my organization can respond' or 'Specific people in my organization can respond'.
Change the permission setting to 'Anyone can respond' if public access is needed, or carefully add the required users back to the permitted access list.
Once the intended permission group is restored, copy the newly generated link and send it to your respondents to test access.
Verify Form Date Restrictions and Internet Limits
Forms can automatically lock out users if they pass a set expiration date or have active internet-access restrictions.
Create a Copy of the Affected Form
If the original form is corrupted or still displays the error after settings are corrected, duplicating the form serves as an effective workaround.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why do I get the 'Contact the form owner' error if I am the owner of the form?
This can happen due to a temporary backend glitch in Microsoft Forms, browser cache issues, or if the form was originally created in a Microsoft 365 Group where your administrative permissions have changed. Creating a copy of the form usually bypasses this error.
Does unchecking the 'Accept responses' box cause this access error?
Yes. If the 'Accept responses' box is unchecked in the form settings, the form is effectively closed. Anyone trying to open it will be blocked from viewing the questions and will receive an error message.
How do I make my Microsoft Form accessible to anyone outside my company?
To allow external access, open your form, click the 'Collect responses' button, and change the permission dropdown from 'Only people in my organization can respond' to 'Anyone can respond'.
