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How to Identify Nonrespondents in Microsoft Forms Surveys

Maira Mehtab Oct 1, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user wants to find out which invited participants have not yet completed a Microsoft Forms survey.

How to Identify Nonrespondents in Microsoft Forms

Product: Microsoft Forms
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Tracking survey completion rates and following up with invited participants who haven't submitted their responses.
Observed behavior: Microsoft Forms lacks a direct, built-in feature to filter or view nonrespondents without manually cross-referencing exported response data.

Before you start

Before proceeding, ensure your form is set up to record names or email addresses, and have a complete list of your original invitees ready to cross-reference against the received responses.

Solution 1Recommended

Export Responses to Excel for Manual Cross-Referencing

Since Microsoft Forms doesn't isolate nonrespondents automatically, exporting your data to Excel allows you to compare actual respondents against your original master invite list.

This is the most reliable workaround. By utilizing spreadsheet functions like VLOOKUP, XLOOKUP, or Conditional Formatting, you can quickly spot which names from your original list are missing in the response data.

Open your survey responses

Navigate to Microsoft Forms, open your specific survey, and click on the 'Responses' tab located at the top of the page.

Download the Excel file

Click the 'Open in Excel' button to download a spreadsheet containing all current survey responses.

Prepare your master list

Open the downloaded Excel file and create a new worksheet tab. Paste your original list of invited emails or names into this new tab.

Compare the data

Use the VLOOKUP or MATCH function to compare the emails in your master list against the email column in the survey responses sheet. Any missing matches represent your nonrespondents.

Export Responses to Excel for Manual Cross-Referencing

Important Requirement: This method only works if your Microsoft Form was configured to 'Record Name' or if you specifically asked for an email address within the survey questions.

Solution 2

Submit a Feature Request to Microsoft

Let the Microsoft development team know that a built-in nonrespondent tracking feature is highly requested by users.

Free Microsoft Office alternative

Analyze Survey Data Effortlessly with WPS Office

While Microsoft Forms lacks built-in nonrespondent tracking, you can easily export your survey data and analyze it using WPS Spreadsheet. WPS Office is a free, lightweight alternative that is fully compatible with Microsoft Excel formats, making data cross-referencing simple, fast, and cost-effective.

1. Install WPS Office: Download and install the free version of WPS Office on your computer or mobile device.
2. Open your response data: Launch WPS Spreadsheet and open the .xlsx file you downloaded from Microsoft Forms.
3. Analyze and track: Use WPS Spreadsheet's intuitive formulas and conditional formatting to instantly highlight nonrespondents against your master list.

Free and lightweight complete office suiteFully compatible with Microsoft Excel (.xlsx) formatsFamiliar user interface for seamless and quick migrationPowerful VLOOKUP and XLOOKUP functions to easily track survey responses

microsoft office alternative - wps office

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I send automated email reminders to nonrespondents in Microsoft Forms?

Not natively within Microsoft Forms. Since the platform cannot automatically identify nonrespondents, you cannot send direct reminders from the Forms interface. You must use Microsoft Power Automate to build a complex tracking flow, or manually email the nonrespondents after cross-referencing the data in Excel.

Does the 'Record Name' setting help track who hasn't responded?

The 'Record Name' setting only identifies who has already responded. While this is essential for knowing who completed the survey, you still have to manually compare this list against your original invitations to figure out who hasn't responded.

Can I track nonrespondents if the form is set to be anonymous?

No. If your form is set to anonymous (meaning it does not collect names or emails), it is completely impossible to identify respondents or nonrespondents, as no identifiable data is captured.

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