Microsoft Forms — surveys, quizzes, and polls

Microsoft Forms is the browser-based survey, quiz, and poll tool in Microsoft 365. It's deliberately simple — far less feature-dense than dedicated survey platforms — but it integrates cleanly with the rest of Microsoft 365 and is fine for the majority of internal feedback needs.

What you can build

• Surveys with text, choice (single/multiple), rating, Likert, ranking, date, file upload, and Net Promoter Score questions.
• Quizzes with right/wrong answers, point scoring, and automatic grading.
• Polls in Teams meetings — quick yes/no or multiple-choice live polls.
• Sub-forms via branching — show specific questions based on earlier answers.
• Custom thank-you messages based on responses.

Sharing options

Forms can be shared as:

• A link to anyone (internal only or anyone with the link).
• Embedded in a SharePoint page, Teams tab, web page (via iframe).
• Email with the link.
• QR code for physical contexts (events, posters).

For surveys requiring identifiable respondents, restrict to "Only people in your organization" — that captures the respondent's Entra ID identity automatically.

Integration with Microsoft 365

• Excel — every form has an associated Excel workbook in OneDrive (for personal forms) or SharePoint (for group forms) that auto-fills with responses.
• Power Automate triggers on new submissions — push responses to SharePoint lists, Teams, ticketing systems.
• Power BI can read directly from the Excel workbook for richer reporting.
• Teams — polls inside meetings/chats are Forms under the hood; create polls in chat with /poll or in the meeting toolbar.
• SharePoint — embed forms in pages via the Microsoft Forms web part.

Personal vs group Forms

• Personal Forms live in the creator's OneDrive. If the creator leaves, the form becomes orphaned unless ownership is transferred.
• Group Forms belong to a Microsoft 365 Group — owned by the group, surviving individual departures, and accessible to all group members.

For anything important, create group forms. The biggest Forms operational pain is orphaned personal forms when someone leaves.

When Forms is right (and when it isn't)

Forms is right for:

• Internal surveys (employee feedback, event registration, training quizzes).
• Quick polls in Teams meetings.
• Simple data collection that flows into Excel or SharePoint.

Forms is not right for:

• Complex survey logic (multiple page surveys, conjoint analysis, randomisation).
• Customer-facing surveys requiring polished branding.
• Surveys needing advanced analytics or panel management.

For those, look at Dynamics 365 Customer Voice (Microsoft), Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey, or Typeform — and use Forms for the everyday stuff where its limitations don't matter.