Excel and CSV

How to create a survey in Excel

Excel is great for counting answers and clumsy for collecting them. Here's how to make a survey in Excel, and how SurveyNinja gives you a link anyone can answer on a phone, with results that open in Excel.

Start free Show me the steps

Free plan, no card required.

Two ways to make a survey in Excel

With Forms in Excel for the web

Open a workbook saved in OneDrive for work or school in Excel for the web.
Go to Insert, then Forms, then New Form.
Add questions in Microsoft Forms and share the link.
Responses fill a sheet in the workbook as they come in.

As a survey sheet

Type the questions in column A.
For answers with options, select the answer cells and use Data, then Data Validation, with a List of options.
Protect the sheet so only answer cells can change, and send the file.
Collect the files back and copy every answer into one summary sheet.

Where an Excel survey gets hard

One file per respondent

A survey sheet comes back as many files, and someone merges them by hand.

Awkward on a phone

Filling cells on a small screen is slow, and people give up.

No logic

Everyone sees every question, even the ones that don't apply to them.

Charts are on you

Counting answers, building charts and reading open comments all happen by hand.

The faster way: a SurveyNinja survey with results in Excel

Create the survey

Start from a template, describe it to the AI generator or build it from scratch. Add logic to skip questions that don't apply.

Share one link

Send the link, show a QR code or embed the survey on your site. It works on any phone.

Watch the results

Charts and summaries build themselves as responses come in, on every plan.

Open them in Excel

Download responses as Excel or CSV on every plan, including Free, with PDF, Word and SPSS too.

The Create a survey window in SurveyNinja: start from scratch, a template or AI, or import from Typeform or Google Forms

Already have answers in Excel?

Upload them into a SurveyNinja survey and get charts and filters on the data you already have, plus the AI report on Premium. CSV, XLSX, XLS and ODS files up to 20 MB, up to 10,000 responses per file, on paid plans.

Start free

Edit surveys on your phone or your laptop

The whole builder works on a phone: questions, logic, design, publishing and responses. Fix a question on the way to a meeting, check new answers from the couch and finish the survey on your laptop.

Every section and setting fits a small screen
Logic, design and publishing, not a cut-down view
Pick up on your laptop right where you left off

The SurveyNinja survey builder in a browser

Survey settings in SurveyNinja on a phone

Questions about switching

How do I make a survey in Excel offline?

Use a survey sheet: questions in column A, answer cells with drop-down lists from Data Validation, and a protected sheet. Send the file and merge the answers when the files come back. For anything bigger, an online survey saves the merging.

Can Excel make a survey people fill in online?

Yes, in Excel for the web with a work or school Microsoft 365 account: Insert, then Forms, then New Form opens Microsoft Forms, and responses land in your workbook.

How do I get SurveyNinja results into Excel?

Open the survey results and download responses as Excel or CSV, on every plan, including Free.

Can I import survey answers from Excel into SurveyNinja?

Yes, on paid plans. Create the survey with the same questions, then upload the file in Results: columns match questions by name, and the answers appear in your reports.

Is SurveyNinja free?

Yes. The Free plan includes 100 responses a month, and you get 14 days of Premium after sign-up, no card required.