How to Create a Survey in Microsoft Teams (Step-by-Step Guide)

If you’ve ever tried to collect feedback from your team using a long email thread, you already know how messy it gets. Half the replies come in late, some people forget to respond, and by the end you’re manually counting answers in a spreadsheet. That’s exactly the kind of headache Microsoft Teams surveys are built to solve.

In this tutorial, I’ll walk you through three different ways to create a survey in Microsoft Teams — from a quick in-chat poll to a full-blown survey with multiple question types, plus how to view and manage your results. Whether you’re checking in on employee morale or just trying to pick a meeting time, one of these methods will work for you.

What You Need Before You Start

Before jumping in, here’s what you’ll need:

• A Microsoft 365 account (work or school)
• Access to Microsoft Teams (desktop, browser, or mobile)
• Appropriate permissions in your organization (in most cases, the default settings are fine)

That’s it. Microsoft Forms comes with Microsoft 365, and the Polls app is a free Microsoft app you can add to Teams in a couple of clicks if it isn’t there yet. If you still need a place for your team to work, here’s how to create a team in Microsoft Teams.

Method 1: Create a Quick Poll in a Teams Chat or Channel

This is the fastest way to get a response from your team. It works directly inside any chat or channel conversation — no setup required. For every poll option in more detail, see how to create a poll in Microsoft Teams.

Step 1: Open the Chat or Channel

Open Microsoft Teams and go to the chat window or channel where you want to send the poll. This can be a group chat, a one-on-one conversation, or a team channel.

Step 2: Open the Polls App

At the bottom of the message compose box, you’ll see an icon bar. Click Actions and apps (the + icon). In a channel, select Post in channel first to open the compose box. From the menu that opens, look for Polls.

If you don’t see it right away, type “Polls” in the Search for apps box and select Add next to Polls under Add a new app. You can also use Get more apps.

You may also see the older Forms app in that list. When I opened it, Teams showed a notice that its polling experience will soon be deprecated and that Polls offers the same experience, so use Polls for new polls. Polls you made earlier with Forms stay available at forms.office.com.

Step 3: Type Your Question and Options

A small form pops up. Type your poll question at the top — for example, “Which day works best for the team sync?” Then add at least two answer options.

Select Add option for more answers (up to 10 answer choices). Polls may suggest some answers for you, but feel free to type your own.

Here’s what the settings look like:

• Multiple selections — Turn this on if you want people to pick more than one option
• Record names of respondents — Only you see who answered what
• Share aggregated results with respondents — Lets everyone see the results after voting

Step 4: Preview and Send

Click Preview to see how the poll looks before sending. If everything looks good, hit Send. The poll appears in the chat or channel as a card, and people can vote directly from there without leaving Teams.

Need a change? Select Edit to go back to the question. I closed this demo poll with the X instead of sending it.

Example: Let’s say your team can’t agree on whether to hold training in the morning or afternoon. You send a quick poll right in the General channel, and within 10 minutes you have 12 responses. Done — no back-and-forth emails needed.

Method 2: Create a Full Survey Using Microsoft Forms Tab

If you need more than a simple yes/no poll — maybe you want rating scales, open text answers, or a mix of question types — this is the method to use. It uses Microsoft Forms embedded directly inside a Teams channel tab.

Step 1: Go to Your Teams Channel

Navigate to the channel where you want to add the survey. This method works with standard channels — it won’t work inside private channels. Not sure which one you have? Here’s Microsoft Teams team vs channel explained.

Step 2: Add a Forms Tab

At the top of the channel, you’ll see a “+” icon next to your existing tabs (like Posts, Files). Click that + button and select Apps.

A dialog box opens with a list of apps. Type “Forms” in the search box and select the Forms icon.

Step 3: Create a New Form or Add an Existing One

Another dialog box appears with two choices:

• Create a shared form that your team can edit and see results — Use this if you’re building a new survey from scratch
• Add an existing form — Use this if you’ve already built a form in Microsoft Forms and want to bring it into Teams

Select the first option if you’re starting fresh, give your survey a name (like “Q1 Employee Feedback Survey”), and click Save.

Post to the channel about this tab is checked by default, so Teams announces the new tab in the channel. Clear it if you want to finish the survey before anyone sees it.

Step 4: Build Your Survey

The Forms editor opens right inside Teams. Now you can start adding questions. Click Add new question (on a brand-new form, the types show under Quick start with) and choose from these question types:

• Choice — Multiple choice, great for selecting one or more predefined answers
• Text — Open-ended, great for written feedback
• Rating — Star or number scale (e.g., 1–5 or 1–10)
• Date — Useful for scheduling or event-related surveys
• Ranking — Let people rank a list of items in order of preference
• Likert — A grid of statements with agree/disagree options (perfect for satisfaction surveys)
• Net Promoter Score (NPS) — The classic “How likely are you to recommend us?” scale

For each question, you can:

• Mark it as Required so people can’t skip it
• Add a subtitle to give more context (from the … menu at the bottom of the question)
• Turn on Multiple answers for choice questions
• Shuffle answer order (to reduce bias in multiple choice questions)

Step 5: Adjust Survey Settings

Before you send it out, select Settings on the toolbar at the top of the Forms editor. Here you can:

• Set a Start date and End date for response collection
• Under Who can fill out this form, allow responses from anyone, only people in your organization, or specific people in your organization
• Make the survey anonymous by clearing Record name (very useful for sensitive feedback)
• Turn on Get email notification of each response so you get an alert for each new response
• Shuffle question order

Step 6: Preview and Collect Responses

Click Preview at the top to see exactly what respondents will see on both desktop and mobile. Once you’re happy with it, click Collect responses. You can then:

• Copy a link to share directly
• Type names, a Teams group, or a channel in the To box to send an invitation
• Show a QR code or copy embed code; to reach people outside your organization, pick Anyone can respond first

Example: You’re an HR manager running a quarterly engagement survey. You build a 10-question form with a mix of Likert scales (“I feel valued at work — Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree”) and one open-ended question (“What could we do better?”). You add it as a tab in your All-Staff channel so it’s easy to find, and set it to anonymous so people feel comfortable being honest.

Method 3: Share a Forms Survey in a Teams Chat

This is a middle ground between Method 1 and Method 2. You can send a full Microsoft Forms survey in a chat message, much like you’d share a file.

Step 1: Open a Chat

Go to any chat — group or one-on-one. Keep your survey open in Microsoft Forms in another tab.

Step 2: Choose or Create a Form

In Microsoft Forms, open the survey (or create a new one), select Collect responses, and click Copy link. The old Forms app in the chat’s Actions and apps menu now points you to Polls for quick polls, so the link is the most reliable way to share a full survey.

Step 3: Send It

Paste the link into the message box, type a quick note if needed, and hit Send. The recipient clicks the link to open and complete the survey.

This is especially handy when you want to share a full survey in a private chat without adding it as a permanent channel tab.

How to View and Analyze Survey Results

Once your survey is live, you’ll want to check the results. Here’s how:

For polls (Method 1):

• Find the poll card in the chat or channel
• Click More (…) on the card to open the full results view
• You’ll see total responses, a breakdown by answer, and if you enabled it — individual names
• Click Open results in Excel to export everything to a spreadsheet
• Click Check individual results to see each person’s specific answers

For Forms surveys (Method 2 and 3):

• Go to the Forms tab in your channel (or open Microsoft Forms directly at forms.office.com)
• Click View responses at the top
• You’ll see a visual summary with charts for each question
• Click Open in Excel to export raw data for deeper analysis
• Individual responses are available under View Results

If you set up the survey as a shared team form, your colleagues can also view the results right from the tab — no need to send them a separate report.

Tips to Get Better Survey Responses

A great survey is only useful if people actually fill it out. Here are a few things that genuinely help:

• Keep it short. Five to seven questions is ideal. If you need more, split it into two surveys.
• Tell people why it matters. Add a brief description at the top of your form explaining what the feedback will be used for.
• Use anonymous settings for sensitive topics. People are far more honest when they’re not worried about being identified.
• Set a deadline. Use the end date feature in Forms settings. Open-ended surveys get ignored.
• Send a reminder. You can post a follow-up message in Teams nudging people to respond (an announcement in Microsoft Teams stands out in a busy channel), or set up a Power Automate flow with Microsoft Teams to automate reminders.
• Use the right question type. Don’t ask an open-ended question if a rating scale will do. Save open text for things you genuinely need nuanced feedback on.

When to Use Which Method

Situation	Best Method
Quick team vote (e.g., choosing a meeting time)	Method 1 — Quick Poll
Formal feedback or employee survey	Method 2 — Forms Tab
Sharing a survey in a private chat	Method 3 — Share the Forms link in chat
External respondents outside your org	Method 2 with “Anyone can respond” enabled
Anonymous feedback	Method 2 with anonymous setting turned on

Wrapping Up

Creating a survey in Microsoft Teams is genuinely straightforward once you know which method to use for which situation. The built-in Polls app is perfect for quick decisions, while Microsoft Forms gives you the flexibility to build detailed, professional surveys without ever leaving Teams. Start with a simple poll, and when you’re comfortable, explore Forms for more structured feedback collection.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are a few more guides that pair well with this one:

• Want people to share files with their answers? Learn how to share files in Microsoft Teams.
• Running a project? See how to use Microsoft Teams for project management.
• Need a custom app instead of a form? Here’s how to add Power Apps to Teams.
• For a tidier workspace overall, check these Microsoft Teams best practices.