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To close a Microsoft Form, survey, or quiz, turn off Accept responses. This stops new submissions without deleting the form or responses already collected. To close it automatically at a deadline, set an End date instead.

Open the form or quiz, select Settings, and use the control under Options for responses. The exact layout may vary; Microsoft also documents reaching Settings through More form settings.

Close a Microsoft Form immediately

  1. Sign in to Microsoft Forms and open the form, survey, or quiz.
  2. Select Settings on the action bar. If needed, open More form settings first, then select Settings.
  3. Under Options for responses, clear Accept responses.
  4. Enter a message in the box that appears. Respondents see this message when they try to submit after responses are disabled.

The form is now closed to additional responses. Microsoft Forms keeps the form and its existing responses; clearing Accept responses is not a deletion action.

Example closure message

You could enter: This survey is now closed. Thank you to everyone who submitted a response.

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If the form was closed temporarily, include a reopening date or tell respondents where to find the replacement form.

Reopen the form

To accept responses again:

  1. Open the form in Microsoft Forms.
  2. Select Settings.
  3. Under Options for responses, select Accept responses again.

Once enabled, respondents can submit again, subject to any start date, end date, audience, or other response settings applied to the form.

Close a form automatically at a specific time

Use End date when the form should remain open until a deadline rather than being closed manually.

  1. Open the form or quiz and select Settings.
  2. Under Options for responses, select End date.
  3. Choose a date from the calendar and a closing time from the hour-increment drop-down list.

Forms will stop accepting submissions when the configured deadline is reached. You can also select Start date to specify when submissions should begin.

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If neither a start date nor an end date is selected, the form can accept responses for any duration, unless you manually clear Accept responses.

Can Microsoft Forms close after a certain number of responses?

Microsoft’s current Forms settings documentation describes date-and-time deadlines but does not document a built-in setting to close a form after a specific number of responses. The documented automatic-closing control is End date.

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For a response target such as 100 entries, monitor the response count and manually clear Accept responses when the target is reached. Responses may arrive between checking the count and disabling the form.

What happens when you turn off Accept responses?

Action Result
Clear Accept responses Stops the form from collecting additional responses.
Enter a closure message Shows that message to people who try to submit after the form is closed.
Re-enable Accept responses Allows the form to collect responses again.
Delete the form Moves the form to the recycle bin and is not the normal way to pause response collection.

Closing response collection does not delete the form. You can continue to access it and its existing response data.

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Closing the form is different from “End of the form”

End of the form is part of Microsoft Forms branching logic. It sends a respondent to the end of their path, where the Submit button appears. It does not close the survey for everyone.

For example, branching can send respondents who answer “No” to a particular question directly to the end of the form. Other people can still open and submit the form normally.

To configure that branch, open the form’s branching settings, select the drop-down list next to the relevant question, and choose End of the form. To stop all new responses, use Settings > Options for responses > Accept responses instead.

Do not use the quiz timer to close the quiz

The Set time duration option controls an individual respondent’s session. When that person’s time expires, Microsoft Forms prevents further editing and automatically submits that respondent’s answers.

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It does not close the quiz for other people. If the quiz must stop accepting submissions for everyone, clear Accept responses or set an End date.

Deleting a form is not the same as ending responses

Deleting is a destructive lifecycle action, not a temporary closing option. A deleted form first moves to the recycle bin. Permanent removal requires opening Recycle bin, selecting Empty recycle bin, and confirming with Delete all forms.

Use deletion only when you no longer need the form or its associated data. To preserve the form and existing responses while preventing new submissions, turn off Accept responses.

Use the correct Microsoft Forms command

Microsoft Forms includes several commands that sound related but serve different purposes:

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Command Purpose
Settings Opens response, timing, and other form settings, including the closing control.
Accept responses Turns response collection on or off.
End date Sets a date and time when response collection should end.
Collect responses Opens the “Send and collect responses” dialog for choosing who can respond and how to distribute the form.
End of the form Ends one respondent’s branch, not the entire form.
Set time duration Limits the time available to one respondent and submits that person’s work when the timer expires.

Collect responses is not the primary documented control for closing an existing form. Go to Settings and clear Accept responses.

If you cannot find the Settings command

Microsoft 365 features and interface changes are released gradually, so the visible layout can differ between accounts. Microsoft documents these variations:

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  • Look for Settings on the form’s action bar.
  • Open More form settings, then choose Settings.
  • On supported mobile scenarios, open More options > Settings.
  • On iOS, Microsoft’s accessibility guidance says to switch to the desktop version to adjust form settings.

With a keyboard, open Settings, move to Accept responses, and press Spacebar to clear the setting. Press Esc to close the Settings pane.

Account restrictions that can affect response settings

The closing control is separate from audience controls, but available audience options depend on your Microsoft account:

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  • Anyone can respond allows people inside or outside your organization to submit.
  • Only people in my organization can respond and Specific people in my organization can respond are available only to Microsoft 365 Education and Microsoft 365 Apps for business users.
  • Consumer accounts cannot use Share with people in my org.
  • Consumer responses are anonymous. For applicable organization-only forms, options such as Record name and One response per person may be available.

These restrictions affect who can respond, not the basic procedure for closing the form. The global stop switch remains Accept responses.

Quick troubleshooting checklist

  • If people can still submit, reopen Settings and confirm that Accept responses is cleared.
  • If only one route through the survey ends, check branching. You may have selected End of the form, which is not a global closure.
  • If one person’s quiz is submitted automatically, check Set time duration. That timer applies to the individual response.
  • If the form disappeared, check the Forms recycle bin before assuming it was permanently deleted.
  • If the layout differs from these instructions, look under More form settings or use the desktop version of Forms.

Microsoft documents these controls in its guides for adjusting deadlines and settings, adjusting form or quiz settings, and using branching logic.

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FAQ

How do I close a Microsoft Form immediately?

Open the form, select Settings, go to Options for responses, and clear Accept responses. Enter an optional message for respondents when the message box appears.

Does closing a Microsoft Form delete existing responses?

No. Clearing Accept responses stops additional submissions but does not delete the form or responses already collected.

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How do I reopen a closed Microsoft Form?

Open the form, select Settings, and select Accept responses again under Options for responses.

Can Microsoft Forms close automatically after 100 responses?

Microsoft’s current documented settings include an End date, but do not document a built-in response-count limit. To stop at a target, monitor the count and manually clear Accept responses.

What does “End of the form” mean in Microsoft Forms?

It is a branching destination that ends one respondent’s route and displays the submit option. It does not close the form for other respondents.

Does the Microsoft Forms quiz timer close the quiz for everyone?

No. Set time duration limits one respondent’s session and automatically submits that person’s answers when time expires. It does not disable the quiz globally.

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The Bottom Line

Use Settings > Options for responses > Accept responses to close a Microsoft Form, survey, or quiz immediately. Use End date for a scheduled deadline. Neither action deletes the form or its existing responses.

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