Create and edit a form

Create and share forms to gather and organize information such as  survey responses, intake project requests, or gather product orders within Smartsheet. Add, arrange, or remove form fields even after you’ve created your form.

Who can use this?

Plans:

  • Business
  • Enterprise

Permissions:

  • Owner
  • Admin

Find out if this capability is included in Smartsheet Regions or Smartsheet Gov.

Create a new form

Before creating a new form, open or create the sheet to which you want to add a form.

When you create a form in Smartsheet, the connected sheet stores all the responses. Learn more about sheet creation.

  1. Select Forms > Create Form… from the top menu bar.
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create forms
  1. By default, the form title corresponds to the sheet name, but you can customize the name.

The fields on the form correspond to the names of their associated sheet columns.

  1. Add, arrange, or remove form fields to your form. You can edit those fields later as well.
  2. Adjust any form-level settings using the Settings tab at the top of the form builder. 
  3. Select Save at the top-right.

Find your form

There are a few easy ways to find your form:

From your sheet

  1. Open the sheet connected to your form.
  2. Select Forms > Manage Forms from the top menu.
  3. Select the three-dot menu to open up the form in builder mode.
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find form from sheet


This option is the only one with which you can find both active and inactive forms.

From the workspace panel

  1. Go to Home > All workspaces and find the one that contains your form or the associated sheet.
  2. Your form appears under their associated sheet.

If you don’t see your form, try refreshing or selecting the arrow to the left of the sheet name to expand the options. Only active forms appear in the workspace panel.

  1. Select Edit to open the form builder.
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find form from workspace panel

From Search

Open the Search icon on the left rail and search for your form by name.

If the results only show the sheet, use the Advanced Search Results option. Follow the form  Brandfolder Image Form.  and sheet  Brandfolder Image Sheet.  icons next to the name to select the right option.

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find form from search

Edit a form

You can customize your form in real time. Add, remove, or rearrange fields anytime, even after you’ve shared the form.

Edit your fields

You can add, remove, and edit your form fields even after you’ve shared the form.

  1. Open the form you want to edit.
  2. Select the Edit button on the top right corner.
  3. In the Form tab of the form builder, use the Fields section to add or remove a field.
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fields section form builder

Keep the following in mind:

  • Adding a field to the form creates a corresponding column in your sheet.
  • Removing a field from your form doesn’t delete or affect the corresponding column in the sheet.
  • To delete a column, you need to do it directly in the sheet.

Add All/Remove All existing fields

In the Form tab of the form builder, use the Add All/Remove All options.

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remove all/add all forms builder

Add a form field

There are two ways to add fields:

Builder canvas

To add a new field using the builder canvas, you should:

  1. Hover over an existing field, and select the + sign at the bottom of the field.
  2. Name your field and select the type.
  3. Select Add.

The new field appears below the selected element on the form and a new column appears in your sheet.

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new form field from plus sign

Fields panel

To add a new field using the Fields panel, you should:

  1. Select +New Field
  2. Name the field and select its type.
  3. Select Add.

The new field appears as an option in the Fields panel and as a new column on the underlying sheet.

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new form field

Keep the following in mind:

  • If you want to add a field connected to an existing column in your sheet, select it from the Fields panel. You can also drag and drop it into the exact location you want.
  • To add other form elements such as a header, description, divider, or attachment, select on the element in the left panel. Or drag and drop it into the exact location you want.

Fields panel elements

Use the following table to better understand when to use the different elements from the Fields panel.

Use thisTo do this
Heading/Description

Add a heading and section labels in your form. The header style is larger than question titles and description text.

These fields can provide instructions for the people using your forms and help you gather the information you’re looking for. 

DividerAdd a line to separate sections in your form. 
Attachment

Allow users to upload attachments to the form (up to 30 MB per file, 10 files per form submission). You can only add one attachment field.

Attachments appear as row attachments on your sheet. 

Character count limits on form fields

Consider the following limitations on the fields you can use in a form.

Field nameCharacter count limit
Form title100
Form rich description100
Form field label100
Form field rich help textno limit
Header100
Description rich text4000
Confirmation message4000
Response field4000

Remove a form field

Hover over the field and select the trash can icon to remove it.

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remove form field

Move a form field

Select the up or down arrow to move a form field. You can also select and drag the form field to where you want to place it.

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move a form field

Edit your field properties

To edit a field, select it in the form builder and use the Field Settings panel to the right.

You can select between two tabs:

  • Field: Modify a field’s label and other properties
  • Logic: Define what happens based on the values the user selected in the form field
     

Field

Use thisTo do this
Column properties boxSelect the pencil icon to edit the column name, type, and properties if it contains contact list values or dropdown values.
Label

Use the label if you want the field title to differ from the column name. 

Help Text

Add a description or further instructions for your submitters. This appears below the field label.

You can also include a hyperlink (which opens in a new tab) or link to an email address that opens in the respondent’s email client of choice.

If the links don't work as expected, edit the form, remove the hyperlink, save it, re-add it, and save it again.

Required FieldMake a form field mandatory.
Hidden Field

Hide the field if you don't want to display it in the form.

  • Hidden fields can store system-generated data or internal information that you don't want visible to users.
  • Set a hidden field with a default value to include data without showing the question to the form submitter. If you don’t need a default value, simply remove the hidden field from the form.

For example, to auto-fill Open in the Status column without user input, hide the Status field and set Open as its default value.

Validation

To help collect consistent, error-free data, add simple character and pattern-based validation to your form fields.

For contact lists, you can use the Restrict to list values only checkbox. When you check this box, submitters can only select from the values you list in the column.

Display As

Choose how your field appears in the form. Display options vary depending on the column type.

  • Text/Number
  • Checkbox
  • Dropdown (Single-Select)
  • Dropdown (Multi-Select)
  • Symbols

For dropdown lists, you can use the Restrict to list values only checkbox. When you check this box, submitters can only select from the values you list in the column.

Default ValueSpecify a default field value that appears automatically when submitters open the form. They can also change the value if preferred. 
System ColumnsYou can’t add System columns to forms, but can be added to sheets to automatically track information, like submission date and time.

Use the Display As section when editing your form to choose how your field appears in the form. Display options vary depending on the column type.

Column typeAvailable form field display options
Text/Number
  • Single-line text box
  • Multi-line text box
Checkbox
  • Label above
  • Label to the right
Dropdown (Single-select)
  • Dropdown (Single-select)
  • Vertical radio buttons
  • Horizontal radio buttons
Dropdown (Multi-select)
  • Dropdown (Multi-select)
  • Vertical checkboxes
  • Horizontal checkboxes
Symbols
  • Dropdown (Single-select)
  • Vertical radio buttons
  • Horizontal radio buttons

Logic

Conditional logic lets you show or hide form fields based on user input—so submitters only see what's relevant.

Example: Show the Deadline field only when the Priority field is set to Urgent. If the user selects Low, the Deadline field stays hidden—even if it's required.

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Co-build a form with others

  1. Share the underlying sheet and grant Owner or Admin permissions to the collaborators cobuilding the form with you. Learn more about setting sheet permissions.
  2. Copy your browser URL to share your form builder with others.
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share sheet admin forms