Edit, Close, Duplicate or Delete a Survey (Locking Rules)
Drafts and open surveys can be edited, but questions, audience and anonymity lock once anyone answers. Closed surveys cannot be reopened or edited; duplicate them instead. Only surveys with no answers can be deleted.
For School administrators, HR managers. Updated 2026-10-09.
Overview
A survey moves Draft, then Open, then Closed. Editing (pencil icon) is available on Draft and Open surveys. Once at least one person has answered, the Kind, Who answers, Anonymity and all questions are locked (the editor shows an amber notice); you can still change the title, description and dates. A Closed survey cannot be edited or reopened.
Close (on an open survey, confirm Close survey) stops new answers while keeping all results. To run a survey again, use the Duplicate icon, which creates a Draft named "Copy of ..." with the same questions, audience, anonymity and links but no answers, then open the copy.
Delete (trash icon) is only offered when the survey has zero answers; a survey with answers cannot be deleted, so close it to keep the results. Opening an already-open survey, closing a survey that is not open, or reopening a closed one returns a conflict message. Every create, update, open, close, duplicate, delete and export is recorded in the audit log.
These actions need the “edit survey” permission (the “add survey” permission for Duplicate).
Before you start
- The “edit survey” permission permission (Admin or HR Manager) for edit, open, close and delete
- The “add survey” permission for Duplicate
Steps
- Open Surveys & Feedback and find the survey in the list
- To change it, select the pencil icon, edit the fields and choose Save changes
- To stop answers, select Close on an open survey and confirm Close survey
- To run it again, select the Duplicate icon and confirm Duplicate, then edit and open the new draft
- To remove a mistaken survey with no answers, select the Trash icon and confirm Delete
Common problems
Error "Questions, audience and anonymity are locked once people have answered"
Answers already exist. Only title, description and dates can change. To change questions, duplicate the survey and run the copy.
"A closed survey cannot be edited" or cannot be reopened
Closing is permanent. Duplicate the survey to create a fresh draft with the same questions.
The delete icon is missing
Surveys with answers cannot be deleted so results are preserved. Close the survey instead.
An open survey shows "Outside its dates"
The current date is before Opens on or after Closes on, so people cannot answer. Edit the dates if you want it available.