File uploads to MS forms from out of organization, external file upload to MS form

Mohammed Sajid 0 Reputation points
2026-10-27T09:01:20.03+00:00

Dear Team Microsoft,

We have huge limitation for not receiving the external files in MS form.
This limitation is bottle neck in utilization of MS forms in organizations as most of the times the MS forms are being used to collect useful data for business analysis and customer feedback. If clients or suppliers are not able to send the concerns or support data, the utilization of MS forms is not effective in bundle of scenarios.

Kindly take a minor update to fix the issue.

Regards

[Moderator note: Personally Identifiable Information removed]

Microsoft 365 and Office | Microsoft Forms | For business
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  1. Roebe Ta 1,825 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-10-27T09:19:46.56+00:00

    Hello @Mohammed Sajid ,

    Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback and explain the business impact of this scenario.

    First of all, I would like to clarify one point: this forum is intended for users to assist one another. No one, including myself, have the ability to change product behavior or implement feature requests directly. To share your feedback with the product team, please follow the instructions in this answer.

    I understand the value of being able to receive supporting documents directly from customers, suppliers, and other external participants when collecting information through Microsoft Forms. Many organizations use forms for business processes, customer engagement, and data collection, and the ability to include attachments from external respondents would be beneficial in a wide range of use cases.

    At present, file upload questions in Microsoft Forms are available when responses are collected from users within the organization. For forms that are open to external respondents, a common approach is to collect the form response and provide a separate OneDrive or SharePoint File Request link for document submission.

    User's image

    For your reference: Add questions that allow for file uploads in Microsoft Forms | Microsoft Support 

    For organizations that need to collect files from customers, suppliers, or other external users, the recommended workaround is to:

    • Configure the form with "Anyone can respond".
    • Remove the File upload question.
    • Create a OneDrive or SharePoint File Request link and include it in the form instructions.
    • Add a reference field (for example, Case ID, Customer Name, PO Number, or Ticket Number) so submitted files can be matched with the form response.

    I agree that native support for external file uploads would significantly improve many business scenarios, including customer support, supplier onboarding, feedback collection, and incident reporting. If this capability is important to your organization, I encourage you to support the existing feedback item in the Microsoft Forms Feedback Portal: Microsoft Forms · Community 

    User's image

    This sends your suggestion directly to the product team for consideration. After submitting your feedback, you are welcome to return to this thread and share the feedback link so that other community members with similar requirements can add their support as well.

    In the meantime, you may wish to monitor the Microsoft 365 Roadmap for future updates and enhancements.

    I genuinely appreciate your feedback and your efforts to help improve Microsoft Forms.

    Kind Regards.

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  2. AI answer

    2026-10-27T09:02:02.9066667+00:00

    Microsoft Forms cannot accept file uploads from external respondents, so collect the form data with Anyone can respond and use a separate OneDrive or SharePoint File Request link for the attachments.

    1. Remove the File upload question from the form.
      Forms supports file-upload questions only when Only people in my organization can respond or Specific people in my organization can respond is selected; this cannot be enabled for external or anonymous respondents through a tenant setting.^1^
    2. Allow external responses.
      • Open the form.
      • Select Collect responses.
      • Choose Anyone can respond.
      • Copy the response link.^2^
    3. Create a dedicated upload folder in OneDrive for work or school, or in the appropriate SharePoint document library.
    4. Create the external upload link.
      • Select the folder.
      • Select Request files.
      • Enter a description such as Supplier supporting documents.
      • Select Next.
      • Select Copy link, then Done.^3^
    5. Put that link in the form as an instruction, for example:

      Upload your supporting documents using this link. After the upload succeeds, return here and submit the form.

      Add a required text field for a reference such as company name, case number, purchase-order number, or uploaded filename so the form response can be matched to the uploaded files.

    Anyone possessing the File Request link can upload without having OneDrive. Uploaders cannot view, edit, download, or delete the folder’s contents, nor see files submitted by others.^3^

    If an uploader is not signed in, OneDrive asks for a first and last name, but those values are not validated. Do not treat them as verified identity; use your own case/reference field if submissions must be correlated reliably.^3^

    If “Request files” is missing

    Ask a SharePoint administrator to verify that:

    • Anyone links are enabled.
    • Folder permissions permit View and upload or View, edit, and upload.
    • Request Files is enabled at the tenant or site level.
    • Allow only specific security groups is not enabled.

    For OneDrive, the administrator can check and enable the tenant setting through SharePoint Online Management Shell:^4^

    Connect-SPOService -Url https://<tenant>-admin.sharepoint.com

Get-SPOTenant |
    Select-Object OneDriveRequestFilesLinkEnabled

Set-SPOTenant -OneDriveRequestFilesLinkEnabled $true

    Enabling File Requests requires anonymous Anyone links, so the administrator should assess this against the organization’s security and compliance policy before changing it. File Request is unavailable for OneDrive for home, Office 365 Germany, and Office 365 operated by 21Vianet.^4^

    If “Anyone can respond” remains unavailable

    After the File upload question has been removed, an eligible administrator should go to:

    Microsoft 365 admin center → Settings → Org settings → Services → Microsoft Forms → External sharing

    Enable Send a link to the form and collect responses, then save the change.^5^

    Request the native capability

    This is a product limitation rather than a file-upload error that can be repaired locally. Submit the enhancement request from the form through:

    More form settings (…) → Feedback

    That channel sends Forms feature suggestions to the product team.^6^

    References

    1. Add questions that allow for file uploads in Microsoft Forms | Microsoft Support
    2. Send a form and collect responses | Microsoft Support
    3. Create a file request | Microsoft Support
    4. Enable file requests in SharePoint or OneDrive
    5. Administrator settings for Microsoft Forms
    6. Frequently asked questions about Microsoft Forms | Microsoft Support
    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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