Responses to an outlook poll are anonymous, how do I fix so I can see names / emails

In Microsoft Forms, which is integrated with Outlook for polls, the ability to see the names or email addresses of respondents depends on the settings configured when the poll was created. If the poll was set to allow anonymous responses, then you will not be able to see the names or email addresses of the respondents.

To change this setting and capture the names of respondents, you need to:

1. Go to the Microsoft 365 admin center.
2. Navigate to Settings > Org settings > Services.
3. Select Microsoft Forms.
4. Look for the option to record names of people in your organization and ensure it is enabled.

By enabling this option, you will be able to see the names of those who responded to your poll, provided they are within your organization and signed in when responding.

Dear @Mcinerney, James,

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A forum.

I understand you’re looking for recipient names or email addresses from your poll. Based on my research, if the poll was sent without enabling the setting to record respondents’ names, it’s not possible to retrieve their identities after responses have been submitted.

To record the names of the people who respond to your poll in Outlook, you need to change the form settings before you insert the poll into the email. Here are the steps you can follow:

• Go to Microsoft Forms and sign in with your work or school account.
• Open the form that you want to use for your poll or create a new one.
• Click on the Settings icon in the top right corner of the form.
• Under Who can fill out this form, select Only people in my organization can respond and check the box for Record name.
• Click on Share and copy the link to your form.
• Go back to Outlook and create a new email message.
• Go to the Insert tab and click on Poll.
• In the Poll pane, paste the link to your form and click on Insert poll into email.
• You will see a link to your poll in the body of the email and your name pre-populated in the CC line.
• You can now send your poll in email and see who responds to it.

For reference: Send a form and collect responses - Microsoft Support

Alternatively, if you prefer tracking responses directly in Outlook, you can also use Outlook's classic "Voting Buttons" feature instead of the "Poll" feature. When a user responds to an email using voting buttons, their response is recorded directly against their email address in your tracking window.

How to Create a Trackable Vote (Classic Outlook)

1. Start a New Email: Open your Classic Outlook for Windows and click New Email.
2. Access the Tracking Options: Go to the Options tab in the message ribbon.
3. Insert Voting Buttons: In the Tracking group, click Use Voting Buttons.
4. Select or Customize Options:
   • You can select standard options like "Approve; Reject" or "Yes; No."
   • Alternatively, click "Custom..." to enter your own specific answers, separated by semicolons (e.g., Question 1 Answer A; Question 1 Answer B).
5. Send the Email: Send the email to your recipients.

How to View the Results (Tracking)

When recipients respond, their votes are sent back to you.

1. Open the Original Sent Message: Go to your Sent Items folder and double-click the original email you sent with the voting buttons.
2. Access Tracking: Go to the Message tab on the ribbon.
3. In the "Show" group, click Tracking.

The Tracking window will display a list showing each recipient's name/email address and their corresponding vote, along with the totals.

For reference: Use voting buttons in messages - Microsoft Support

I hope this information is helpful. Please follow these steps and let me know if it works for you. If not, we can work together to resolve this. Thank you for your patience and understanding. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to share them in the comments so I can continue to support you. I'm looking forward to your reply.

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