PaperSurvey's Prefill Forms feature lets you generate large batches of survey links, each pre-populated with unique data from a spreadsheet. This is useful when you need personalized survey links for different respondents, locations, or time periods.
How it works
- Prepare a spreadsheet with one row per link you want to generate
- Each column represents a data field (e.g., name, location, date)
- Upload the spreadsheet to Prefill Forms
- PaperSurvey generates a unique link for each row
Each link contains prefilled data that can be used for:
- Dynamic text replacement - Personalize the survey content for each respondent
- Prefill data fields - Associate metadata with each response for analysis
Step-by-step guide
- Open your survey and go to the Prefill section
- Click Generate Web Links
- Upload your spreadsheet (CSV or Excel)
- Map columns to survey fields
- Click Generate
- Download the list of generated links
Spreadsheet format
Your spreadsheet should include:
- One row per unique link
- Column headers that match your survey's prefill data field names
- A unique identifier column (optional, auto-generated if not provided)
Example:
| ID | location | date |
|---|---|---|
| 001 | North Office | 2026-03-01 |
| 002 | South Office | 2026-03-15 |
| 003 | East Office | 2026-04-01 |
Using the generated links
After generation, you will receive a list of URLs. Each URL leads to your web survey with the corresponding data pre-filled. You can:
- Send individual links via email to specific respondents
- Include links in mail merge templates
- Distribute through any channel that supports URL links
Related articles
- Dynamic Web Survey Forms with Prefill for dynamic text replacement
- How to Prefill Survey Data for the basics of prefill