PaperSurvey supports different types of identifiers to help you track and organize survey copies and responses.

Automatic identifiers

By default, PaperSurvey assigns a unique identifier to each entry automatically. You do not need to configure anything for basic tracking.

Custom identifiers with Prefill Forms

When using the Prefill Forms feature to generate survey copies, you can assign your own identifiers:

• Leave the identifier field blank and PaperSurvey will generate one automatically
• Provide a unique value from your spreadsheet to match responses with your existing records (e.g., student ID, employee number, case reference)

Custom identifiers must be unique for each copy. If you are generating multiple copies per row, automatic identifiers will be used instead.

Public ID

Each entry receives a public ID that is visible in the responses list. This is a human-readable identifier (e.g., "WEB_001" or "PAPER_001") that makes it easy to reference specific responses.

Using identifiers to match data

If you have an external database or spreadsheet, custom identifiers let you match PaperSurvey responses back to your records. For example:

1. Export your list of participant IDs to a spreadsheet
2. Upload the spreadsheet to Prefill Forms
3. Map the ID column as the identifier
4. After processing, export responses and join on the identifier column

Related articles

• Unique Paper Survey Identifiers for more on unique page marking
• How to Prefill Survey Data for the Prefill Forms feature