Set a closing date on Microsoft Forms

Short answer: open your form at https://forms.office.com, select Settings, check the End date box, pick a date and an hour, and check that the closed-form message says what you want. Microsoft's page on form settings says: "You can specify an exact date and time when you want to start and stop collecting form responses." The exact names of menus and buttons may differ from what is written here, because Microsoft changes its screens from time to time.

When a closing date fits

A closing date fits when the rule is about a day, not a number. "Sign-ups close Friday at 5 PM." "Feedback is open for two weeks." "Order forms stop at noon the day before delivery." In each case the date is the whole rule, and nobody has to remember to turn the form off.

If your rule is a number, such as "the first 50 people", a date will not do it. See "Close a Microsoft Form after a set number of responses".

Step 1. Plan the three things first

Decide these before you open the form.

The closing date and hour. Write it down with the time zone, such as "Friday 5 PM Eastern".
Whether the form should also have a start date. Use one only if people must not answer before a certain time.
What people should read after the form closes. Example: "This form is closed. Email the office if you still need to respond."

Step 2. Open the settings

Open https://forms.office.com and sign in.
Open the form you want to close on a date.
Select Settings.

Microsoft's page says: "In Microsoft Forms, open the form for which you want to edit settings, and then select Settings." It also says: "In the Settings pane, you can select or clear options."

Step 3. Set the End date

Check the End date box.
Select the date text box and pick a date from the calendar.
Pick an hour from the drop-down list.

Microsoft's page describes the start date steps like this: "Check the Start date checkbox, then select the date text box and select a date from the calendar control." It then says: "Select a specific hour from the drop-down list of hour increments." And for the end: "Do the same for End date."

Because the page says "hour increments", the list offers hours. Our advice, not a Microsoft rule: if you need a closing time such as 5:30 PM, pick the nearest hour that works and tell people the real deadline in the form's description.

Step 4. Set a Start date only if you need one

Use the Start date box the same way. Leave it off if the form should open right away. A form set to start later is not open to anyone yet, so test it only after the start time or with the Start date box turned off.

Step 5. Write the closed-form message

Microsoft's page says: "You can customize the message recipients see when trying to submit their response after you turn off this setting." That sentence is about the Accept responses setting. In your test (Step 6), check whether the same message shows after the End date passes. One way to start is to write a message that tells people two things: the form is closed, and who to contact.

Weak: "This form is not accepting responses."
Better: "Sign-ups closed on Friday. Email the office if you still need a place."

Our advice, not a Microsoft rule: a message that names a contact is clearer than a general one.

Check the time zone

Do not guess which time zone the date and hour use. A 2020 Microsoft Q&A post from a person who runs quizzes says: "It takes your operating system's time zone settings as reference." That is one person's report from 2020, not a Microsoft rule, and Forms may have changed since.

Our advice, not a Microsoft rule:

Before you set a date, check that the clock and time zone on your computer are right.
After you save, reopen the settings and read the date and hour back.
If people in another time zone will answer, write the deadline with its time zone in the form's description.
Leave a margin. Close the form later than the true deadline if a late answer is harmless, or earlier if it is not.

Step 6. Test it

Set a test form to close in a few hours, using the next hour on the list.
Open the form link in a private browser window, which has no sign-in.
After the closing hour, open the link again and read the message.

Our advice, not a Microsoft rule: run this test once for any form that has a hard deadline, such as a grant, an order cut-off or a vote.

Step 7. Reopen a form that closed too early

Our advice, not a Microsoft rule: if the form closed and you still want answers, open Settings, change the End date to a later time or clear the End date box, and make sure Accept responses is checked.

Microsoft's page says: "If this setting is unchecked, you turn off the ability to collect any additional form responses." So a form can be closed by the End date or by the Accept responses setting. Check both. A Microsoft Q&A thread about a form that showed as closed to some people suggests: "please make sure you didn't date set for the form." The same thread also suggests asking people to try a different browser or a private window.

What to avoid

Do not set the date and forget it. Put the closing date in your calendar.
Do not trust the time zone. Read it back and write it in the description.
Do not say a closing time to the half hour unless you checked what the hour list offers.
Do not use a date when your real rule is a number. A date does not count responses.
Do not leave the closed message blank or vague. Say who to contact.
Do not test a hard deadline for the first time on the day.

Honest limits

A closing date stops the form. It does not warn you, tell people the deadline is near or count what came in. If you want a reminder before the form closes, that takes a separate flow or a calendar entry. If the form feeds a list, see "Save Microsoft Forms answers to a SharePoint list". If several people need to know about each answer, see "Get a Microsoft Forms alert sent to more than one person".

When to get help

You can build all of this yourself in Microsoft 365. If you would rather have it built and tested for your team, I do that. A tracker like this is a fixed price: $5,000 for one, built in 2 weeks. See "What a SharePoint tracker costs to build". Bring one example of the problem to a free call.

Tell me what's still manual

I am Al Davies. I run 250 High Street LLC and build SharePoint trackers and Power Automate flows for operations teams. I work remotely. The first call is free, and I will not try to sell you anything.

See trackers I built: Tools I built

FAQ

How do I set an end date on Microsoft Forms?

Open the form at https://forms.office.com, select Settings, check End date, pick a date, then pick an hour. Microsoft's page says: "You can specify an exact date and time when you want to start and stop collecting form responses."

Which time zone does the end date use?

A 2020 Microsoft Q&A post says: "It takes your operating system's time zone settings as reference." That is one user's report and may be out of date. Our advice, not a Microsoft rule: check your computer's time zone and write the deadline with its zone in the form description.

What do people see after the form closes?

Microsoft's page ties a custom message to the Accept responses setting. Test whether it shows after the End date passes. Write a short line that says the form is closed and who to contact.

Can I reopen a form that closed?

Our advice, not a Microsoft rule: change or clear the End date in Settings and make sure Accept responses is checked.

Can the end date close the form after a number of responses?

No. A date closes the form at a time, not at a count. See "Close a Microsoft Form after a set number of responses".