🎬 Prefer to follow a visual guide? Check out our video walkthrough here:
⚠️ Important note: Our video guides mention using Groups, which are now called Credential Templates. No need to worry!
Only the name changes – the setup process is the same.
Getting Started with Microsoft Forms Automations
Certifier Automations is a simple 2-step “trigger → action” system that issues credentials the moment your data arrives.
With Microsoft Forms, you can instantly turn responses into credentials using our Sheets-Powered Automations.
How Sheets-Powered Automations Work
Sheets-powered automations use a connected spreadsheet as a universal bridge between your data collection tools and Certifier. Here’s how it works for Microsoft Forms:
Microsoft Forms → Microsoft Excel: Each new form response creates a row in the connected sheet.
Microsoft Excel → Certifier: Certifier monitors the sheet and automatically issues a credential for every new row.
That’s it! In just a few quick steps, your Microsoft Forms responses start generating credentials on autopilot.
Before You Begin: Prepare Your Survey
To get started quickly, create a new survey with 2 required questions:
Recipient Name: stores your recipients' full names.
Recipient Email: stores your recipients' email addresses.
⚠️ Important: Regardless of your workflow, we recommend starting with an empty survey. Only share the survey with actual recipients after activating the Automation.
If your survey already has some responses, they will be skipped, and credentials will not be issued for them after you activate the Automation. To prevent this, you will have to clear the existing responses in the connected spreadsheet before activating the Automation.
Step-by-Step Setup
This guide walks you through setting up your first Microsoft Forms automation via Microsoft Excel. Let's get started!
Step 1. Connect Microsoft Forms to Microsoft Excel
Open the Microsoft Form you want to use for this automation and click on View Responses. Once there, press Open results in Excel.
💡Tip: Not seeing Open results in Excel?
Submit a test response that includes the Recipient Name and Recipient Email headers. This step enables Microsoft Forms to sync with Excel, ensuring all future responses are added to your spreadsheet automatically.
This test row will be ignored once the automation is activated.
The spreadsheet opens in a new tab. Before moving forward, make sure you have all the data you need for your credentials.
If everything looks fine, you're ready to automate! 🥳
Step 2. Create Your Automation
Go to Automations → Create Automation.
Select the Microsoft Forms template.
Press Use Template → Connect via Microsoft Excel.
Step 3. Configure the Trigger
The next step is configuring the Microsoft Excel's Trigger. To do so, open this guide in a new tab: Configuring Microsoft Excel Trigger: New Row Added
When configuring the trigger, select the Spreadsheet you created in the previous steps.
⚠️ Important: The instructions for this step are laid out in a separate guide.
We recommend opening the trigger setup guide in a new tab so you can easily return to this article afterwards. Once you finish configuring the trigger, make sure to come back here to finalize and activate your automation.
Step 4. Configure the Action
Next, you’ll need to configure the action. To do so, open this guide in a new tab: Configuring Certifier Action: Issue Credential
⚠️ Important: The instructions for this step are laid out in a separate guide.
We recommend opening the action setup guide in a new tab so you can easily return to this article afterwards. Once you finish configuring the action, make sure to come back here to finalize and activate your automation.
Step 5. Finalize & Activate
Now, there's just one more step – you'll need to:
Click Save & Activate.
Give your automation a clear name (e.g., “Conference Invites from Microsoft Forms via Excel”) and press Confirm & Automate.
💡 Tip: Give your automation a clear name (e.g., include your group name) so you can easily spot it – especially if you're planning to connect multiple spreadsheets. Don’t worry, you can rename it anytime after activation.
And that's it! Once you choose to activate it, your new automation will be live. 🥳
⚠️ Important: Once your automation is active, it can’t be edited.
If you need to change anything – such as re-mapping columns, adding new custom attributes, or updating your credential settings – you’ll need to delete the automation and create a new one from scratch.
What It Looks Like in Practice
You receive a new response in Microsoft Forms.
A new row appears in the connected sheet.
Within 15 minutes, Certifier issues the credential and marks the row as “Processed.”
Your recipient receives their credential.
Critical Rules After Activation
Once your automation is active, these rules are essential to prevent errors, duplicates, and broken setups. Read each one carefully.
Rule 1: Existing Rows Will Not Be Processed
When you connect a Microsoft Excel Sheet with pre-filled rows, Certifier will ignore them after you activate the automation.
Share your Survey with actual recipients only after you activate the automation.
Rule 2: Don’t Rename the File or Tabs
Renaming the file or any tab will break the automation – Certifier looks for the exact names you selected during setup.
Rule 3: Don’t Reorder Sheet Tabs
Moving sheets into a different order will cause Certifier to lose its connection to the correct tab.
Rule 4: Don’t Rearrange Questions or Columns
Each column in your Sheet matches a question from your Microsoft Form. Certifier tracks these columns by letter (A, B, C…). Rearranging questions in the Form will change the order of columns in the connected sheet and cause automation errors.
The same will happen if you manually move columns around in the sheet. Changing the order will break the mapping and stop the automation from working.
Rule 5: Be Careful with Processed Rows
Certifier always starts from the next unprocessed row. This leads to several pitfalls:
Inserting above processed rows → duplicates: If you’ve already processed rows 1–5 and then insert a new row anywhere above row 6, your original row 5 shifts into row 6. Certifier sees row 6 as “next” and issues a duplicate for that person, while your new entry stays unprocessed.
Deleting and re-adding in the same positions → skipped: If you delete rows 1–5 (all processed) and paste new entries into positions 1–5, nothing happens. Certifier is still waiting for row 6, so your new rows won’t trigger.
Rule 6: Always Include Name & Email
Each row needs a valid Recipient Name and Recipient Email. Rows missing either – or with improperly formatted emails – will be skipped.
Rule 7: Allow Processing Time
Allow 15 minutes for each row to process. Re-adding or moving rows while processing is underway can cause conflicts or duplicates.
Rule 8: Don’t Edit Processed Rows
Any edits to already-processed rows will be ignored. To correct data, update credentials in the Certifier dashboard.
Keep that in mind and enjoy the automated workflow! 👑
Need more help?
If you still have some questions, do not hesitate to contact us via the chat icon or email us directly: [email protected].