Send a single-use invite link instead of a public form

Forms 365 Web can publish a form as invite-only. Instead of one address everybody shares, each person gets their own tokenised link that works once. They still need no Microsoft account and nothing to install, and the submission still writes into your SharePoint list.

Why it beats a public link here

With a public form you get a pile of submissions and the job of working out which one came from whom. One link per person removes that guesswork, because the link a response arrived through is tied to the person you sent it to.

It also stops the quiet failure mode of shared links, which is one keen person filling the form in four times while three others never open it.

Where it fits

• Supplier and contractor onboarding, where each company submits its own details and documents.
• Annual renewals: you are asking a known group to confirm or update what you already hold.
• Anything with a deadline and a named list, like compliance attestations or event confirmations.

Setting one up

1. 1

   Build the form as normal

   Same designer, same fields. Nothing about the form itself changes because it is invite-only.

2. 2

   Publish it as invite-only

   Rather than a single shared address, the form issues a separate single-use link for each person you send it to. This is the step that changes how the form behaves, so it is worth a quick test with one link of your own before you send the rest.

3. 3

   Send each person their link

   One link, one person, so responses are never anonymous guesses about who replied.

4. 4

   Responses land in the list

   Submissions arrive in your SharePoint list like any other, so existing views and any flow on that list keep working.

If you cannot name the people in advance, or the form sits on a web page for anyone to find, use a public form instead. Invite links are for when the list of people is the point.