---
title: "View and export form responses"
description: "See every submission to a published form, open any response as a filled PDF, and export all answers to CSV or Excel with one column per field."
url: https://help.pdfbetter.com/forms/view-and-export-form-responses/
collection: "Forms & fillable PDFs"
section: "Collecting responses"
updated: 2026-10-18
publisher: "PDFBetter (AI Generated Inc.)"
---

# View and export form responses

> Open **Fill links** in the sidebar and choose **Responses** next to the form. Each row expands to **All answers** and has **Download filled PDF**; the **CSV** and **Excel** buttons export every response with one column per field.

- Available on: Free, Pro, Business
- Counts toward: Form responses

Do it in PDFBetter: https://pdfbetter.com/app/forms/

1. **Open Fill links**: In the sidebar, choose **Fill links**. The page, **Forms & responses**, lists each published form with its status, edition and response count.
2. **Open a form's responses**: Choose **Responses** on the form's row. The header shows the edition, the number of fields and the form link.
3. **Read a response**: Each response shows when it was **Submitted** and which edition it used. Choose **All answers** to expand it, and **Hide** to collapse it.
4. **Get the filled PDF**: Choose **Download filled PDF** on a response to get that respondent's copy of the form with their answers.
5. **Export everything**: Choose **CSV** or **Excel** above the table to download every response.

## What's in the export

The export starts with `response_id`, `submitted_at`, `edition` and `respondent_email` (filled when you turned on **Ask for respondent email**). Then comes one column per field, named after the field's **Database name**. Columns from the latest edition come first, followed by fields that only exist in older editions, so no submitted answer is dropped when you change the form.

> **Tip:** Give fields clear Database names before you publish (`full_name`, `start_date`) and your spreadsheet columns will make sense without renaming.

## Editions

When you publish changes, the form gets a new edition on the same link. Every response keeps the edition it was submitted to, so its filled PDF always matches the fields that respondent actually saw. Choose **Edit form** to open the document in the editor; changes reach respondents only after you publish them.

## Getting notified

Turn on **Email me on each response** in the form's settings to get an email for every submission. It never includes the answers, only a **View responses** button. To pass responses to other apps automatically, use the **New Form Response** trigger in [Zapier or Make](https://help.pdfbetter.com/automation/zapier-make-actions-triggers/), or a [webhook](https://help.pdfbetter.com/automation/webhook-endpoints/) on Business; the [developer docs](https://pdfbetter.com/developers/) have the details.

### Can I delete or edit a response?

Not from the Responses page. Export what you need and keep your spreadsheet as the working copy.

### Why did responses stop arriving?

Check the form's status in **Fill links**. It may be paused, closed, past its **Close on** date, at its **Maximum responses**, or your monthly form responses may be used up.

### Can I see responses from an older edition?

Yes. All editions are listed together, with the **Ed.** column showing which one each response used.

## Related articles

- [Publish a form as a fill link and collect responses](https://help.pdfbetter.com/forms/publish-form-fill-link.md): Build the fields, then choose Done → Publish as form, set the title and options, and select Publish form. You get a link, a QR code and embed code. Respondents don't need an account, and every submission is stored as data and as its own filled PDF.
- [Form field types, required fields and validation](https://help.pdfbetter.com/forms/form-field-types-and-validation.md): Pick a field type that matches the answer (Email, Date, Number, Phone…) and its format is checked as people type. Tick Required in Field options to stop the form being submitted or signed while the field is empty.
- [Fill a PDF form from a spreadsheet (mail merge)](https://help.pdfbetter.com/forms/fill-pdf-from-spreadsheet.md): Open the Fill PDF from Excel tool, drop a fillable PDF and a CSV or XLSX file, match columns to fields, check the rows, set a file name and generate. Runs of up to 50 rows are filled in your browser, free.
- [Get webhooks when documents are signed or forms submitted](https://help.pdfbetter.com/automation/webhook-endpoints.md): In Settings → API keys → Webhooks, enter an https Endpoint URL, pick Events and click Add endpoint. Copy the signing secret (shown once) and use it to verify the PDFBetter-Signature header.
- [PDFBetter actions and triggers in Zapier and Make](https://help.pdfbetter.com/automation/zapier-make-actions-triggers.md): Zapier and Make get the same set: 15 instant triggers (signing, forms, exports, bulk fills, workflow runs) and actions for documents, pages, conversion, AI, extraction, workflows, workspaces, forms and signatures.

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Source: https://help.pdfbetter.com/forms/view-and-export-form-responses/ · PDFBetter Help Center · Last checked against the product 2026-10-18. Questions: support@pdfbetter.com