How to create a poll in Microsoft Outlook

In mid-2020, Microsoft added an extremely useful new option on the Outlook email application, allowing you to create polls and then send them as emails to others. Recipients will be able to vote right in their inbox without having to open any other third-party websites, services or applications.

So technically, Outlook has a complete poll creation feature right in the application interface. This is a great addition for Outlook users, especially large businesses that choose Outlook as their primary communication environment but often have to rely on other third-party polling solutions.

However, this feature will currently only be available on Windows computers, and will not be part of Office 2016 or Office 2019, but will remain exclusive to Microsoft 365 subscribers and subscribers. Office 365.

How to create a poll in the Microsoft Outlook Desktop Client

Basically, creating a poll in Microsoft Outlook is quite simple.

After launching the new user interface to compose an email, you will see a ' Poll ' button located just below the " Insert " tab in the ribbon bar. Click that " Poll" button .

A dedicated user interface opens, allowing you to fill in details about the poll you're about to share with other individuals. You just need to enter the following details:

1. Poll question
2. Suggested answer
3. Add answers (if needed)
4. Allows you to select multiple answers

You can only ask one question in an email poll, although multiple responses may be allowed. Once the setup steps are complete, click the ' Insert poll into email ' button.

The subject line of the email will change and a link to the poll will be included in the body of the email.

When you send this poll email to recipients, they can click the link and answer the poll question directly in the Outlook interface. Of course, they can also view the results without voting. Emails are also automatically Cc'ed for you.

Create a poll in Microsoft Outlook Online

Go to the Outlook website and in a new email, click the three-dot menu icon at the bottom of the email, then select ' Poll '.

A panel opens on the right side of the email, allowing you to enter a poll question and possible answers.

As always, you can only ask one question in an email poll, although multiple responses may be allowed. Once the setup steps are complete, click the ' Insert poll into email ' button.

The subject line of the email will change and a link to the poll will be included in the body of the email.

Contacts who receive the email can select answers and vote directly on the Outlook interface. They can see the results without voting. In addition, Email is also automatically Cc'ed for you.

What does an Outlook poll look like?

When people click the link you send, they'll see a Microsoft Forms feedback page with your poll question.

If you send a poll to people within your organization, Forms will try to automatically pre-fill their email addresses. Otherwise, they will have to fill in their own email address.

At the bottom of the poll will be a " View Results " option.

Any recipient can click this button to see the results of the poll.

However, they cannot know who voted for what, only the person who created and submitted the poll can do this.

How to see all poll results

When you add a poll to an email, Microsoft creates a Microsoft Forms (read-only) report in your Office 365 or Microsoft 365 account. To see the results, including who voted for what, open Microsoft Forms and find the poll you created.

Click the poll to open it and then select the " Responses " tab.

Immediately, the results analysis table will be displayed. Click ' View Results ' to see how each person voted, or click ' Open in Excel ' to export the results to a spreadsheet.

Unlike forms you create yourself, you can't give anyone else permission to collaborate. So only you can see these entire breakdowns (unless you export them to a spreadsheet and share them with others).

Marvin Fry

Update 19 October 2023