Understanding How Form Submission Data Is Stored

The Form Builder preserves submission data even when the form changes later.

This means form edits can change what future users see, but they do not automatically erase older submission data.

• If a field is deleted, past submission data for that field remains stored and can still appear in exports.
• If a field is renamed, saved data remains connected to that field. Future exports can show the updated label.
• If fields are reordered, existing submission data is not reordered in the database. Export columns are based on database creation order, not necessarily the current visual order of the form.
• If a field type changes, older submissions remain as originally entered. New submissions use the current field type.
• If two fields have the same label, their values are stored separately. In exports, this can result in two columns with the same or similar names.

Checkbox values are exported in a single cell. When more than one option is selected, values are separated by semicolons.

File Upload fields are stored as links or file references in exports. The file must still exist on the server for the link to remain useful.

Signature fields are stored as links to generated image files.

This preservation behavior is useful because it protects older submissions from being lost during form improvements. It also means you should review exports carefully when a form has changed over time.

Learn More

For exporting submissions, see Viewing, Filtering, Exporting, and Deleting Form Submissions. For editing field labels and layout, see Configuring Form Fields and Layout.