Close a Qualtrics survey by opening your project, clicking the survey name, then selecting "Close Survey" from the Collect tab

When you close a survey in Qualtrics, you stop collecting new responses immediately. The survey link stops working, and anyone who tries to access it will see a message that the survey is closed. All responses you collected before closing remain in your account and stay available for analysis — closing does not delete anything.

You can close a survey temporarily and reopen it later, or close it permanently. The steps are the same either way. Most people close a survey when they have enough responses, when their research period ends, or when they need to make changes to the questions.

Key Takeaways

  • Closing a survey stops new responses from coming in but does not delete the responses you already collected.
  • The survey link becomes inactive as soon as you close it, and respondents will see a closed message if they try to access it.
  • You can reopen a closed survey at any time without losing your data or changing your questions.
  • Closing takes about 30 seconds and requires only a few clicks from the Collect tab in your survey.

Steps to close your survey

Start by logging into your Qualtrics account and navigating to the project that contains the survey you want to close. On the left side of the screen, you will see a list of your surveys. Click on the name of the survey you want to close.

Once the survey opens, look for the Collect tab at the top of the page. Click it. You will see options for managing how responses come in, including links and distribution settings. Near the top right of the Collect tab, you will find a button or link labeled Close Survey. Click that button. Qualtrics will ask you to confirm that you want to close the survey. Click Confirm or Yes to complete the action.

The survey is now closed. The status will change to "Closed" in your project list, and the survey link will no longer work. If someone tries to open the link, they will see a message saying the survey is closed.

What happens to your responses when you close

All the responses you collected before closing stay in your account. You can still view them, download them, run reports, and analyze them exactly as you could before. Closing the survey does not touch your data in any way.

If you need to see your responses, go to the Data & Analysis tab in your project. Your responses will be there, organized by the date they came in. You can filter, sort, and export them as needed.

Reopening a closed survey

If you close a survey and later decide you want to collect more responses, you can reopen it. Go back to the Collect tab and look for an Open Survey or Reopen Survey button. Click it and confirm. The survey will be active again, and the link will work for new respondents.

When you reopen a survey, all your previous responses remain in the system. New responses will be added to the same dataset, so you will have all your data in one place. The questions and settings stay exactly as they were before you closed it.

Closing versus deleting — what is the difference

Closing a survey stops new responses but keeps everything else intact. You can reopen it, view the data, and run reports. Deleting a survey removes it from your account entirely, and you cannot recover it. If you think you might want to collect more responses later, close the survey instead of deleting it.

To delete a survey, you would go to your project list, right-click the survey name, and select Delete. Qualtrics will warn you that deletion is permanent. Closing is the safer choice if you are unsure.

Common reasons to close a survey

You might close a survey because you have reached your target number of responses and do not need more data. You might close it because your research period or deadline has passed. You might also close it temporarily while you review the responses and make changes to the questions before reopening it.

Some people close surveys when they move to a new phase of their project — for example, closing the initial survey and opening a follow-up survey with different questions. Others close surveys when they discover an error in the wording and want to fix it before collecting more responses.

Checking the status of your survey

You can see whether a survey is open or closed by looking at your project list. Each survey shows its current status next to the name. An open survey will show "Active" or "Open," and a closed survey will show "Closed." If you are inside the survey itself, the Collect tab will also display the status at the top.

If you are not sure whether a survey is open or closed, the quickest way to check is to look at the project list. You can also try opening the survey link in a new browser window — if it is closed, you will see the closed message instead of the survey questions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will my respondents see a message when they try to access a closed survey?

Yes. When someone clicks a link to a closed survey, they will see a message saying the survey is no longer accepting responses. The exact wording depends on your Qualtrics settings, but the message will make it clear that the survey is closed.

Can I close a survey without losing my data?

Yes. Closing a survey does not delete or change any of your responses. All your data stays in the Data & Analysis tab and remains available for reports and analysis. You can close and reopen a survey as many times as you need without affecting your data.

What if I close a survey by mistake?

You can reopen it immediately by going to the Collect tab and clicking the Reopen Survey button. Your responses and settings will be exactly as they were. There is no penalty for closing and reopening — you can do this as many times as needed.

Does closing a survey stop emails or notifications?

Closing the survey stops new responses, but it does not automatically cancel reminder emails or notifications you set up. If you have automated emails scheduled to go out, you may need to cancel those separately in your distribution settings.

Can I close just part of a survey?

No. When you close a survey in Qualtrics, you close the entire survey at once. You cannot close individual questions or sections. If you need to stop collecting certain types of responses, you would need to close the whole survey and create a new one with different questions.