How to export your data from SurveyMonkey

SurveyMonkey lets you export survey results as PDF, PPT, XLS, CSV, or SPSS files (plus quick PNG chart exports), either as question-by-question summaries or raw individual responses, from the Analyze results screen of each survey.

Formats: CSV, XLS, PDF, PPT, SPSS, PNGPlan: Paid plan (Exports is flagged as a paid feature on SurveyMonkey's help pages and is not confirmed available on the Free plan)Role: Access to the survey's Analyze results section (survey owner or a collaborator with view/edit rights)

✓ Verified against SurveyMonkey's official documentation, September 2026

Step by step

1Open the survey and go to the Analyze results section.
2Select Export from the top toolbar, then choose New export.
3Pick an export type: Question summaries (per-question charts/tables) or Individual responses (raw per-respondent data).
4Choose a File format: PDF, PPT, XLS, CSV, or SPSS (SPSS and the full format list are only offered for Individual responses).
5Set export options such as paper size/orientation, XLS sheet layout, and toggle 'Open-ended responses' if you want text/comment-box answers included, then optionally rename the file.
6Select Export and wait for the on-screen notification that your Download is ready.
7Download the file - it may arrive as a ZIP, so decompress it before opening the CSV/XLS/PDF inside.
8To re-download later, go to Export > Previous exports, where files remain available for 14 days; note that surveys with over 100,000 responses (or respondents x questions over 100,000) can only be exported as CSV.

What the export includes

✓Question summaries: question text, answer options, response counts and percentages per choice, and how many respondents answered vs. skipped each question
✓Individual responses: one row per respondent with their answers, organized by question column (XLS/CSV) or laid out per-respondent (PDF)
✓Open-ended text answers from comment boxes, textboxes, or 'Other' fields, but only if the 'Open-ended responses' option is selected during export
✓Charts and presentation-ready tables in PDF/PPT/XLS question-summary exports
✓Page Order variables for incomplete responses on surveys using skip logic or randomization (these are not meant for data analysis)

What it doesn't include

✗The underlying survey design itself (question logic, page structure, themes) is not part of a results export - only response/summary data is exported
✗Open-ended text answers are excluded unless you explicitly enable the 'Open-ended responses' option
✗CSV question-summary exports include response counts and percentages only - the tables/charts you get in XLS or PDF are not included in CSV
✗SPSS export is a .SAV file that requires separate statistical software (e.g., SPSS) to open

Before you start

⚠Exports are marked a 'Paid feature' in SurveyMonkey's help docs - log in to confirm it's included on your plan before relying on it
⚠Surveys with more than 100,000 responses, or where respondents multiplied by questions exceeds 100,000, can only be exported as CSV - other formats are disabled
⚠Downloaded exports may be a ZIP file that needs to be decompressed before you can open the CSV/XLS/PDF inside
⚠Previously generated exports are only accessible for 14 days via Export > Previous exports, after which you'd need to re-export
⚠CSV and XLS contain the same raw data, but CSV is plain text (comma-separated) while XLS supports rich formatting - some users need Excel's Text Import Wizard (Delimited/Comma/Text) to open CSVs correctly if Unicode characters, single-column data, or date/fraction conversion issues occur
⚠Page Order variables in response exports are only populated for incomplete responses (they're cleared once a respondent finishes) and should not be used for analysis

Where to take your data

Free and cheaper tools that can take a SurveyMonkey export. See all SurveyMonkey alternatives →

Google Forms

Google Forms has no native 'import past responses' feature, so use the exported CSV/XLS only as a historical record (e.g., open it in Google Sheets for reference or reporting) while you manually rebuild the questions in a new Google Form.

Typeform

Alternatives SurveyMonkey vs Typeform

Typeform does not support importing external response data as live form submissions; rebuild the survey structure in Typeform and keep the SurveyMonkey CSV/XLS export as your historical results archive.

Tally

Alternatives SurveyMonkey vs Tally

Recreate the question set in Tally manually, then keep the SurveyMonkey export (CSV/XLS) as a separate backup/reference since Tally does not import legacy response rows as new form submissions.

Exporting from SurveyMonkey: common questions

Do I need a paid SurveyMonkey plan to export my data?+

SurveyMonkey's own help documentation labels 'Exports' as a paid feature, so a free account may not have export access - check by logging in and opening Analyze results > Export.

Should I export as CSV or XLS?+

Both contain the same raw data. CSV is plain comma-separated text (most portable across tools), while XLS keeps formatting and is generally easier to open directly in Excel.

Will my export include open-ended/text answers?+

Only if you select the 'Open-ended responses' option during export - otherwise comment box, textbox, and 'Other' answers are left out, and enabling it generates additional spreadsheets for those answers.

Does the export include my survey questions, logic, and design, or just the responses?+

Exports only cover response data and summaries (question summaries or individual responses) - the survey's question logic, pages, and theme are not part of these exports.

How long can I access an export after generating it?+

Generated export files remain available for 14 days under Export > Previous exports before you'd need to run the export again.

What if my survey has a huge number of responses?+

If a survey has more than 100,000 responses, or the number of respondents multiplied by questions exceeds 100,000, only the CSV export format is available.