Form behavior for returning responders

What happens when visitors return to a flow they already started on?

When a responder returns to a flow that they already started but have not finished, you have control over where they will be placed within the flow. This applies to flows that are accessed directly by their URL, and those that are embedded on another site.

By default, Formsort stores a user's submission data for ~3 weeks. After this window has elapsed, Formsort will purge stored answers that are associated with the user's responder UUID, and the user will start from the beginning when they return to complete their form.

This data is used to restore a user's previous session, if the returning responder behavior (below) is configured to restore previous session when a user returns.

For more information, see our data retention policy.

To configure the Returning responder behavior, navigate to the Settings tab inside any variant.

Start each session as a new responder

When this flag is enabled, every time a responder returns to a flow they are treated as a new responder. As such:

• No previous answers are loaded, and Formsort will not keep a record of answers progress;

• A new responder UUID is generated at each visit (including on refresh);
• User is not pinned to a variant they may have previously seen;

• Any Formsort-related cookies will be cleared from the user's browser on browser refresh, including any answers passed in as a cookie via External Variable.

Altogether, this means a user can restart a session by refreshing their browser, or by navigating to the form in a fresh browser or tab.

You can still force-set a particular responder UUID by passing the UUID in as a URL parameter, but this will not load any previous session related to the responder UUID, which is the usual behavior. See Setting the responder UUID manually for more information.

When "start each session as a new responder" is disabled, returning responders will retain their responder UUID in their browser cookies upon subsequent visits, and their previous session will be loaded. This is default Formsort behavior. A user is considered a "returning responder" when they revisit a flow using the same browser they initially started their flow from.

See Reponder UUIDs for a closer look at how we create IDs for your users.

Start at furthest point

This setting is enabled by default. Returning responders are placed at the furthest point in the flow that they had previously reached, with their existing answers present. This ensures that if the browser is reloaded, the flow will be at the same part of the flow, with the same answers.

Start at beginning, discard answers

With start at beginning, discard answers enabled, every time a responder returns to a flow, they will start with an empty set of answers. This new session will still be keyed using their existing responder UUID.

Start at beginning, keep answers

With start at beginning, keep answers set, when responders return, their answers will be loaded into the flow and they will be keyed with their existing responder UUID, but they will be at the beginning of the form.

This is useful if you would like responders to review submissions to their previous answers when returning.

For a description of the rest of the settings in Behavior, check out the Variant settings top section.