Email notifications in forms and surveys
The Notifications settings in the form or survey builder send an alert to your team on every submission and an optional automated confirmation email to the person who submitted. Both emails are configured in one panel, and each is set up separately.
Open notification settings
Open the notification settings from the Form or Survey builder.
Go to Sites > Forms or Sites > Surveys.
Select an existing form or survey, or create a new one.
In the builder, open the Notifications tab. The panel shows two options: the Email notification for your team and the Auto responder for the submitter.
In an older layout, a bell icon in the upper-left corner of the form builder opens the same notification settings.
Configure the team Email notification
The Email notification is an alert to your team whenever someone submits the form or survey. Common uses include new membership applications, event registrations, contact requests, volunteer applications, sponsorship inquiries, and support requests — notifications let your team start processing submissions without constantly checking the Forms area.
In the notification settings panel, fill in the Email notification fields.
Enter a Subject. If left blank, the form or survey name is used.
Enter one or more recipient email addresses in Email (To).
Enter the Reply-to-email, the address that receives replies.
Enter a Sender name. If left blank, your organization's name is used.
Optional: select Send form submission as a PDF to attach a PDF of the submission to the email.
Click Save.
Configure the Auto responder
The Auto responder sends an automated confirmation email to the person who submitted, and it can include a copy of the information they entered. Keep the message brief and informative: thank the user, confirm the form was received, explain what happens next, include important dates or timelines, and add contact information in case they need help.
Thank you for registering for our conference! Your registration has been received, and a confirmation email with additional event details will arrive shortly.
In the notification settings panel, fill in the Auto responder fields.
Enter a Subject. It defaults to the form name.
Enter the Reply-to-email.
Enter a Sender name. If left blank, your organization's name is used.
Optional: select Send form submission as a PDF to attach a PDF of the submission to the confirmation email.
Click Save.
The Auto responder's Reply-to-email applies only to the email sent to the submitter. Replies to the team notification go to the address in the Email notification's Reply-to-email field.
Attach submissions as a PDF
Select Send form submission as a PDF in either notification card to attach a PDF of the completed submission to that email — to your team, to the submitter, or both. The PDF of the submitted form, survey, or quiz is generated from the submission record at send time, so no manual download is required.
PDF copies are useful when applications need to be reviewed, registrations require documentation, signed agreements should be retained, or staff need a printable version of the responses.
In the submissions view, a PDF layout selector lets you compare New and Old formatting.
Test your notifications
After saving the form or survey, open its Preview, submit a test response, and confirm the notification and Auto Responder emails reach the intended recipients. When you save the notification settings, click Save in the upper-right corner of the builder as well to save the form itself.
View survey responses after a notification
Email notifications are alerts only and do not include full survey responses. To review what was submitted, go to Sites > Surveys > Submissions, review the list, then click an individual entry to see all responses.
Form submissions are also recorded in the submitter's activity history — see Viewing Member Activity.
Best practices
Send a confirmation email for every important form.
Notify the appropriate staff members immediately when a submission arrives.
Keep auto responder emails brief and informative.
Include next steps in the confirmation whenever possible.
Test all notifications before publishing the form.
Common mistakes
Forgetting to configure notifications after creating a form.
Sending notifications to the wrong email address.
Using an auto responder that doesn't explain what happens next.
Assuming staff will manually check for new submissions.
Publishing a form without testing its notification emails.
Limitations
Both Email Notification and Auto Responder emails consume email credits. If credits are exhausted, neither type sends until credits are added; monitor usage in your account's email reporting or billing area.
Email (To) accepts static email addresses only. Merge fields such as {{user.email}} or {{contact.email}} are not supported there. If multiple addresses are entered, valid addresses still receive the notification while invalid addresses fail silently without blocking delivery to the valid recipients, so verify addresses regularly to avoid repeated delivery failures.
Native email notifications apply to all submissions equally; conditional routing is not available through the notification sidebar. For conditional routing, use a workflow with the Form Submitted trigger, add conditions, and route notifications based on them — for example, to one team member when the answer is Option A and another when it is Option B.