Update Existing Responses

The Update Existing Responses feature allows you to modify previously collected survey responses by importing a data file. Rather than deleting and re-entering data, you can selectively update specific responses using a matching criterion, apply filters to target a precise subset, and even associate responses with a Directory or Activity — all in a single guided import workflow.

To update existing responses, follow the steps below:

1. Go to the Data module of the project in which you want to update the responses.
2. On the Data menu bar, click Import.
3. On the first step of the Import Wizard, select Update Existing Responses.

When Update Existing Responses is selected, My data file has a unique column is automatically enabled and cannot be changed, as a unique column is required to match responses.

4. Upload the data file containing the updated information. Supported formats are .csv, .xls, and .xlsx.
5. If you want to associate the updated responses with a Directory or Activity, enable Link responses with a Directory?. Then choose one of the following:
• Link responses with Directory only — This option allows you to associate responses with a specific directory. You are required to select a directory in this step and map a unique directory field to the corresponding field in your data file in the Map Columns step.
• Link responses with Directory and Activity — This option allows you to associate responses with both a directory and its linked activity. You are required to select the directory and activity in this step, and then map the activity field to the corresponding field in your data file in the Map Columns step.

• You can update and associate responses with a Directory or Activity only if they are not already associated with one. For responses already linked to a Directory or Activity, the existing association will remain unchanged. However, updates to their answers and metadata will still be applied.
• Associating an Activity with the responses automatically links the Respondent Directory and Feedback Directory (if applicable).
6. Click Continue to proceed to the Update Settings step.
7. In Update Settings, define how the system should match rows in your data file to existing responses. Only responses that satisfy this criterion will be updated.
For example: If your data file contains a column called Response No, you can map it to Response ID in the Update Criteria to identify which existing responses should be updated.


Select the criterion type from the first dropdown, and then map it to the corresponding fields from your data file. The following criterion types are available:

• Response ID — Matches responses using the Sogolytics Response ID, mapped to a column in your uploaded file.
• Answer to Question — Matches responses based on the answer to a specific survey question, compared against a column in your file.
• Respondent Directory Field — Matches responses using a field from the linked Respondent Directory, compared against a column in your file.
• Feedback Recipient Directory Field — Matches responses using a field from the Feedback Recipient’s Directory, compared against a column in your file.
• Activity Field — Matches responses using a field from a linked Activity, compared against a column in your file.
• Email Address / Phone Number / Unique ID — Matches responses using the contact’s unique identifier, compared against a column in your file.
• IP Address — Matches responses based on the respondent’s IP Address, compared against a column in your file.

• The Update Criteria uses only the ‘equals’ operator.
• Selections are progressive — subsequent dropdowns appear as each preceding selection is made.
• You can use Directory and Activity fields as the matching criterion even if you did not choose to link responses with a Directory or Activity in the previous step.
• If your file contains duplicate values in the selected matching column, clicking Continue will display an error: Duplicate values detected. Please review your file and remove duplicates before proceeding.
8. After defining the Update Criteria, choose which responses should be updated:
• Update responses that match the above criteria — All responses that match the Update Criteria will be updated.
• Update a filtered sub-set of responses — Apply additional filter conditions to narrow down which matching responses are updated.

If you select Update a filtered sub-set of responses, specify one or more filter conditions. Filter conditions can be built using any of the following:

• Answer to a Question — with operators based on question type and answer options
• Directory Field — with operators based on the field data type
• Activity Field — with operators based on the field data type
• Response ID — operators: contains, does not contain, is one of the following, is not one of the following, is exactly one of the following, is exactly not one of the following, equals
• Email Address / Phone Number / Unique ID — same operators as Response ID
• IP Address — same operators as Response ID
• Response Period — all options available in Custom Dashboard Filters

You can add up to 10 filter conditions. After adding your conditions, define the logic that applies between them by selecting All (AND), Any (OR), or Custom.

9. If the Update Criteria matches multiple existing responses to a single row in your data file, choose which of those responses should be updated:
• Update Most Recent Response (Default) — Only the most recently submitted matching response will be updated.
• Update All Responses — All responses matching the criterion for that row will be updated.
10. Click Continue to proceed to the Map Columns step.
11. Map Columns: In this step, match each column in your data file to the corresponding survey question or metadata field in the project.

• For Multi Select Checkbox (MSCB) and Multi Select Listbox (MSLB) questions, the number of selected items can differ from the original response, but cannot be reduced to zero. For example, you may change 3 selections to 1, 2, or 4 — but not to 0 (Did Not Answer).
• Blank values in your file will not overwrite existing responses with ‘Did Not Answer’.
• Columns mapped to ‘None’ will not overwrite existing response data.
• Response Start and End Times will not be updated, regardless of what is mapped.
12. If you chose to link responses with a Directory or Activity in Step 5, you must also map a unique Directory or Activity field column here.
13. After completing the mapping, click Continue. If the system detects any mismatches, they will be displayed on the next screen. Review and resolve them before proceeding.
14. If no mismatches are found, a confirmation screen will appear. Review the following before proceeding:
• Updating your survey responses will overwrite the existing ones.
• This may affect reports and analytics.
• Once updated, old responses cannot be restored.
• Take a backup if you may need the current responses.

Type UPDATE RESPONSES in the confirmation field and click Submit to complete the import.

All responses updated through this import will have a note added in the Individual Report. This note includes the update timestamp and the User ID of the person who performed the import.