You see who filled out a Notion form by opening the database behind it and reading the Respondent property (or a Created by property you add). That only works when the form is shared inside your workspace with Anonymous responses turned off. A public form records no names, so the only way to know a Notion form respondent there is to ask for an email in the form itself.
Where Notion stores each form response
Notion stores every form response as a new page in the database the form is connected to. According to Notion’s forms help, responses land by default in a Table view of that database named Responses, and each question shows up as a database property.
So “who filled it out” is just another column. Open the form, click through to the database, and switch to the Responses view.
You need at least Can view access to that database. If a teammate built the form and you can’t open it, ask them to share it.
How the Respondent property records names
The Respondent property is the column Notion adds to capture the name of each person who submits a form. Notion creates it automatically when you build a brand-new form from scratch.
If you built the form on top of a database you already had, there is no Respondent column. Notion’s help tells you to add a Created by property to that database instead. The database properties guide describes Created by as a field that automatically records the person who created the item, and it can’t be edited.
Say you turn your existing “Content ideas” database into a form for your team. Responses arrive, but you can’t tell who sent which idea. Add a Created by property, keep Anonymous responses off, and each new submission records the person who sent it.
Add a Created time property next to it and sort the newest submissions to the top.
Notion form respondent names by sharing setting
Whether a Notion form respondent gets a name depends on two settings: who can fill out the form, and the Anonymous responses toggle.
| Who can fill out | Anonymous responses | Name recorded? |
|---|---|---|
| Anyone at your workspace with link | Off | Yes, in Respondent or Created by |
| Anyone at your workspace with link | On | No |
| Anyone on the web with link | Not available | No, always anonymous |
| No access | Not available | Form is closed |
The public row is the one that surprises people. Notion’s help says forms shared with “Anyone on the web with link” are automatically anonymous. Many of those respondents don’t use Notion, so there’s no account to attach a name to.
For workspace forms, guests can only fill out the form if they already have access to the connected database. Members just need the link.
How to see who filled out your Notion form, step by step
To see who filled out a workspace form, check the share settings first, then read the name column in the database.
- Open the form and click Share.
- Under who can fill out, confirm it says Anyone at your workspace with link.
- Turn Anonymous responses off.
- Open the connected database. Brand-new forms already have a Respondent property; for older databases, add a Created by property.
- Switch to the Responses view and look at that column.
To find everything one person sent, filter on Respondent (or Created by) and pick their name. Save that as a view if you check it often.
While you’re in the share menu, look at Access to submission. It only appears for workspace-only forms with anonymous responses off, and it lets each respondent view, comment on or edit their own response page after submitting. No access blocks that.
What to do when your form is public
A public Notion form can’t tell you who filled it out, because Notion treats every web respondent as anonymous. The fix is to collect identity as an answer instead of relying on a property.
Add a required email question, and a name question if you need one. Each answer lands in a normal property you can filter and sort. Notion’s form settings can also email you a copy of each submission. For other alert options, see Notion form email notifications.
The catch: people can type any email they like, and nothing checks it. If identity matters (job applications, paid sign-ups), send a confirmation to that address before you trust it. The confirmation email guide covers the options.
My take: for anything outside your team, skip the Respondent column and ask for an email every time. It works the same on public and private forms, and it gives you a way to reply.
Using a form builder that writes to Notion
Third-party form builders that write to a Notion database work the same way as a public Notion form: the respondent fills out a web page, so the identity you get is whatever they type. In the Notion API, the created_by value is a read-only field that Notion sets itself, so a form tool can’t stamp a respondent’s name into it.
nDBForms is one of these. Respondents don’t need a Notion account, and each submission becomes a new row in your database. To know who sent each one, map an email question to an Email property. Inside a team, a Notion people question can write to a Person property instead, as the Notion person property setup shows.
The limitation is the same as any web form: nDBForms records what people enter, not who they are. Verifying an address is a separate step after the form.
Want the opposite? The anonymous Notion form guide covers fully anonymous forms.
Common mistakes
Most “I can’t see who submitted” problems come from one of these:
- Anonymous responses left on. Names are never recorded and can’t be recovered later.
- Sharing on the web and expecting names. Public forms are always anonymous.
- No Created by on an old database. Forms built on an existing database don’t add the Respondent column for you.
- Missing database access. The form link alone isn’t enough; you need Can view on the database.
FAQ
Where do Notion form responses go?
Each response becomes a page in the database behind the form. By default Notion shows them in a Table view named Responses, with each question as a property.
Why is the Respondent column empty on my Notion form?
Either Anonymous responses is turned on, or the form is shared with Anyone on the web with link. Public forms are always anonymous, so Notion records no name.
Can I see who filled out a public Notion form?
Not from Notion itself. Public forms are anonymous by default, so add a required email or name question and read that property instead.
Who can see the responses to my Notion form?
Anyone with at least Can view access to the database the form is connected to. Respondents can see their own response only if you grant Access to submission.