Unlocking the power of Smartsheet forms with logic, custom summaries, and prefilled fields

Most people know that Smartsheet forms are a great way to collect data. They’re simple to set up, easy to share, and give you a straightforward way to capture information into a sheet. But far fewer people realise just how smart these forms can be.

With a little configuration, forms don’t just gather information, they guide the user, keep your data clean, and can even be personalised or send personalised responses. At Smarter Business Processes (SBP), we help clients unlock features like form logic, custom summaries, and prefilled fields to make forms more efficient, more accurate, and much friendlier for the end user.

Smartsheet form logic: show and hide fields

One of the most common mistakes we see is people making fields optional with notes like “Only fill in if applicable.” It’s confusing, it clutters the form, and it leads to incomplete or inaccurate responses.

Smartsheet’s conditional logic fixes this. You can configure forms so fields only appear when they’re relevant. For example, if a user selects “Requesting refund”, only then does a box for “Reason for refund” appear. If not, it stays hidden.

This approach keeps forms short and clear, which encourages more people to complete them as well as improving the quality of the data you get back.

Custom email summaries instead of “send me a copy”

By default, Smartsheet lets people tick a box to receive a copy of their responses. While handy, this option is limited: they simply receive a list of each field and answer, with no context or reference.

A smarter approach is to create a customised automation that emails back a formatted summary. For example, you can:

• Include a unique reference number generated by Smartsheet.
• Merge multiple responses into a single paragraph (“mail merge” style) for readability.
• Add a thank-you message or next steps.

Instead of a list with no context, the respondent receives a professional, personalised confirmation reminding them of their entries. 

For instance: “Thank you for your 5-star review of our app. You commented ‘Great service’ and confirmed you’re happy for us to share this feedback. Your reference number is #12345.”

It’s clearer for the user and far more useful for your records. Don’t forget SBP offer comprehensive training on how to do all these things See here for a list of workshop topics.

Prepopulating form fields

Another powerful feature is the ability to pre-fill fields. By adding simple query strings to your form URL, you can populate details such as name, email, or purchased product before the user even opens the form.

This reduces friction and makes it far more likely you’ll get comprehensive (and accurate) data. A customer leaving a product review doesn’t have to dig out their order details, they just click the link, confirm what’s already there, and type their feedback. 

Internally, teams can save time by pre-filling project IDs or client names to avoid duplicate entry errors.

Less effort means higher completion rates and more accurate data. See our previous top tips for details on how to achieve this, prefill forms 1 and Query Strings 2

Why it matters

Forms are often the first step in a workflow. If they’re cluttered, confusing, or time-consuming, users may give up or worse, enter incorrect information. By using logic, summaries, and prefilled fields, you create a smoother experience for respondents and better-quality data for your business.

At SBP, we specialise in configuring Smartsheet forms that do more than collect information. We design them to work smarter, save time, and give you the insights you need.  We can even give you Smarter Forms, that not only collect new data, but allow you to partially save and return to a submission, or even edit data from a previously submitted record.

If you think your forms could work harder for you, contact us for a free discovery call and we’ll show you how we can help.