It's always best to double-check! When you're finished drafting your survey and want to preview your work, you can do so in several ways—both before and after launch.
In This Article
- Survey Author Preview
- Sharing the Survey
- Direct Preview
- Preview Modes
- Accessing Live Survey Previews
Survey Author Preview
As the survey author or a Collaborator, Quick Preview offers the most flexibility—for viewing and testing your survey before launch.
- From the Survey Editor page, click Quick Preview in the left sidebar. The preview will open in a new tab and enter Researcher Mode.
- Click the X in the upper right to return to the Survey Editor.
💡 Tip: Use the QR code generated in the upper left corner of the survey preview to quickly pull up the survey on a different device. Click the tablet or smartphone icon at the top left of the Quick Preview menu to activate the QR code.
⚠️ Note: You can preview the survey in three modes—see Preview Modes below for details.
Sharing the Survey
- Click the share icon on the left side of the Survey Editor.
- Click the Copy button at the bottom of the popup.
- Send the URL to anyone—they can preview and test the survey as if they were a respondent. Their answers will not be recorded.
- Check the box next to Enable researcher preview tool to allow collaborators to view in Researcher Mode.
Direct Preview
While we recommend using the Quick Preview tool to review your entire survey before launch, you can also jump to a preview of individual questions—from any point in the Survey Editor.
- Hover over the space above the Question field to reveal the Preview link.
- Click this link to jump into a Ghost Mode preview of that particular question.
- Click the X in the upper right corner of Preview mode to return to the Survey Editor.
Preview Modes
On the Survey Editor page, click Quick Preview in the left sidebar to enter preview mode. There are three modes:
| Mode | What You Can Do |
|---|---|
| Respondent Mode | Emulates a live survey experience. You follow all logic paths as a respondent would—all limits and logic apply. If you have quota groups set on your Target Market page, you can test each group; answering outside the selected group terminates the survey. |
| Researcher Mode | Test logic paths with flexibility. Click View/Logic options to toggle settings and use the Q# dropdown to jump to questions. Toggles: Question Labels — Shows question numbers as they appear in the Survey Editor (default on). Turn off to see respondent numbering. Show Navigation Hints — Displays accept/reject markers on PQs and backend navigation. Show aytm Logic — View conditional logic (e.g., [show if Q1A1]). Routing is always active; this only controls visibility. |
| Ghost Mode | Walk through walls—jump to any question and view all navigation and logic without restrictions. Routing is always suppressed so you move freely throughout the survey. Has the same controls as Researcher Mode but always bypasses logic routing. |
Accessing Live Survey Previews
Everything above works on a draft, but previewing isn't only a pre-launch tool. You can preview a survey that's currently in field, paused, or already finished collecting—from the Dashboard or from the survey's Stats Page.
From the Dashboard
- On the Dashboard, find the survey you want to preview. It can be at any stage—in field, paused, or finished.
- Open the survey's actions menu and select Preview.
- The preview opens in an overlay on top of the Dashboard. Click the X in the upper right to close it and return to your survey list.
⚠️ Note: The Dashboard preview opens in Ghost Mode, which always bypasses logic routing. If you're checking a skip pattern or a logic path, switch to Respondent Mode or Researcher Mode using the mode icons in the preview toolbar first. See Preview Modes above.
💡 Tip: The Preview option appears when a single survey is selected. If you've selected several surveys at once, clear the selection down to one.
From the Stats Page (Target tab)
- On the survey's Stats Page click the Target tab in the sidebar.
- Next to "See how survey takers saw this survey", click the preview icon.
- The preview opens in a new browser tab, starting in Respondent Mode.
⚠️ Note: This is a shortcut to the same full preview tool—it is not a filtered view. It doesn't scope to a particular target group or quota, and it ignores any filters or segments you've applied to your results. Each time you open it, you start a fresh preview session.
Key Notes for Live Previews
- Nothing you do in preview touches your live data. Preview answers are never recorded, never counted as completes, never fill a quota, and never consume a panelist. Your incidence rate and field time are unaffected. Preview a live survey as often as you like.
- All three preview modes remain available after launch, from both entry points. Previewing a live survey is not view-only.
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Only the starting mode differs by where you launched the preview from:
- the Dashboard opens in Ghost Mode
- the Target tab opens in Respondent Mode
- Quick Preview in the Survey Editor opens in Researcher Mode.
- Logic behaves exactly as it does in the field. Respondent and Researcher modes apply your live logic and limits; Ghost Mode still suppresses routing so you can move freely.
- In Respondent Mode you can't jump between questions or switch modes mid-session—doing either starts a new preview session, just as before launch.
- Quota group testing still works. If your survey has more than one quota group, the quota selector appears in Respondent Mode so you can test each group in turn.
- A live preview shows the version in field. On a draft, each preview reflects your latest edits. Once a survey launches, its content is locked, so the preview shows exactly what respondents are seeing.