Allow respondents to change their answers to prior questions in link surveys by enabling backward navigation, which results in a back button showing in the Survey.

​

Overview

Backward navigation is a survey-level setting that lets respondents return to previous questions and change their answers while taking a Survey. It gives respondents a chance to correct mistakes or reconsider a response, which can improve the accuracy of the data collected.

​

Enable backward navigation

Backward navigation is off by default. To turn it on:

1. Create a new link Survey or locate an existing one
2. Switch to Edit mode
3. Go to the Settings tab and scroll to the Survey Navigation section
4. Toggle on the Allow backward navigation setting

The back button will appear in the preview once it refreshes. You can enable and disable backward navigation at any time, including while a survey is live. For any respondents taking the survey while the setting is changed, unless they refresh the tab, they’ll keep the experience they had in the Survey when they started it.

​

How backward navigation works

​

Supported question types

Backward navigation works with all question types except Voice & Video. For Conjoint and MaxDiff questions, going back takes the respondent through each task they saw for that question, one at a time. It’s not possible to go back to the start of either of these question types in one click.

​

What happens to answers when a respondent goes back

A respondent’s previous answers are preserved as they go back to prior questions. This way they can review their responses and move forward again without re-entering everything. If a respondent changes an answer that affects the survey’s flow or question-generation, some later answers may be cleared. This happens when:

• A changed answer triggers different study logic, such as a skip or branch, such that later questions no longer apply.
• Later questions, such as AI Dynamic Questions or AI Follow-ups, depend on the changed answer, which are generated from a respondent’s earlier input.

When this happens, the respondent needs to answer the affected or new questions.

​

User experience changes caused by the back button

When backward navigation is enabled, some visual adjustments are made to certain questions:

• Centered forward buttons move to the right.
  • Some question types normally display their forward button in the center of the content column. When the back button is present, the forward button moves to the right so the layout stays balanced.
• Questions without a forward button get one.
  • Some question types, such as MaxDiff, normally don’t have a forward button because selecting an answer moves the respondent forward automatically. With the back button enabled, these questions get both a back and a forward button to balance the user experience.

For questions that normally advance automatically, selecting an answer still moves the respondent forward. Because of this, the respondent may not see the forward button become active before the survey moves to the next question. This is expected behavior.

​

Limitations

The back button uses the respondent’s browser local storage, so respondents can only go back within a single session. If a respondent leaves the survey and later opens the original link again, in a different tab, on different browser, or at a later time, the survey starts over. In that new session, they can only go back through answers they submitted during that session.

​

Frequently asked questions

I enabled the back button, but it isn’t showing in my survey.
You may need to click into the preview or to the next question before the back button appears. Please note that the back button never appears on the first question of the Survey. A respondent went back and some of their later answers disappeared or changed. Why?
If a respondent changes an answer that affects survey logic, or that later questions are based on (such as AI Dynamic Questions or AI Follow-ups), the answers that may no longer apply are cleared so the respondent can answer them again. If a respondent uses the back button to take different paths through a Survey only their last path with be recorded. A respondent closed the survey and came back later. Why can’t they go back to their earlier answers?
For now, backward navigation only works within a single browser session. Reopening the Survey link in a new tab, a new browser, or a later session starts the survey over. Once the “resume” setting mentioned above is released, navigating back to answers given in prior sessions will be supported. Why does the forward button on a MaxDiff question not seem to do anything? Why is it even there?
Normally these questions advance automatically when an answer is selected so they do not have a forward button. However, when backward navigation is enabled, the forward button is shown so the user experience is consistent. To advance forward the respondent can either select their answer or the forward button if their answer is already populated.