How to Create a Poll in Teams (and Make It Anonymous)

Are Teams polls anonymous? Names are only recorded if you select Record names of respondents. Microsoft does not say who else can see responses.

You can post a poll in a Microsoft Teams chat or channel from the compose box. The steps below are the ones Microsoft documents for the Polls app in a chat or channel.

How to create a poll in Teams

Microsoft uses the same steps for a chat and a channel. From Create a poll in Microsoft Teams:

1. Select Actions and apps on the right side of the compose box where you type your message. If Polls is not in the menu, select Find more apps, or select Apps on the left side of Teams.
2. Enter your question and at least two answer choices. You can use a suggested response or type your own. Select Options to add more answers.
3. Turn on Multiple selections if people should be able to choose more than one answer.
4. Optionally, select Record names of respondents. Only you see the responses. If you want, select Share aggregated results with respondents.
5. Select Preview. Select Edit to change the poll, or Send to publish it in the chat or channel.

People vote by choosing an option on the poll card and selecting Submit Vote. The response summary on the card updates as they vote.

Are Teams polls anonymous?

Names are only recorded if you select Record names of respondents (Microsoft lists it as optional, and only you see the responses). Microsoft's page does not say who else in your organisation can see responses. On the Responses Overview page in Microsoft Forms, if you selected to record participant names, More details shows the name and answer of each participant.

In a Teams meeting, the desktop Polls tab has its own option, Record names of respondents, and Microsoft says those names are only visible to the meeting organizer and presenters in the app. On mobile, Microsoft lists Keep responses anonymous as a setting you can select. Those meeting controls are documented on Poll attendees during a Teams meeting.

If it matters that nobody in your organisation can see who voted, use a link-based poll instead, which collects no name, email or account.

How to create an anonymous poll for Teams in 60 seconds

A Teams poll card can still record names if someone turns that option on. A separate link never uses that setting. Anyone who can open the link can vote, including people who are not in the Teams poll.

Step 1 — Create your poll at AnonPolls

Go to anonpolls.com. No signup, no email, no Teams account needed.

Type your question, add your answer options, choose a duration, and click Create Poll. You will see a unique link immediately.

Step 2 — Paste the link into Teams

Copy the poll link and paste it into the Teams channel, group chat, or meeting chat.

People open the link, vote in the browser, and the totals update as votes come in. No add-in. The median AnonPolls poll got its first vote from someone other than its creator within 0.06 hours, about four minutes (how groups vote).

Step 3 — Share results back in Teams

Once voting closes, or whenever you want to share the outcome, paste the same link back into Teams. Anyone who clicks it sees the current totals. You can also screenshot the results and post the image in the channel.

Anonymous suggestion box in Teams

Use this when you want suggestions, not a show of hands with names attached.

1. Create the question on anonpolls.com. Two to five options is enough for a suggestion box, such as "What should we change in stand-up?"
2. Copy the link and paste it in the Teams channel or chat with one line, for example "Anonymous suggestion box — open the link and vote. Takes 10 seconds."
3. Anyone in the conversation can open the link in a browser and vote. Paste the same link again when you want the channel to see the totals.

The anonymous poll for Teams page is the tool walkthrough if you want the steps without this article.

Why a link is useful next to the native poll

For a quick decision inside one chat, the native poll card is the shortest path. Microsoft documents it as a real-time poll in that chat or channel.

A link is the better fit when you do not want a Record names switch on the poll at all, or when people outside that poll card should be able to vote. Recurring check-ins work the same way each week: create the question, paste the link, then paste it again when you share the totals.

Use cases that come up most in Teams

Sprint retrospectives — "What should we start, stop, or continue?" as a link in the channel, so the vote is not a named reply in the thread.

Meeting timing — "Which time works for the weekly sync?" without each person posting their preference as a chat message.

Decision tie-breaking — When a team is split, a link vote collects totals the channel can reopen later.

Anonymous manager feedback — "How is the team feeling this week?" as a suggestion-box link rather than a poll that can record names.

Feature prioritisation — "Which of these three features should we build next?" shared as a link the whole channel can open.

A note on privacy

AnonPolls doesn't collect accounts or names. Creators see only totals, never who voted for what. To limit repeat votes, it stores a one-way hash of the voter's network address with the vote, not the address itself.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you create a poll in a Teams chat?

In the chat compose box, select Actions and apps, then Polls. Enter a question and at least two choices, then select Preview and Send. Microsoft documents the same steps for a channel. Source: Create a poll in Microsoft Teams.

Are Teams polls anonymous?

Names are only recorded if you select Record names of respondents (Microsoft lists it as optional, and only you see the responses). Microsoft's page does not say who else in your organisation can see responses.

Can you see who voted in a Teams poll?

Microsoft says only you see the responses if you select Record names of respondents. More details on the Responses Overview page then shows the name and answer of each participant. Microsoft's page does not say who else in your organisation can see responses.

Try it now

Create an anonymous Teams poll in under 60 seconds — start here. No signup and no add-in.

If you have questions about using AnonPolls in a workplace setting, get in touch.

— Ashraf