Is SurveyMonkey anonymous? IP addresses, email invitations and collector settings
Short answer: not by default. Most SurveyMonkey collectors, including web links, record each respondent's IP address in the results. Email invitation collectors also record your email address and any name or custom data the sender loaded. A survey is anonymous only if the creator turns on Anonymous Responses in every collector.
What SurveyMonkey records, by collector
| Collector | Default | With Anonymous Responses on |
|---|---|---|
| Web link | IP address saved in results | IP not saved in results |
| Email invitation | Email, IP, plus first/last name and custom data if the sender added them | Personal information, or all respondent information, excluded from results |
| Respondent Authentication (SSO) | Your SSO profile is tracked | Never anonymous |
| Integrations (for example Microsoft Teams) | Depends on the integration | Controlled by the integration's own setting |
SurveyMonkey also says it keeps respondent IP addresses in backend logs and deletes them after 13 months. Those logs aren't part of the creator's results, but the data exists.
How to make a SurveyMonkey survey anonymous
- Open the survey and go to the collector list (Collect responses / Publish survey).
- Open each collector and turn Anonymous Responses on. For web links that means turning off saving the IP address in results.
- For email invitations, choose whether to exclude personal information or all respondent information.
- Repeat for every collector. The setting is per collector, so a second link you create later starts with the default.
- Don't use Respondent Authentication on a survey you call anonymous.
- Remove name, email and narrow demographic questions.
The email invitation problem
Even with Anonymous Responses on, an email invitation tells the sender who has and hasn't responded, which is how reminders work. The answers aren't tied to the person in the results, but the respondent can't verify that from their inbox. A survey link that arrives from your manager's address, and a reminder that arrives only after you've ignored it, both feel traceable, and people answer accordingly.
How to check a SurveyMonkey survey as a respondent
- A personalized email link means the sender knows who received it.
- A sign-in or SSO step means it isn't anonymous.
- Questions asking for name, team, role or tenure can identify you in combination.
- If you're unsure, ask the sender directly whether Anonymous Responses is on for that collector.
A different design
With SurveyMonkey, anonymity is something the creator configures. Wellness Pulse starts from the other end: there's no respondent account, no email invitation, and no IP address, cookie or device ID stored with a response, so there's nothing to turn on or forget. People answer from a QR code in the room or a shared link, which also tends to lift response rates. In one published case, about 71% of people who saw the QR answered, against 14% for the emailed survey (methodology). Full comparison: SurveyMonkey vs Wellness Pulse.
No email invitations, no IP addresses, no accounts. Unlimited responses for $30 a month per location.
Start for $30/month See how it works →Questions people ask
Is SurveyMonkey anonymous?
Not by default. Most collectors save IP addresses in the results, and email invitations track email addresses. It's anonymous only when Anonymous Responses is turned on in every collector and no authentication is used.
Can SurveyMonkey see my IP address?
Web link collectors record IP addresses in the results by default. If the creator turns on Anonymous Responses, the IP isn't saved in the results. SurveyMonkey says it keeps IP addresses in backend logs for 13 months.
If I got the survey by email, does the sender know my answers?
With an email invitation collector, the sender can see who responded. Whether your answers are linked to your email depends on the Anonymous Responses setting for that collector.
Can the creator turn anonymity off after I answer?
Responses collected with Anonymous Responses on are stored without the excluded information, so changing the setting later doesn't add it back to those responses.
Is a SurveyMonkey poll in Microsoft Teams anonymous?
It depends on the integration's own setting. Teams surveys record first and last names unless the creator chose to keep responses anonymous.
Settings described here come from each vendor's public help pages as of November 2026. Products change; check the current settings screen before you rely on them. Spot something out of date? Tell us.