FieldNotesYour workspace
How autosave works
FieldNotes forms save as you go, so you don’t lose your place.
Updated September 23, 2026
Your answers are always kept in your browser. On most forms they are also saved privately to FieldNotes, and if the form closes before you submit, what you had saved is sent to the organizer marked unfinished. Untick “Auto-submit” on the form’s first screen if you’d rather nothing is shared until you press Submit. Came back to a form? Press Back until you reach its first screen.
On your device
Every answer is kept in this browser’s local storage as you type. Reload the page, close the tab or lose your connection, and your answers will be waiting when you open the link again. The first screen asks whether to Continue where I left off or Start my own response. If someone else uses the same device, they choose Start my own response and get a separate, new response.
Files are the one exception. A PDF or image you chose exists only in the tab that chose it, so pick it again after a reload. Files upload only when you submit. Previews and sample forms save nothing at all.
Saved to FieldNotes, with auto-submit
On forms whose organizer keeps unfinished responses, the first screen has a box that’s ticked for you: Auto-submit my answers if this form closes before I finish. While it’s ticked, your answers are also saved to FieldNotes a moment after you change them. You’ll see “Saved” at the bottom of the screen.
While the form is open, nobody can read that saved copy, including the organizer. They see only how many people are partway through.
When the form closes
If the organizer closes the form before you submit, the answers you had saved are added to their responses, marked Unfinished, with the questions as they stood at that moment. Only answers on the route you took are included; questions you skipped are not. Files aren’t included, because they upload only when you submit.
If the organizer reopens the form, you can pick up where you left off and submit. Your finished response replaces the unfinished one.
Changing your mind
- Untick the box on the form’s first screen at any time before it closes. If you chose Continue, press Back until you reach the first screen. Your saved copy is deleted from FieldNotes straight away, and your answers stay only on this device until you submit.
- Start my own response starts a separate, new response. It replaces the answers kept on this device, but it doesn’t delete a copy already saved to FieldNotes, so it can’t erase someone else’s work. That copy is still sent to the organizer, marked unfinished, if the form closes. To remove it, choose Continue where I left off and untick the box.
- Submitting replaces the saved copy with your finished response. It doesn’t replace a copy left behind when someone chose Start my own response.
If the form changes while you’re answering
Organizers sometimes edit a form that’s already live. Your answers to questions that still exist carry over, and FieldNotes tells you the form was updated so you can check them before you submit. Answers to questions that were removed are dropped.
For organizers
Each form has a Keep unfinished responses setting in its Settings tab. It’s on for new forms. While a form is open you see a count of respondents partway through, never their answers. Closing the form adds everyone who left auto-submit ticked to Responses, marked Unfinished, and they appear in CSV and JSON exports with that status. Turning the setting off deletes every saved copy for that form immediately.
Let people know what you’ll do with unfinished answers, especially in research where a partial response may matter. Delete any you won’t use.
Questions or deletion
Email legal@zadmin.dev with the form link. How we handle this information is covered in the privacy policy.