Import a Qualtrics survey and its data.

Limits. Quotas, embedded data, skip logic, loop & merge, block randomizers and a few question types (constant sum and side-by-side among them) do not come across; the import names each one so you can rebuild it. A .qsf holds no responses: they come from a separate data export.

Before your Qualtrics access ends

If your university or company is ending its Qualtrics license, export two things from every survey you want to keep, while you can still sign in.

1. The survey, as a .qsf file. Open the survey, go to the Survey tab, click Tools, then Import/Export, then Export survey. Qualtrics says the file holds the survey’s formatting and settings but no responses, and that only Qualtrics can open it. Do not edit it.
2. The responses, as a data export. In the Data & Analysis tab, click Export & Import, then Export Data. Choose CSV or Excel, select Use numeric values and keep Download all fields checked, so every column comes with the survey’s codes.

Two more things are worth saving. A Word export of the survey gives you a readable copy with every recode value. And files that respondents uploaded stay with Qualtrics: the data export only links to them, so download them separately.

What comes across

What you rebuild in Studio

Nothing is dropped silently. Before you import, Studio lists each of these by name under Not imported, so you know what to rebuild:

• Question types: constant sum, side-by-side, drill-down, pick-group-rank, file upload, signature, timing, meta info, captcha, heat maps, hot spots, highlight, drawing, gap analysis, and matrices with multiple answers, bipolar or text entry.
• Survey flow: embedded data, quotas, web services and authenticators; loop & merge; block randomizers (pages keep their order).
• Logic: skip logic, choice display logic, and display logic that reads embedded data, quotas or panel data.
• Validation: anything other than force response and numeric ranges.

Studio has its own quotas, randomization and conditions on pages and questions, so you can rebuild most of these in the Builder.

Import the .qsf

1. Open a project in Studio, or create one. An import replaces the project’s working questionnaire, so give each survey its own project.
2. In the Builder, open More, then Import.
3. Drop the .qsf file on the dialog (up to 2 MB of UTF-8 text). Studio reads it on the server and checks it with the engine, then shows the pages, items and variables it found, the Not imported list and any warnings.
4. Click Import. Nothing is saved yet: Ctrl+Z (or Cmd+Z) takes you back.
5. Preview the survey, then Save with a message such as “Imported from Qualtrics”.

Imports are part of every plan, Free included. The full reference is Importing questionnaires in the Studio documentation.

Bring your responses

The answers you collected come from the data export. Studio reads them against the imported questionnaire, so they arrive labeled.

1. Import the .qsf and Save first: a data file is read against the questionnaire of the current Save.
2. Upload the CSV or Excel export under Files.
3. In a flow, add a Data file node and choose the file.

The node recognizes a Qualtrics export by itself. The row of question texts labels the columns instead of being read as a respondent, the ImportId row of a CSV is left out, dates and numbers get their types, and Finished reads as true or false. A column named Q1 is read as the questionnaire’s q1, and a multiple answer that Qualtrics writes as 1,3 becomes the list of its codes. An export of choice text works too.

A Qualtrics export also carries columns an analysis rarely needs: IPAddress, LocationLatitude and LocationLongitude, and with a contact list the recipient’s name and email. The node points them out, and Add a Select columns node without them leaves them out before anything else runs.

After importing, check these

1. Read the Not imported list and rebuild what matters.
2. Open Validation and fix what the engine reports.
3. Check the variable names: each one becomes a column in your data.
4. Read text that shared a page with questions: it now sits in the page’s Body, above the questions.
5. Check the codes of matrices and of Other and None options in the Codebook tab.
6. Preview the survey, then Save.

What Studio adds once the survey is in

The same project then holds the questionnaire, the responses and the analysis. Crosstabs with significance tests, weighting, MaxDiff, conjoint and open-text coding come with every plan, and you can export to SPSS with value labels, Stata, CSV, Excel or Parquet. Every Save versions the project and generates readable Python. One subscription covers the whole organization: see the plans and how Studio compares with Qualtrics.

Frequently asked questions

Related

• Every format Studio imports
• How Studio compares with Qualtrics
• Plans and what each one includes

Qualtrics is a trademark of its owner. Siamang Labs is not affiliated with or endorsed by Qualtrics. The Qualtrics steps on this page follow Qualtrics’ own help pages as of October 2026.