Respondent email notifications are confirmation emails sent automatically to the person who submits your Tally form. They turn every submission into a personalized follow-up: confirming receipt, thanking the respondent, sharing a quiz score, delivering a receipt, or sending an intake summary, all without lifting a finger.
Tally also offers self email notifications, which alert you, the form owner, every time someone submits.
Respondent email notifications is a Tally Pro feature.
How to set up respondent email notificationsCustomizing email fieldsFrom name fieldFrom fieldTo field
Reply to field
SubjectEmail bodyAttach the submission as a PDFWhat the email looks likeCommon use cases and templatesFrequently asked questions
How to set up respondent email notifications
Go to the form settings of your published form, scroll down to
Email notifications, and enable the Respondent email notifications toggle.
You can add text to the email fields or use
@ to insert data from your form. You can insert input, hidden, or calculated fields to create dynamic emails. @All answers will automatically add all information entered by your respondent, empty questions will not be included.
Customizing email fields
Below are the different email fields you can modify for respondent email notifications.
From name field
By default, the emails are sent from “Tally Forms”, you can customize the name of the sender.
From field
By default, the emails are sent from “notifications@tally.so”.
Click the
+ button to add a custom domain and customize the sender email address. Or open the menu to select any of the sender email addresses that are already set up in your organization.To field
Type
@ to insert the respondent's email (input field), hidden field, or calculated field. This is where the confirmation email is sent.Reply to field
This field will be empty by default. Only edit it if you want the recipient to be able to reply to your email directly (e.g., to your support inbox).
Subject
Write anything you want in the subject field or type
@ to insert form data.
Email body
Customize the content as you like and type
@ to get a list of responses to insert. Select text to apply text formatting. @All answers automatically adds all information entered by your respondent, empty questions will not be included.
Do you want to send different emails based on form responses?
Learn more about inserting variables in emails here →
Attach the submission as a PDF
You can also include the full submission as a PDF attachment in the respondent's confirmation email. Toggle on
Attach PDF with answers in your respondent email notification settings — respondents will receive a clean, branded PDF copy of their own answers alongside the email. Useful for confirmations, receipts, signed agreements, and intake summaries. Learn more about turning form submissions into PDF files here.
What the email looks like
The email body remains exactly as you've configured it (default answers or your custom content).
- File uploads appear as clickable URLs pointing to the uploaded files (not embedded in the email itself), so you can open or download each file directly from the link.
- Electronic signatures are also included as URLs to the signature image rather than rendered inline. This keeps the email lightweight while still giving you access to the original signed asset.
Common use cases and templates
Here are some common ways Tally users put self email notifications to work:
- Submission confirmations: Reassure respondents that their form was received, with a summary of their answers.
- Quiz & test scores: Send respondents their score or result right after they finish a quiz.
- Receipts & order confirmations: After an order or payment, send a branded receipt with
@All answers+ the PDF attachment. Check our 14 free order form templates over here.
- Signed agreement copies: For signature forms, email the respondent a PDF copy of what they signed.
- Intake summaries: For client intake forms, send respondents a clean summary of what they submitted so they can review or forward it.
- Event registration confirmations: Confirm event signup details, time, and location. Include calendar info or a join link via hidden/calculated fields.
- Thank-you messages: A simple personalized "thanks for filling this out" with the respondent's name pulled via
@.
Frequently asked questions
Why isn't my respondent receiving the confirmation email?
The most common causes are: the wrong field is mapped to the
To field (make sure it points to an input field collecting the respondent's email), the email is landing in spam, or the respondent's email provider is filtering automated mail. To improve deliverability, set up a custom sender domain.Can respondents reply directly to my team?
Yes. Add your team's email address in the
Reply to field. When respondents hit reply on the confirmation email, the response will be routed to that address instead of bouncing back to a no-reply inbox.Can I send a different confirmation email based on the respondent's answers?
Yes. Use dynamic email notifications to send different emails based on form responses, for example, a different message for paid vs. free plan signups, or different confirmations per product selected.
Can I attach a PDF of the submission to the confirmation email?
Yes. Toggle on
Attach PDF with answers in your respondent email notification settings. The PDF is styled with your form's theme and branding. Learn more about turning form submissions into PDF files.Can I use respondent and self email notifications at the same time?
Yes. Both can be enabled on the same form and are configured independently. A single submission can trigger a confirmation email to the respondent and an alert email to you, the form owner.