About reusing questions and groups

A question or group you built once does not have to be built again. Within a survey, you duplicate it. For a new survey, you start from a copy of the survey that already has the questions. From another LimeSurvey site, you bring the whole survey over as a file.

The survey editor does not import single questions (.lsq files) or question groups (.lsg files).

Duplicate a question or group in the same survey

1. In the editor, click the question. Its settings open on the right, and the preview, copy and delete icons appear at the bottom of the question.

2. Click the copy icon (1). The copy appears right below the original, with a new question code. Give it a meaningful code in Question settings.

To duplicate a whole group, click ... in the group header and then Duplicate group (2). The copy appears below the original with all its questions and the same title. Rename it in Group settings, which opens on the right.

Note: While a survey is active, its structure is locked. Stop the survey before you duplicate questions or groups.

Reuse questions in a new survey

Questions belong to their survey. To build a new survey on questions you already have, copy the survey that contains them:

1. In the workspace, click ... on the card of the survey and then Copy.

2. In the Copy survey dialog, check the title of the copy and click Copy survey.

3. Open the copy. Delete what you do not need and add the new questions.

See Copy a survey for the options of the dialog.

Tip: Keep the questions you use in many surveys, such as demographics or a standard satisfaction scale, in an inactive template survey. Start every new survey as a copy of it.

Bring a survey from another LimeSurvey site

To reuse questions from another LimeSurvey installation, for example a self-hosted one, move the whole survey:

1. In the other site, export the survey as a survey structure file (.lss). In LimeSurvey Cloud, that is ... > Export > Survey structure (.lss) in the editor.

2. In your site, click the purple + in the top bar of the workspace and then Import, and import the file. See Import a survey.

3. Keep the questions you need, as with a copy.

Next steps

• Copy a survey
• Import a survey
• Overview: Survey settings

FAQ

Can I import a .lsq or .lsg file?

No. The survey editor has no import for question files (.lsq) or question group files (.lsg). If you still have the survey the questions came from, import that survey (.lss) and keep what you need. Otherwise, add the questions in the editor.

What is Import in the ... menu of the editor?

It concerns the whole survey, not single questions or groups, and it is greyed out. To import a survey file, click the purple + in the workspace and then Import.

Can I export a single question?

No. Export in the ... menu of the editor exports the whole survey, for example as Survey structure (.lss), queXML format (.xml), Tab-separated-values format (.txt) or as a printable survey.