--- title: "How to create an anonymous poll in Slack" url: "https://simplepoll.rocks/guides/how-to-create-an-anonymous-poll-in-slack/" description: "Make a Slack poll where nobody, not even you, can see who voted for what. The one keyword to add, the checkbox in the form, and when anonymity matters." --- # How to create an anonymous poll in Slack An anonymous poll in Simple Poll hides who voted for what from everyone, including the person who created it. The poll still counts every vote and shows the totals. It's free on every plan. You can make a poll anonymous with one word at the end of a `/poll` command, or with a checkbox in the poll form. ## Steps 1. **Open the channel** Go to the channel you want to poll. For a private channel, add Simple Poll first with `/invite @Simple Poll`. 2. **Type your poll and add the word anonymous** Write the question and options in double quotes, then add `anonymous` after the last quote: `/poll "How are you doing for time?" "Ready now" "5 more minutes" "10 more minutes" anonymous`. 3. **Or tick Make responses anonymous in the form** Type `/poll` on its own and press Enter (or use the **Run shortcut** button and pick **Create poll with Simple Poll**). Fill in the poll, and under **Settings** tick **Make responses anonymous**. 4. **Preview and post** Check the preview, then click **Create Poll**. Voters see the vote count on each option, but no names. ## Example polls Paste any of these into the message box in Slack. ```text /poll "How is your workload this week?" "Light, I have room" "About right" "Heavy but manageable" "Overloaded" anonymous ``` A workload check people will answer honestly. Free. *Free.* ```text /poll "Should we keep the Friday demo?" "Keep it as is" "Keep it, but every other week" "Drop it" anonymous limit 1 close after 2 days ``` One anonymous vote per person, closing in two days (Premium). *Premium: vote limits, closing automatically.* ```text /poll "What is one thing we should stop doing?" short text anonymous ``` Free-text answers with no names attached. *Free.* ```text /poll "Team pulse" "Anonymous. Nobody, including me, sees who answered." anonymous hide results --- "How was your week?" scale --- "What would make next week better?" short text optional ``` A two-question anonymous pulse with results hidden until it closes (Premium). *Premium: surveys (several questions).* ## What anonymous means here Nobody sees who voted for what: not the channel, and not you as the creator. Each option shows how many votes it has, with a check mark or emoji per vote instead of a name. The same holds for free-text answers on a `short text` poll and for questions on a `q&a` poll: the words show, the author doesn't. Because you can't see voters, you also can't see who hasn't answered. Use a reminder (Premium) to bring the poll back to the bottom of the channel instead. ## When to make a poll anonymous Make it anonymous whenever an honest answer could cost someone something: how a project is going, how a manager is doing, workload, morale, whether a meeting is worth keeping. Named votes on those questions mostly measure what people think you want to hear. Leave it named when you need to act on individual answers: who is coming to dinner, who can cover on-call, which time works for each attendee. An anonymous lunch poll gives you a headcount you can't use. ## Make people believe it Say it in the question or the description: "Anonymous. Nobody, including me, sees who voted." People who have seen named polls before will assume this one is named too unless told. Small teams need extra care. In a channel of four, a lone "Overloaded" vote is easy to attribute even when it's anonymous. Wait until most people have voted before you share the results, and talk about patterns, never about the one outlier. ## Anonymous surveys and feedback For more than one question, put `anonymous` in the header of a [survey](https://simplepoll.rocks/guides/how-to-create-a-survey-in-slack/) (Premium) and it applies to every question. Combine it with `hide results` when you don't want early answers to sway later ones. The [team mood check-in](https://simplepoll.rocks/templates/team-mood-check-in/) and [weekly pulse](https://simplepoll.rocks/templates/weekly-pulse-survey/) templates are built this way. ## FAQ ### Can the poll creator see who voted on an anonymous poll? No. Anonymous means anonymous to everyone, the creator included. ### Is anonymous voting free? Yes. `anonymous` works on every plan, including Free. ### Can I use my own emoji on an anonymous poll? Yes. Put the emoji code right after each option, the same as on a named poll: `"Beach" :beach_with_umbrella: "Mountain" :mountain:`. ### Can I make a survey anonymous? Yes. Put `anonymous` in the survey header, after the title and description, and it covers every question. Surveys are a Premium feature. ## Related - [How to create a poll in Slack](https://simplepoll.rocks/guides/how-to-create-a-poll-in-slack/): Slack has no poll button of its own. Its help centre suggests two routes: install a polling app, or post a message and ask people to vote with emoji reactions. This guide covers the app route with Simple Poll, used by 945,000+ teams, because it gives you a real poll: counted votes, anonymous voting, one-vote limits and a clean result. - [How to hide poll results until the poll closes](https://simplepoll.rocks/guides/how-to-hide-poll-results-until-the-poll-closes/): When people can see a running tally, they tend to pile onto the leading option or skip voting once the result looks settled. Hiding the results until the poll closes gets you each person's own answer. In Simple Poll it's one keyword, and it works on every plan. - [How to create a survey in Slack](https://simplepoll.rocks/guides/how-to-create-a-survey-in-slack/): A survey in Simple Poll is one Slack message with several questions behind it. People click the survey's Open button, answer in a pop-up without leaving Slack, and you get the results in the same place. Surveys are a Premium feature, with up to 20 questions each. - [What is an anonymous poll?](https://simplepoll.rocks/glossary/anonymous-poll/): An anonymous poll records votes without showing who cast them: everyone sees the totals, and nobody can see which person picked which answer. In Simple Poll that includes the person who created the poll. - [Team mood check-in poll for Slack](https://simplepoll.rocks/templates/team-mood-check-in/): When you want an early, honest signal on how the team is feeling, before it shows up as missed deadlines or resignations. - [Workload check poll for Slack](https://simplepoll.rocks/templates/workload-check/): Before planning the next sprint or quarter, during a crunch, or any time you suspect some of the team is carrying more than they say. ## Sources - [How to create an anonymous poll in Slack (Simple Poll help centre)](https://help.simplepoll.rocks/article/123-how-to-create-an-anonymous-poll-in-slack) - [How can I use my own emojis in anonymous polls?](https://help.simplepoll.rocks/article/41-how-can-i-use-my-own-emojis-in-anonymous-polls) --- Simple Poll is the #1 polls and surveys app for Slack. Add it to Slack: https://simplepoll.rocks/. Pricing: https://simplepoll.rocks/pricing/.