--- title: "Hide Slack poll results until the poll closes" url: "https://simplepoll.rocks/guides/how-to-hide-poll-results-until-the-poll-closes/" description: "Stop early votes from swaying the rest. How to hide a Slack poll's results until you close it, who can see what meanwhile, and how the reveal works." --- # 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. ## Steps 1. **Write the poll and add hide results** Add `hide results` after the last quote: `/poll "Which day works best for the weekly meeting?" "Monday" "Wednesday" "Friday" hide results`. 2. **Or pick Hidden until poll closes in the form** Type `/poll` on its own and press Enter. Under **Show results of the poll**, pick **Hidden until poll closes** (on Premium it reads **Only visible to you**). 3. **Post it** While it's open, the poll shows how many people have responded and, unless it's anonymous, who, but not how anyone voted. Voters can check or change their own vote from the poll's **Open** button. 4. **Close the poll to reveal the results** When you're ready, click the poll's green **Open** button, then **Poll settings**, then **Close**. On Free, closing reveals the results to everyone. On Premium, tick **Reveal the results** when you close it. ## Example polls Paste any of these into the message box in Slack. ```text /poll "Which day works best for the weekly meeting?" "Monday" "Wednesday" "Friday" hide results ``` Results stay hidden until you close it. Free. *Free.* ```text /poll "Which design should we ship?" "Option A: sidebar" "Option B: tabs" "Option C: command bar" hide results anonymous limit 1 ``` A blind, anonymous, one-vote design review (Premium). *Premium: vote limits.* ```text /poll "How many days will the migration take?" "1 to 2" "3 to 5" "6 to 10" "More than 10" hide results limit 1 remind 1 day after posting ``` An estimate nobody can copy, with a reminder so you remember to close it (Premium). *Premium: vote limits, reminders.* ```text /poll "Candid check: is the Q3 deadline realistic?" "Yes" "Only if we cut scope" "No" show results to creator anonymous ``` Results for your eyes only (Premium). *Premium: results for the creator only.* ## Who sees what, and when - **Voters** see how many people have responded while the poll is open, and their own votes. They see the full results once the poll is closed and the results revealed. - **You, the creator,** can see the results while it's open on Premium. On Free, nobody sees them until the poll is closed. - **Anyone you share them with** in Slack sees them too (Premium). If you want the results seen by you alone, with no reveal planned, use `show results to creator` (Premium) instead of `hide results`. ## The one trap with automatic closing On Premium, a hidden-results poll that closes on its own with `close after` keeps its results hidden. The reveal happens when you close the poll yourself and tick **Reveal the results**. In the poll form you can instead set **Reveal results when closing automatically** to **Yes**. So for a vote where everyone should see the outcome, either close it by hand when the time is up, or let it close itself and post the result yourself. Set a reminder so you don't forget either way. ## When to hide results - **Decisions where the first few votes would anchor the rest:** design reviews, award votes, a vote on a proposal from someone senior. - **Estimates and predictions:** planning-poker style "how many days will this take?" questions are worthless if people can copy the first answer. - **Feedback, together with `anonymous`:** people answer for themselves instead of matching the room. Don't bother for logistics. Seeing that Thursday is winning helps people plan. ## Which poll types can hide results Choice, scale and `short text` polls and surveys can hide results. `q&a` polls and `short text` polls with a voting reaction can't, because people need to see the answers to vote on them. Ranked polls hide the order from voters until the poll closes anyway, so they don't need it. ## FAQ ### Can voters see anything while results are hidden? They see how many people have responded (and who, unless the poll is anonymous) and, through the poll's **Open** button, their own choices. They can change their vote until the poll closes. ### Can I close the poll without showing the results? Yes, on Premium. Leave **Reveal the results** unticked when you close it, and the results stay visible only to you and anyone you shared them with. On Free, closing always reveals them. ### Is hiding results free? Yes. `hide results` works on every plan. `show results to creator` is Premium. ### Can I hide results in a survey? Yes. Put `hide results` in the survey header and it covers every question. Respondents can't see the results in the survey pop-up until you reveal them. ## Related - [How to close a Slack poll automatically](https://simplepoll.rocks/guides/how-to-close-a-slack-poll-automatically/): A poll that never closes never quite decides anything: votes trickle in, the result shifts, and nobody knows when to act. An automatic close fixes the deadline up front. In Simple Poll you add close after and a duration, and the poll closes on its own. Automatic closing is a Premium feature; anyone can close their own poll by hand. - [How to create an anonymous poll in Slack](https://simplepoll.rocks/guides/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. - [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. - [Design review vote for Slack](https://simplepoll.rocks/templates/design-review-vote/): When you have two to four design directions and want fast, structured input from the team before you commit to one. - [Team awards voting poll for Slack](https://simplepoll.rocks/templates/team-awards/): When you want the team to choose who gets recognised, for quarterly awards, end-of-year superlatives or a peer shout-out. ## Sources - [How can I show the results of my poll only after everyone has voted?](https://help.simplepoll.rocks/article/116-how-can-i-show-the-results-of-my-poll-only-after-everyone-has-voted) - [How do I close a poll?](https://help.simplepoll.rocks/article/85-how-do-i-close-a-poll) - [How do I respond to a multi question poll?](https://help.simplepoll.rocks/article/131-how-do-i-respond-to-a-multi-question-poll) --- Simple Poll is the #1 polls and surveys app for Slack. Add it to Slack: https://simplepoll.rocks/. Pricing: https://simplepoll.rocks/pricing/.