Form settings in XLSForm

Last updated: 25 Nov 2025

XLSForm allows you to configure settings for your forms using the settings worksheet. For example, you can specify a form title, set a default language, or track version numbers.

This article covers how to add and utilize the available form settings in XLSForm.

Note: This article focuses on form settings forms in XLSForm. To learn about configuring form settings in the KoboToolbox Formbuilder, see Form settings and metadata.

Adding form settings in XLSForm

To add form settings in XLSForm:

1. Add a settings worksheet to your XLSForm.

2. Create a new column for each setting, using the exact column name shown in the table below.

3. Under each setting, specify the relevant value (see example below).

settings worksheet

form_title	version	default_language	style
Form settings in XLSForm	v3	English (en)	pages
settings

Available form settings in XLSForm

Available form settings in XLSForm include:

Form setting	Description
form_title	Specifies the title of the form that is shown to users. This can also be set and managed in KoboToolbox when the form is uploaded.
version	Includes a string that represents the current version of the XLSForm (e.g., v1 or YYYYMMDD). Useful for tracking form versions for collaboration.
instance_name	Specifies a unique name for each form submission using fields filled in by the user during the survey. Appears in the data table for each submission. Can be used to create custom participant or submission IDs. For example, concat(${lname}, ‘-’, ${fname}, ‘-’, today()) returns lastname-firstname-date.
default_language	Sets the default language in translated forms. The language (code) format is used, as defined in the IANA language registry website.
style	Specifies an alternative theme for Enketo web forms.
allow_choice_duplicates	Allows an XLSForm to reuse duplicated option names within a choice list (e.g., when using choice filters where choice names are duplicated).
public_key	Specifies the public key for encryption-enabled forms.