How to create a maintenance checklist using Microsoft Forms and Excel

Microsoft Forms & Excel used together can make a simple maintenance management checklist where when someone fills in the form it will populate the results into a spreadsheet. This is a step beyond using paper logbooks and can help improve your maintenance management processes. Here's a step-by-step process to create a maintenance checklist using Microsoft Forms and connect it to an Excel spreadsheet:

Step 1: Access Microsoft Forms and Sign In

1. Go to forms.office.com in your web browser.
2. Sign in with your Microsoft account or Office 365 account. If you don't have one, you can create a free Microsoft account.

Step 2: Create a New Form

1. Once signed in, click on the "New Form" button to start creating a new form.
2. Give your form a descriptive title that indicates it's a maintenance checklist (e.g., "Maintenance Checklist - Monthly Inspections").

Step 3: Add Questions to the Form

1. In the form editor, click on "+ Add new" to add your first question.
2. You can choose from various question types like multiple-choice, checkboxes, text, rating, etc.
3. Create questions that represent the items or tasks that need to be checked during maintenance. For example, if you have a checklist for inspecting equipment, you can add questions like "Check oil levels," "Inspect hoses and connectors," "Verify electrical connections," etc.

Step 4: Customize Form Settings (Optional)

1. Click on the three-dot menu (ellipsis) at the top-right corner of the form editor and select "Settings."
2. Customize your form settings as needed, such as allowing only one response per person, accepting responses from people outside your organization, etc.

Step 5: Link the Form to an Excel Spreadsheet

1. After creating all the questions, click on the "Responses" tab in the form editor.
2. Click on the three-dot menu (ellipsis) and select "Open in Excel" from the dropdown menu.
3. A new Excel workbook will be created and linked to your form. The form responses will be automatically stored in this workbook.

Step 6: Organize the Excel Spreadsheet (Optional)

1. In the Excel spreadsheet, you can rename the sheet by double-clicking on the sheet name and typing a new name (e.g., "Maintenance Checklist Responses").

2. You can also customise column headers to make the spreadsheet more user-friendly. For instance, you can rename "Timestamp" to "Date and Time of Inspection."

Step 7: Share the Form

1. Click on the "Share" button in the top-right corner of the form editor.
2. Choose your preferred sharing options. You can either share the form with specific people or generate a shareable link that can be shared with maintenance staff.

Now, your maintenance checklist is ready to use. Here's how it works:

• Share the form link with maintenance staff or whoever will be performing the checks.
• They can access the form through the link and mark off the items as they complete the tasks during maintenance.
• The form responses will be recorded in the linked Excel spreadsheet in real-time.

Using this setup, you can easily gather and organise maintenance data, track progress, and monitor the checklist completion. Remember to regularly review the Excel spreadsheet to stay on top of maintenance activities and address any issues that arise during inspections.

If however you decide something with more functionality and security you can try a maintenance management system like FaultFixers for free.