Why Two Views of the Same Report Can Show Different Numbers¶

You check a report Monday morning, then again Monday afternoon, and a percentage has shifted slightly. If your first instinct is that something's broken, it's worth knowing this is expected - it's exactly what a live report is supposed to do.

Reports Reflect Data at the Moment You View Them¶

A Reporting widget isn't a snapshot taken once and then frozen - it reads your survey's current response data every time you view it. If new responses came in between your two visits, the numbers reflect that larger, updated dataset the second time - which is the whole point of a live report rather than a static one.

This Is Different From an Export or a Shared Link¶

An exported PowerPoint deck (see Exporting Your Report to PowerPoint) is a genuine snapshot, frozen at the moment you export it - it won't update as more responses come in. A shared report link (see Sharing a Report Publicly), by contrast, behaves like the live report itself and updates the same way. Knowing which one you're looking at matters when you're comparing numbers across time.

Why This Usually Isn't a Problem¶

For most surveys, especially ones still actively collecting responses, this is exactly the behavior you want - a report that's out of date the moment you build it would be far less useful than one that reflects what's actually happening. The shift you see between two views is real new data, not noise or a system inconsistency.

When It's Worth Pinning Down a Specific Moment¶

If you need a number you can cite consistently - for a specific meeting, a specific deadline, a specific comparison point - export to PowerPoint at that moment rather than relying on the live report, since the export freezes the data as it stood right then. Referring back to a live report later for "what the number was" won't give you that fixed point once more responses have come in.

What This Means for Comparing Two Screenshots¶

If you or a colleague took screenshots of the same report at two different times, expect small differences if your survey was actively collecting responses in between - that's not conflicting information, it's the same live number captured at two different moments in a still-growing dataset.

FAQ¶

Does a shared report link show the same live data as my own view?
Yes - a shared link reflects the same live, current data as the report itself, not a snapshot from when sharing was turned on.

How do I get a number that won't change later?
Export to PowerPoint - see Exporting Your Report to PowerPoint for a genuine frozen snapshot.

Does this apply to Text Analytics category counts too?
Yes - classified response counts reflect whatever classification has been run as of when you view them, and will update if you classify more responses later.

Is there a way to see historical values, not just the current state?
Reporting shows current live data rather than a historical log of past values - if you need a point-in-time record, exporting at that moment is the way to preserve it.

For the export option that gives you a fixed snapshot, see Exporting Your Report to PowerPoint.