How to Enable Form Encryption

May 21, 2024

Security and privacy are Jotform’s utmost priority in form building and data collection — two reasons why Jotform complies with various industry standards and regulations, including GDPR and HIPAA. Visit our Security page to learn more.

Jotform also has Form Encryption, which you can enable. This further safeguards sensitive information in your forms. It’s a type of end-to-end encryption, a security measure that guarantees privacy by encrypting your form data when your form users fill it out and submit it.

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However, utilizing form encryption has some catches, as some features in the Form Builder will become unavailable once you enable it in the form. Here is the list:

  • Autoresponder Email
  • Customizable Notification Emails — You will still receive a notification email when you receive a new submission.
  • Save and Continue Later
  • Change Email Recipient Condition
  • Integrations (Except for Payment Gateways)
  • Approval Flows
  • Jotform Sign
  • PDF Downloads — You can still view the data in the PDF Editor but can only Print it.
  • Form Reports — Excel, Grid Listing, HTML Table, RSS, and Calendar.
  • Digest Emails — You can only receive the new submission count in the latest period of the digest.
  • Filters — When viewing data through the Tables and Inbox, the filter feature is disabled.

Enabling Form Encryption in the Form Builder

If you wish to proceed, follow the steps below to enable Form Encryption.

  1. In the Form Builder, go to the Settings tab.
  2. Look for Encrypt Form Data and toggle it to Yes.
Encrypt Form Data under the Settings tab of the Jotform Form Builder

In the background, the form will scan for unsupported features. If it finds one, it will tell you that and ask you to keep or disable it before you can proceed to the verification. To proceed, you must choose to disable the features. Otherwise, you can’t enable Form Encryption.

Features check when enabling Form Encryption in the Jotform Form Builder
  1. Verify your account through Gmail or Facebook or enter your Jotform account password.
Verification phase of the Form Encryption in Jotform Form Builder
  1. At this step, you must provide an Access Code for the form. You can input up to 16 characters.

Note

The Access Code you enter is for the current form alone. This means you will be asked for another access code when you enable Form Encryption on other forms.

  1. Finally, click the Enable Encryption button. You’ll get a confirmation, and it should be done. Your form is now fully encrypted.
Jotform Form Encryption window with the box for setting up access code and the enable encryption button

Decrypting Form to Access Submissions

You can decrypt your form through Jotform Tables and Jotform Inbox. You’ll only do this once unless you access your data on a new browser. To decrypt

  1. Access Jotform Tables or Jotform Inbox.
  2. Enter your access code.
  3. Click the Access button, and that’s it. You should now be able to view your form data.
Jotform Tables with the popup window to enter the access code for encrypted form to view submissions
Jotform Inbox with the popup window to enter the access code for encrypted form to view submissions

Encrypting Form Submissions

To ensure security, you can encrypt the data before closing the page. To do so, click the Encrypt Entries button on which page you access the submissions; Jotform Tables or Jotform Inbox.

Encrypt Entries button in Jotform Tables
Encrypt Entries button in Jotform Inbox

What Happens if You Forget Your Access Code?

Encrypted Forms use end-to-end encryption, which means your access code is encrypted on Jotform’s end. Since it’s encrypted, we won’t be able to access your data, so if you forget your access code, your data is considered lost. We recommend storing your access code in a safe place or creating an access code that’s easy to remember.

Note

Are you looking for the form encryption using a key? Please visit Encrypted Forms with Local Key File guide.

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