Create Contacts on Partial Surveys in GoHighLevel

When you manage surveys across platforms like ClickUp and GoHighLevel, it is crucial to capture leads even if they do not finish every question. This guide explains how to use the survey settings in your GoHighLevel account so that a new contact is created as soon as the visitor submits their email, even when they abandon the remaining questions.

The instructions below are based on the official documentation for surveys and partial completion behavior, adapted into a clear, step-by-step how-to article.

How survey contact creation works in GoHighLevel

By default, a GoHighLevel survey only creates a contact when the entire survey is submitted. However, the platform offers a specific option that allows you to create a contact as soon as the email is captured, even if the user does not complete the rest of the questions.

This is useful when you want to:

• Capture more leads from partially completed surveys.
• Trigger follow-up automations earlier.
• Reduce lost opportunities from form abandonment.

To access this behavior, you must enable a dedicated toggle inside the survey builder for GoHighLevel surveys.

Accessing surveys in GoHighLevel

Follow these steps to open the survey builder inside GoHighLevel so you can adjust the partial completion setting:

1. Log in to your GoHighLevel account.
2. Select the appropriate sub-account or location where the survey is stored.
3. Go to the area where forms and surveys are managed (the exact label may be “Sites” or “Funnels & Websites” depending on your interface).
4. Open the Surveys section.
5. Choose the survey you want to edit, or create a new one.

Once you are in the survey editor, you can configure how contacts are created when users interact with the survey.

Enable “Create Contact on Partial Survey Completion” in GoHighLevel

The key feature for this workflow is a setting that tells GoHighLevel to create a contact when the email field is submitted, even if the visitor does not complete the rest of the survey.

Step-by-step: Turn on the partial completion option

1. With your survey open in the GoHighLevel builder, locate the Settings panel for the survey.
2. Look for the option labeled Create Contact on Partial Survey Completion.
3. Toggle this option to ON.
4. Ensure that your survey includes an Email field, because the contact is created from the submitted email address.
5. Click Save or Update to apply the changes to your survey.

After enabling this setting, GoHighLevel will automatically create a contact as soon as a visitor enters and submits their email in the survey, even if they do not proceed to the final submission screen.

Behavior of surveys with partial completion enabled

When the partial completion setting is enabled in GoHighLevel, the survey behaves differently compared to the default mode:

• As soon as the user submits the page containing the email field, a contact record is created.
• If the same person later completes the survey, their existing contact can be updated with additional information captured in later questions.
• The contact may be available immediately for workflows, such as follow-up email sequences or pipeline automation.

Note that this setting is specifically designed for the email field; other fields alone will not create a contact unless an email is supplied and submitted.

Best practices for GoHighLevel survey setup

To get the most from this feature, consider how your GoHighLevel survey is structured and what information you collect on each step.

Place the email field early in the survey

Because partial contact creation is triggered by the email field, you should place that field near the beginning of your GoHighLevel survey.

• Include an email field on the first or second step.
• Mark the email as a required field to avoid incomplete or blank contact records.
• Clearly explain why you are asking for the email (e.g., “We’ll send your results” or “Get a copy of your responses”).

Use clear calls to action on each step

To maximize completed responses while still benefiting from partial contact creation in GoHighLevel, ensure each page of the survey has a clear button label such as:

• “Next”
• “Continue”
• “Submit & Continue”

These small UX details help more people proceed past the email step, which creates the contact and often leads to more completed surveys.

Connect partial contacts to workflows in GoHighLevel

Once partial completion is enabled, new contacts can enter automations inside GoHighLevel even if they only submitted their email. You can:

• Trigger a workflow when a contact is created from a survey.
• Send reminder emails encouraging them to return and finish the survey.
• Move them into a nurturing sequence based on the survey’s purpose.

Design these workflows carefully to stay compliant with your email and privacy policies.

Troubleshooting partial survey contact creation in GoHighLevel

If contacts are not appearing as expected after enabling the partial completion setting, review the following points.

Verify that the email field is present and required

Partial completion in GoHighLevel only works if the survey has an email field that the user submits. Check that:

• The survey includes an Email field type.
• The email field is not hidden behind conditional logic that prevents it from showing.
• The email field is marked as required to avoid blank values.

Confirm the setting is enabled on the correct survey

Make sure you toggled Create Contact on Partial Survey Completion on the exact survey you are using in funnels, websites, or links in GoHighLevel. If you duplicated a survey, confirm that the setting is still enabled in the copy.

Test the survey as a user

To ensure the feature works as intended in GoHighLevel:

1. Open the live survey link or the page where it is embedded.
2. Enter a test email address in the survey.
3. Submit the page that contains the email field, then close the tab without finishing the entire survey.
4. Return to your GoHighLevel contacts area and search for that test email.

If the contact exists, the partial completion setting is functioning correctly.

Where to find the original GoHighLevel documentation

This how-to article is derived from the official help documentation. You can review the original guide directly on the GoHighLevel support portal here: Survey – Create Contact on Partial Completion.

Next steps and additional GoHighLevel resources

After enabling partial completion for surveys in GoHighLevel, you may want to further optimize your funnels, automations, and follow-up sequences. For strategic consulting and implementation support, you can explore additional resources at Consultevo, which focuses on CRM and automation optimization.

By configuring the Create Contact on Partial Survey Completion option and placing your email field early in the survey, you will capture more leads, feed them directly into your GoHighLevel workflows, and significantly reduce the number of potential customers lost to form abandonment.

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