# Uploading a questionnaire

**Category:** [RFP Responses](https://help.totalctrl.app/hc/totalctrl/totalctrl-help-center/en-US/categories/rfp-responses)
**Updated:** 2026-10-04

## Excel, Word, and PDF

Open a response and upload the buyer's file. We read it in the background — a large questionnaire can take a moment — and then show you what we found.
### Confirm before we extract

We never extract silently. For a spreadsheet you will see which sheet and which columns we believe hold the question text, the numbering, and the empty column where answers belong. Change anything that looks wrong, deselect sheets you don't want, and only then extract.

This step exists because someone else's spreadsheet is rarely laid out the way you would lay it out, and a wrong guess quietly produces a hundred questions called "Requirement".
### What each format means for export

- **Excel (.xlsx, .xlsm)** — the best case. We record the exact cell each answer belongs in, so the export writes back into the buyer's own workbook with their formatting intact.
- **Word (.docx)** — we record the table cell or paragraph position. Export writes back at those positions. Word structure is less regular than a grid, so this is best-effort.
- **PDF** — a PDF cannot be written back into. The response is switched to **branded template** export the moment you upload one, so you know before you start answering rather than at the deadline.

You can upload more than one document to a response.

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## Related Articles

- [Limits, plans, and boosters](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/rfp-limits)
- [Exporting your answers](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/rfp-export)
- [Reviewing, approving, and signing off](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/rfp-signoff)
- [Where answers come from](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/rfp-drafting)
- [Importing answers from past questionnaires](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/rfp-import-past)

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