Delete form submissions

[RafiPN]

Often times we enter fake data into our own form to test workflows or we get spammed with fake accounts. I'd like the ability to delete form submissions so they don't impact the metrics.

[veronicagonz]

Spoiler

Yes! I was also suprised to find out I coulnd't delete form submission we made to test the form. This is super needed! Please update on when is this going to be available!

[DDevine]

Yes, please.  I find this obstacle often.  

[Mazariegos]

I'm also trying to delete submissions. Our Contact Us form gets spam form fills 80% of the time so it makes our submission numbers look great, but it's a lie! haha Does anyone else use the Contact Us section of their website in a different way? I'm taking suggestions! 🙂 

[rockerst]

Yes please!!!   

[Tom]

Hi all, 

My name is Tom I'm on the forms team within HubSpot. 

At the moment we don't have plans to allow the deletion of form submissions as this would negatively effect reporting and analytics within the forms tool. 

Allowing test submissions is something we've been discussing and we may address submission deletion or test submissions within the future, but for the moment we do not have plans to introduce this functionality within the near future. 

[ericacowan]

👎

Looks like I won't be able to use HubSpot's reporting at all then... such a disappointment. The data is SO skewed and can't provide any valuable insight without manual manipulation outside of HubSpot. 

[cj13579]

"this would negatively effect reporting and analytics within the forms tool"

SMH this is literally why we are asking for this feature.

[allieccollins]

"this would negatively effect reporting and analytics within the forms tool"

um sir the *current* situation negatively effects reporting and analytics within the forms tool. To the point that the feature is completely *useless*. 

this is peak not listening to your customers Tom. 

[HSUserTX]

How did this response even come about? As it stands right now, the reporting tool is negatively effecting our reporting which is the whole reason for this thread. 

Also, it's not just test submissions but also spam or other unwanted entries in forms that do not help us show real data that drives our business decisions. 

It's mind-blowing that we are even having to ask for this. 

[allieccollins]

3 years and 8 pages worth of feedback on this and Tom just casually drops in to say "no" with an explanation that amounts to "because I said so" 😏

[wheelhouseit]

This is unacceptible. 

[HSUserTX]

They won't do this but almost every month, we wake up to new faulty email and blog editors that have been completely re-designed which forces us to slow down and re-learn the UI so we can do our work. Sometimes I wonder if Hubspot is actually working towards building a platform for their users or just for themselves. 

[beccat]

I have to agree with the comments above. The test submissions and spam submissions are negatively effecting our reporting, having the ability to remove those submissions from our reporting would make it more accurate. 

[brandon_ghr]

What a bizarre response. Zero critical thought was put into this one.

[mengsel]

The. Sheer. Irony. https://imgur.com/a/RgDkNBY Shame on you HubSpot. I will start recommending clients to transition away.

[mschneider]

This is just crazy! That response is lacking critical thinking and this is really disappointing. What a terrible user experience. I am shocked that we are asking for this - so many pages of people think it would be helpful. Every other form service I have ever used has had a way to filter out test or spam submissions!

[Irmelin]

@Tom Thank you for responding to the thread. I am a little confused by your response, and was wondering if you could provide some additional clarity.

You stated that the ability to delete test submissions would "negatively effect reporting and analytics within the forms tool." The reason we are requesting the feature is that we are currently unable to report on or analyze form submissions within HubSpot due to the inability to remove faulty data. Did you you mean that deleting submissions would break something in the reporting and analytics tools? Cause a glitch?

Forms are the primary means of lead capture/website conversion, so their importance can't be overstated. We hope that down the line, reporting for forms will expand—such as adding forms as a possible object in the custom report builder. However, the foundation for any expansion in form reporting and analytics is clean data, which means the ability to remove faulty entries is critical. Although I know it's difficult for us on the user-end to know or understand what projects are being prioritized and why, I sincerely hope this feature request will return to the priority list sometime soon.

[jaymewelch]

@Tom : This statement "..we don't have plans to allow the deletion of form submissions as this would negatively effect reporting and analytics..." is precisely why we, as your clients, are requesting deleting functionality. Not allowing the deletion of submissions is absolutely negatively impacting our analytics and reports within Hubspot today.

Let's use an example so you understand where we are coming from. Let's say I have 30 test submissions and 20 real submissions and that 75% of our leads become orders.   Your reporting will look like the following:

• Leads = 50
• Orders = 15

Your reporting will now show that we are only able to convert 30% of our leads turn into orders, when in reality we are converting 75% of real leads. Do you understand how this could lead a business to the wrong conclusions and down the wrong path for decision making? 

As an agency, I recommend clients to HubSpot because of the marketing analytics.  If my marketing analytics are full of test data and spam, my reporting and analytics are now completely wrong and the value of your marketing tools is significantly diminished.  I would in this case need to recommend that we use a manual or semi-automated process to scrub data and pull it into a 3rd party reporting tool instead of using what Hubspot has promised as part of its Marketing Hub. 

I really think its important to consider this larger picture in your team's decision making for how we are able to effectively test lead flows, workflows, etc without counting it in the analytics and reporting. 

[amyleopold]

Very disappointing. It's such a basic feature. The analysis to move over to the Salesforce marketing product keeps getting tipped more and more in their favor each year. At this pace, we'll be forced to move away from HubSpot.  

[aottho]

@Tom your response is infuriating.

Please bring this up to higher-level management immediately.

This is THE major pain point with your product.

Not being able to remove the abundant SPAM we get, duplicates, plus necessary tests (we need to test the real form in production, not just a test version) from the form data is what is "negatively effect reporting and analytics within the forms tool" in THE REAL WORLD.

The resulting conversion rate analytics from your product is so useless and distorted from this noise I don't even bother to include it in my reports. Cleaning it manually in other software is possible, but takes too much effort, and your product should just work properly.

This would be an acceptable oversight to have for a few months for a small startup with a new beta product and slim budget.

But you have a large team, ample funding, and YEARS to have fixed this totally obvious problem that shouldn't even be that hard to fix from a technical perspective.