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Choose the anonymity setting in the Pulse anonymity step when you create a pulse. This setting controls if each response shows the name of the person who wrote it.

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Choose named or anonymous

  • Named (recommended): Each response includes the author’s name. You know who said what and can follow up with that person.
  • Anonymous: Responses are fully de-identified. Use this for sensitive topics where honest answers are more important than names.
An anonymous pulse needs at least 3 participants. If you select fewer than 3 people, Anonymous is not available. Go back to Select participants and add more people.

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Anonymity is fixed

You cannot change the anonymity setting after you create the pulse. To use a different setting, create a new pulse and choose the setting that you need. Duplicate pulse keeps the same anonymity setting as the original pulse. So a duplicate does not change a named pulse to anonymous. To check the setting, open the pulse’s Settings tab and find Response anonymity. It shows Responses are named or Responses are anonymous.

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What changes for anonymous pulses

  • Nudges: Owners cannot nudge participants manually. Windy still sends automatic reminders.
  • Live response streaming: This option is not available. See Live response streaming.
  • Results: Windmill hides a result until it has at least 3 responses. This also applies to each group when you compare results.
  • Participation: Owners can still see who responded. They cannot see which answers belong to which person.
Before people start, the survey tells them who can see the results and that their individual responses stay anonymous. See Anonymity and privacy for the full rules.

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Choose a completion location

In the same step, choose where people can respond:
  • Anywhere: People can respond in Windmill or in their chat with Windy.
  • Platform only: People can respond only in Windmill.
You can change the completion location later in the pulse’s Settings tab. The change applies to the next run.

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FAQs

No. Create a new pulse and choose Anonymous. Then pause the first pulse so that it does not send more runs. See Send again, pause, and resume.
You need at least 3 participants to create an anonymous pulse. Windmill shows a result, or a group in a comparison, only when it has at least 3 responses.
Not manually. Windy still sends the automatic reminders to people who have not responded.