How to Add Skip Logic in XLSForm

Skip logic in XLSForm is controlled by the relevant column: a question appears only when its relevant expression is true. This lets you skip questions that do not apply, such as hiding a follow-up question after a negative answer, so enumerators see only the relevant path for each interview.

After writing the expression, use the XLSForm validation checklist to test every branch on a device and inspect the exported columns.

Skip logic is one of the most important reasons to collect data digitally instead of on paper. On paper, an enumerator has to read "if no, skip to question 12" and hope they follow it. In an XLSForm, the form does it automatically and never gets it wrong.

How does the relevant column work?

Add a column called relevant to your survey sheet. In any question's relevant cell, write a condition. The question is shown only when that condition evaluates to true; otherwise it is skipped and left blank.

type	name	label	relevant
select_one yes_no	has_children	Do you have children?
integer	num_children	How many children do you have?	${has_children} = 'yes'

◀ ▶surveychoicessettings+

Here, num_children only appears when the respondent answered "yes" to has_children. The ${has_children} syntax references the earlier answer.

How do you combine multiple conditions?

Use and and or to build conditions from more than one answer. Wrap separate clauses in parentheses for clarity:

type	name	label	relevant
integer	age	What is your age?
select_one yes_no	consent	Do you consent to continue?
text	job_title	What is your job title?	${age} >= 18 and ${consent} = 'yes'

◀ ▶surveychoicessettings+

• and — every condition must be true.
• or — at least one condition must be true.
• != — "not equal to", useful for "show unless".

For a question that should appear for several choices, selected() is cleaner than chaining or:

type	name	label	relevant
select_one region	region	Which region?
text	city_note	Add a note for this region	selected(${region}, 'north') or selected(${region}, 'south')

◀ ▶surveychoicessettings+

How do you skip an entire section?

To skip many questions at once, put the relevant condition on a group instead of repeating it on every row. Every question inside the group inherits the condition:

type	name	label	relevant
select_one yes_no	employed	Are you currently employed?
begin group	employment	Employment details	${employed} = 'yes'
text	employer	Who is your employer?
integer	salary	What is your monthly salary?
end group	employment

◀ ▶surveychoicessettings+

If employed is not "yes", the whole employment section is skipped. This keeps your form readable and your logic consistent.

Why skip logic matters in the field

Good skip logic does more than tidy the form — it protects your data. Questions that do not apply are left genuinely blank rather than filled with junk, your constraints only fire on relevant answers, and interviews run faster because enumerators skip irrelevant blocks automatically. The result is cleaner data and shorter interviews.

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Next: XLSForm Constraint Examples →