If you’re tired of checking your form submissions manually—or worse, missing them entirely—this guide is for you. Whether you’re running a small business, handling HR, or just trying to stay organized, setting up automated email notifications in Formstack will save you time and help you respond faster. Here’s how to do it, what to look out for, and why you probably don’t need half the “advanced” tricks people talk about.
What Are Automated Email Notifications, and Why Bother?
Automated email notifications are just what they sound like: emails that get sent out automatically when someone fills out your form. With Formstack, you can set these up so you (or anyone else) get a heads up the moment a form is submitted.
Why bother? A few reasons:
- No more missed leads or requests.
- Faster response times—no hunting for new entries.
- Better organization—you can route different notifications to different people.
Sure, you could check submissions manually, but why make your life harder?
Step 1: Log in and Find Your Form
First things first, log in to your Formstack account. (If you don’t have one, you’ll need to sign up.)
- Once you’re in, go to your dashboard.
- Find the form you want to set up notifications for.
- Click on the form to open it.
Pro tip: If you’re managing a lot of forms, use the search bar. Digging through pages of forms is a waste of time.
Step 2: Go to the Settings for Notifications
All the notification magic happens in the Settings.
- Inside your form, look for the Settings tab in the top navigation.
- Under Settings, find and click Emails & Actions (sometimes just called “Email Logic” depending on your plan).
This is where you’ll set up who gets notified and what those notifications look like.
Step 3: Add a New Notification Email
- Click + Add Email or Add Notification (the button name might vary).
- Choose Notification Email (not “Autoresponder”—that’s for sending confirmations to the person who filled out the form).
Now you’ll see a form where you can set up your notification.
Key fields:
- To: Enter the email address(es) that should get the notification. You can add multiple addresses separated by commas.
- From: Choose who the email appears to come from. Usually, this is your own email or a generic address like “forms@yourdomain.com.”
- Subject: Write a subject line that makes sense (e.g., “New Form Submission: Contact Us Form”).
- Message: This is what your notification email will say. By default, Formstack includes all the form data, but you can customize this.
Don’t overthink it. The goal is to get the info you need, not craft the world’s best email. You can always tweak the wording later.
Step 4: Customize the Notification (Optional, but Worth It)
Formstack will, by default, dump all the form data into the email. That’s fine for most people, but you might want to make it cleaner.
- Use the Insert Field button to add only the fields you care about.
- Add a greeting or context if you’re forwarding the notification to someone else (like “Hey team, here’s a new submission”).
- If you want, add static text, links, or instructions for what to do next.
Pro tip: If you’re worried about sensitive information (like SSNs or bank info), double-check what you include in the emails. Email isn’t that secure.
Step 5: Set Up Conditional Logic (If You Need It)
You don’t have to, but if you want different people notified based on the form’s answers, you can set up conditional logic.
- In the notification setup, look for a section called Logic, Rules, or Conditional Logic.
- Set up rules like: “If ‘Department’ is ‘Sales’, send to sales@company.com.”
- You can set up as many rules as you want, but don’t get carried away. Keep it simple unless you have a real need.
What works: Conditional notifications are great if your form covers multiple teams or topics.
What doesn’t: Overcomplicating this. If you find yourself writing a flowchart, you’ve probably gone too far.
Step 6: Test Your Notification
Before you go live, always test.
- Fill out your form as a user would.
- Check that the right people get the notification, and that the email looks okay.
- If you don’t get the email, check your spam folder first. Then double-check the notification settings.
Common issues: - Typos in email addresses (seriously, happens all the time). - Notifications going to spam (add your sender address to contacts or whitelist it). - Wrong logic rules blocking the notification.
Step 7: Save and Publish
Once you’re happy with the setup:
- Hit Save (or Update).
- Make sure to click Publish or Activate if Formstack asks you to. Otherwise, your changes might not go live.
That’s it. Your automated notification is now set up.
What About Advanced Features? (And What to Ignore)
Formstack has a bunch of features you might hear about, like:
- Autoresponders: These send a confirmation to the person who filled out the form. Useful for receipts or basic “thanks.”
- Attachment options: You can send PDFs of the submission. Handy, but only if you actually need them.
- Integrations: Slack, Salesforce, and others. Can be powerful, but don’t mess with them unless you have a clear use case and some patience.
Ignore for now: - Custom HTML emails unless you have design needs. - API notifications or Webhooks unless you’re a developer. - Overly complex routing—keep your notifications simple until you outgrow them.
Real-World Tips
- Start simple. One notification to yourself or your team is usually enough to start.
- Check your notifications every few months. People change roles, addresses change, and you don’t want to miss submissions because someone left the company.
- Don’t rely on just email if it’s mission-critical. If missing a submission could be a disaster, set up a backup—like an integration with Slack or a daily export.
Wrapping Up
Automated email notifications in Formstack are easy to set up and make a real difference in staying on top of form submissions. Don’t get sucked into the weeds chasing every “pro” feature—set up what you need, test it, and move on. If you find yourself missing notifications, or your workflow changes, come back and tweak things. Simple is almost always better, and you can always add more complexity later if you really need it.