Secret Santa Questionnaire

Fill in the Secret Santa questionnaire right here. Your answers are saved in this browser as you go, so you can close the page and finish later. When you're done, there are three ways to get them to your Secret Santa:

• Add them to your wishlist. Open your private Secret Santa link on the same phone or computer, in the same browser, and tap Use my questionnaire answers in the wishlist form. Everything drops into your wishlist in one tap, and the person who drew you sees it on their reveal page.
• Copy as text. Paste your answers into a chat, an email, or a wishlist on another site.
• Print. Print a blank copy for anyone who prefers pen and paper, or print your finished answers to hand to the organizer.

Every question is optional. A short, honest answer helps far more than a long, polite one, and a blank is better than a guess.

If your group will only answer a handful of questions, these do the most work, roughly in this order:

1. Allergies and foods you avoid. One line rules out whole categories of gifts and prevents the worst outcome: something the person can't safely use.
2. Please no and things you already have plenty of. A gift doesn't have to be bad to fall flat; it only has to be the fifth mug in the cupboard. Knowing what to skip narrows the field faster than knowing what to buy.
3. Favorite snacks and drinks. Food and drink are the easiest gifts to get right on a small budget, and this answer makes them personal instead of generic.
4. Hobbies. It tells the giver which shop, or which corner of the internet, to start in.
5. Three things you'd love right now. Direct wishes remove the guesswork, and three of them leave your Santa a choice, so there's still a surprise.

Sizes are useful, but some people would rather not share them with colleagues, so every size question is optional and leaving it blank is fine.

The same questions work for most groups, but it helps to tell people where to focus:

• Office: the basics, favorites, the workspace question and the please-no section. Sizes and scents can stay blank; nobody should feel they have to share them at work.
• Family: everything, sizes included. Relatives are the most likely to buy clothing, and a wrong size means a return trip in January.
• Kids and classrooms: colors, snacks, hobbies, collections and the three wishes. Print a copy per child, let them fill it in at home with a parent, and have the teacher pass each sheet to the right giver.
• Remote teams: favorites, gift card stores and the "something to use up" question, since digital gifts and consumables travel best. A shipping address doesn't belong on the questionnaire: on this site it goes in the wishlist form on your private reveal page, where only your Secret Santa can see it.

Some questions sound helpful and cause trouble:

• Budget questions. The organizer sets one cap for everyone. In our view, asking people what they'd like spent on them tends to make both sides awkward, so the budget belongs in the event details instead.
• Income, religion or politics. If something matters to a person, the please-no section lets them say so in their own words.
• Measurements beyond clothing sizes. Keep sizes optional and limited to what a gift could plausibly need.
• "What did you get last year?" It invites comparisons and makes the whole thing feel like an audit.

Be specific without writing a shopping order. "Dark chocolate, the darker the better" helps more than "chocolate". Name a store or brand only if you'd genuinely use it. Mention what you already own: "I have a French press, good beans would be great" saves your giver from buying a second French press. If you'd rather get something to use up than something to keep, say so; it's one of the most useful lines on the sheet.

If your tastes change before the exchange, update your wishlist. Your Secret Santa sees the current version, not the one you wrote on day one.

Organizers can add a link to this Secret Santa questionnaire to the message that goes out with each private link, or paste it into the event notes so it shows up on every reveal page. For a classroom or a family gathering, print a blank copy per person. The questionnaire also works on its own: you don't need to draw names on this site to use it, and copying your answers as text works with any other Secret Santa app. If you haven't drawn names yet, the Secret Santa generator does that in about a minute.

Start with allergies, a please-no list, favorite snacks and drinks, hobbies and a short wish list. Add sizes, favorite colors and gift card stores if your group is comfortable sharing them. The questionnaire on this page covers all of these in 22 questions.

No. Every question is optional. Answer the ones that would genuinely help someone choose a gift for you and leave the rest blank.

Open your private reveal link in the same browser where you filled in the questionnaire and tap "Use my questionnaire answers" in the wishlist form. Your answers become your wishlist, which only the person who drew you can see. You can also copy them as text and send them any way you like.

While you fill it in, your answers stay in your own browser. They reach your Secret Santa only when you add them to your wishlist, and that wishlist is deleted with the rest of the event after the exchange.

Yes. Print a blank copy of the Secret Santa questionnaire for each person, let them fill it in by hand, and give each sheet to the person who drew that name.