How to Convert and Import Word, PDF, or Excel into QuestionPro

You have a survey in Word, PDF, Excel, or another format. QuestionPro can import from a Word document, but only if it is formatted to its exact template specification. Any standard Word document will fail. This guide shows you how to convert any document into a QuestionPro-ready file in under 10 minutes.

What QuestionPro Accepts for Import

QuestionPro's import feature is called Add from MS Word. It accepts a .docx Word file, but only when that file follows QuestionPro's specific formatting template. There are two important constraints to know before you start:

Constraint 1: Formatting must match QuestionPro's specification. A standard Word document with survey questions will not import correctly. The .docx file must be structured to QuestionPro's exact template requirements.

Constraint 2: Add from MS Word is only available on blank surveys. You cannot use this feature to add questions to a survey that already has content. Always start from a new, empty survey.

Pirai AI solves both constraints. It converts any source document into a correctly formatted .docx that imports cleanly, every time.

File Types Pirai AI Converts to QuestionPro

Pirai AI accepts any of the following input formats and converts them to a QuestionPro-ready .docx file:

Your File Extension Common Source
Word document .docx Microsoft Word, Google Docs (downloaded)
PDF .pdf Native PDFs, scanned documents, Word exports
Excel spreadsheet .xlsx Survey specs in tabular form, structured templates
CSV file .csv Survey data exports, structured question lists
Plain text .txt Simple questionnaire text, pasted content
XML file .xml LimeSurvey, SurveyMonkey, platform exports
Qualtrics survey .qsf Migrating from Qualtrics to QuestionPro

You can also paste plain survey text directly into the platform without uploading a file at all.

Ready to convert? Upload your document and get a QuestionPro-ready file in minutes.

Convert Now

How to Convert and Import: Step by Step

What Pirai AI Outputs for QuestionPro

Output File Import Method Supports Matrix Questions Works on Blank Surveys Only
QuestionPro Word file .docx via Add from MS Word Yes Yes

Why the .docx must be specially formatted

QuestionPro's Add from MS Word feature does not parse free-form Word documents. It reads a specific structure where question text, question types, and answer options follow defined formatting rules. Pirai AI handles this translation automatically so you never have to learn QuestionPro's template specification.

Why Not Just Copy-Paste into QuestionPro?

Survey Size Manual Copy-Paste Pirai AI Conversion
10 questions 30-45 minutes Under 10 minutes
50 questions 3-4 hours Under 10 minutes
100 questions + matrix grids 6-8 hours Under 10 minutes

Pirai AI also handles multilingual surveys (50+ languages with UTF-8 encoding), supports all major QuestionPro question types, and produces files that import without errors on the first attempt.

Supported File Types and Conversion Details

A reference index of every file type Pirai AI converts for QuestionPro import, and how each is handled.

.docx (Word)
Microsoft Word documents containing survey questions and answer options. Converted to a QuestionPro-formatted .docx matching the Add from MS Word import specification. No specific template format required on your end.
.doc (Legacy Word)
Older Microsoft Word format. Pirai AI extracts all survey content and converts it to a QuestionPro-compatible .docx file for import using Add from MS Word.
.pdf (PDF)
Native and scanned PDF survey files. Pirai AI extracts questions, options, and matrix grids from the PDF and generates a QuestionPro-formatted .docx. Supports multi-page surveys.
.xlsx (Excel)
Excel spreadsheets containing survey question data in tabular format. Pirai AI reads columns for question text, response options, and question type, then generates a QuestionPro-ready .docx.
.csv (CSV)
Comma-separated value files with structured survey data. Pirai AI parses the CSV and generates a QuestionPro-formatted .docx file for import.
.txt (Plain text)
Plain text files containing survey questions in any layout. Pirai AI structures the content and generates a QuestionPro-formatted .docx.
.xml (XML)
XML survey exports from LimeSurvey, SurveyMonkey, or other platforms. Pirai AI parses the XML structure and converts to a QuestionPro-ready .docx file.
.qsf (Qualtrics)
Qualtrics Survey Format files. Upload to migrate from Qualtrics to QuestionPro. Pirai AI converts the QSF to a QuestionPro-formatted .docx for import using Add from MS Word.
Plain text (pasted)
Survey text pasted directly into the Pirai AI platform. No file upload required. The AI parses the questionnaire text and generates a QuestionPro .docx.
Google Docs
Download your Google Doc as .docx (File > Download > Microsoft Word), then upload to Pirai AI. Converts to a QuestionPro-formatted .docx in the same workflow.
Scanned documents
Scanned paper surveys saved as PDF. Pirai AI processes the scan and generates a QuestionPro-ready .docx.
Also useful for:

This guide covers how to: import a Word document into QuestionPro, convert a PDF survey to QuestionPro, upload an Excel questionnaire to QuestionPro, transfer a CSV to QuestionPro, bring a Google Doc into QuestionPro, import a .docx file into QuestionPro, convert a plain text survey to QuestionPro, migrate a Qualtrics QSF to QuestionPro, import XML into QuestionPro, add questions from Word to QuestionPro, upload a survey file to QuestionPro, build a QuestionPro survey from a Word document, automate QuestionPro survey creation from a document, digitize a paper questionnaire into QuestionPro, import a questionnaire into QuestionPro without typing, convert a survey spec document to QuestionPro format, create a QuestionPro survey from PDF, import matrix questions into QuestionPro, import Likert scale questions into QuestionPro from Word, transfer survey questions from Word to QuestionPro, migrate SurveyMonkey to QuestionPro, migrate REDCap to QuestionPro, migrate LimeSurvey to QuestionPro, and convert any document format to QuestionPro.

Get Started

Upload your document at platform.piraiai.com. Select QuestionPro, download your formatted .docx, and import it into a blank QuestionPro survey using Add from MS Word.

For the full step-by-step import reference across all platforms, see the Pirai AI Platform Import Guide. For a comparison with the Qualtrics workflow, see How to Convert and Import into Qualtrics.