A Prefill Link in Zoho Forms is a form URL with field identifiers and their values appended as query parameters. Each field in a Zoho Form has a unique parameter name that can be found in the Prefill tab of the Share settings. You construct the URL by appending these parameters with the values you want to populate, then send that URL to the respondent, for example via an email or a Zoho CRM workflow action. When the respondent opens the link, the specified fields are pre-populated with the provided values.
Use Prefill Links when sending a form to a known contact whose details are already in your CRM or database. Common applications: sending a renewal form to existing customers with their account number and product name pre-filled, routing a satisfaction form to a customer after a specific transaction with the invoice number embedded, and enabling a sales team to open a lead qualification form with the contact name and company already populated. Prefill Links significantly reduce the time a respondent spends on a form and cut transcription errors.
Prefilled values are visible in the URL, which means sensitive data such as account numbers or internal IDs are exposed in the browser address bar and in server logs. Do not prefill passwords, financial figures, or personally sensitive information via URL parameters. Prefilled fields can still be edited by the respondent unless you hide them with a Field Rule. When generating Prefill Links dynamically from a CRM or marketing tool, URL-encode any values that contain spaces or special characters to avoid broken parameters.
Yes. Zoho CRM workflow rules and functions can construct Prefill Link URLs dynamically by inserting CRM field values into the URL parameters. This is typically done using a custom function in Deluge that builds the URL string and then sends it as part of a workflow email. The approach is commonly used for renewal reminders, customer update requests, and post-service feedback forms.
Zoho Forms does not have a native “read-only” field option for standard fields. To prevent respondents from editing a prefilled value, you can hide the field using a Field Rule set to always hide it, while also capturing the prefilled value. The value is then submitted with the response even though the field is not visible to the respondent. Hidden fields bypass required validation, so this approach works cleanly for identifier fields.
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