Ulysses Ludwig’Blog

Very often you need to retrieve a published InfoPath form, unfortunately, in SharePoint 2010 this is quite an ordeal.  In SharePoint 2007 you could simply open the InfoPath forms library in explorer view then open the forms directory and the template.xsn file would be readily visible.  In SharePoint 2010 the template.xsn file is now much better hidden/protected by SharePoint 2010.  In order to retrieve the document follow one of the two steps below.

Method 1

The easiest method is to simply access the file via URL, keep in mind, when you publish the form its name is changed to template.xsn.  To access the file type the full url to the site or document library and then append /forms/template.xsn. 

Figure 1: Type /forms/template.xsn in the URL

After you enter the URL you will be prompted to download the file.

Method 2

The second method is to use SharePoint Designer 2010.  In this method open the site in SharePoint designer then click on “All Files” on the left hand side of the application.

Figure 2: Click on “All Files”

Locate the InfoPath Forms Library and double click on its name

Figure 3: Click on the library and choose the “Forms” directory

Figure 4: Download the file from the forms directory

Designing a Published InfoPath Form, 9.5 out of 10 based on 2 ratings