When you run a study on Prolific, you'll usually download at least two datasets:

Combining these datasets can make analysis easier by allowing you to view participant demographics alongside their survey responses in a single spreadsheet.
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The exact steps may vary depending on the spreadsheet software you're using, such as Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, or Apple Numbers.

Open both spreadsheets side by side and locate the column containing the Prolific Participant ID in each file.

Because the demographic export is usually the smaller dataset, we recommend adding the demographic information into your survey response spreadsheet.

Formulas allow you to automatically match participants across both spreadsheets using their Prolific Participant ID.

You can use functions such as:

This guide uses VLOOKUP as an example.

In your survey response spreadsheet, select the cell where you want the demographic data to appear and enter a VLOOKUP formula.

The formula requires four pieces of information:

Lookup Value

The unique identifier used to match participants between spreadsheets.

In this case, use the Prolific Participant ID.

Table Array

The range of data from the demographic export that contains the information you want to import.
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Important: The Participant ID column must be the leftmost column in the selected range.

Column Index Number

The position of the demographic column you want to return, counting from the Participant ID column.

For example:

Since column D is the fourth column in the selected range, enter 4 as the column index number.

Range Lookup

This determines whether the match must be exact.
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Enter FALSE to ensure only exact Participant ID matches are returned.

To prevent the selected data range from changing when you copy the formula down the spreadsheet, lock the cell references using $ symbols.

In many spreadsheet applications, you can quickly do this by selecting the reference and pressing F4.

Once you've confirmed the first formula returns the correct result:

If you need to import multiple demographic fields, repeat the process for each column.

After the formulas have returned the correct data:

This converts the formulas into static data and prevents changes if the original spreadsheet is moved or edited later.

If using formulas isn't suitable, you can manually align the spreadsheets by sorting them.

In each spreadsheet:

Important: Make sure the entire spreadsheet is sorted, not just the Participant ID column. Sorting only one column will misalign your data.

Before copying any data, compare a few rows between both spreadsheets.

For example, check that the Participant ID in row 26 of one spreadsheet matches the Participant ID in row 26 of the other spreadsheet.

Spot-checking helps ensure the data has been sorted correctly.
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Once both spreadsheets are aligned:

We recommend pasting the data into new columns at the end of the spreadsheet so that no existing data is overwritten.

We recommend using a lookup formula whenever possible, as it:

Sorting and manually copying data can be useful for smaller datasets, but requires extra care to ensure both spreadsheets remain perfectly aligned.