You can publish those changes, and you will not lose the data in the form.

Hi Priya,

I agree with Fernando Hunth​.  The form reads the data from your SharePoint list and as long as you don't change or delete the SharePoint list columns you won't loose any data.  You can still add columns if you wanted to and still not loose any data. If you add more columns though just remember to go add them to your form.  They won't automatically be on the form now.

Hi,

Thanks for the replies, that makes sense I need to trial it out and see what happens. What I am trying to do is control a multi line text box that only User 1 can edit not User 2 even though they have permissions to do so via the workflow. Need to implement that via a rule or hidden section if that's possible and then test it out. Will let you know the outcome, or if I have problems I'll be back here asking for help.

Thank you again

Priya

Priya,

The only thing to be careful of is changing existing fields in the form.   Depending on what type of change it is (usually a configuration change in the field), it can cause data for that one field to be cleared after saving the updated form.

I change live production forms all the time while they are in use (for requested tweaks, etc.)   Altering existing fields is the only time I have run into a problem (again just with the altered field(s)).

To be sure, you can setup a test list/library and import the live form into the test list/library to work on it.  This gives you a chance to insure you are not losing any data after making your changes.    Then export the updated form and import it into your live list/library for use.

Hope this helps.