New field in Zoho Forms: Validate structured data with the Regex field
Have you ever received form submissions where the information looked almost correct but wasn't quite in the format you expected?
Maybe an employee ID was missing a character. A PAN number was entered in lowercase. A license number had an extra space. Or an internal reference code didn't follow your organization's format.
These small inconsistencies may seem harmless at first, but they often lead to manual data cleanup, validation errors, and extra follow-up with respondents.
The new Regex field in Zoho Forms is designed to solve exactly this problem.
Unlike a regular text field that accepts any input, the Regex field validates what users type against a pattern that you define. If the entered value doesn't match the expected format, the field immediately displays a custom validation message and asks the respondent to correct it before submitting the form.
For example, if you are collecting an Indian PAN number, you can ensure every submission follows the correct format of five uppercase letters, followed by four digits, and one uppercase letter. Instead of discovering formatting issues later, they're caught instantly while the user is filling out the form.
The same approach works for many other structured values, including:
• Employee IDs
• National identification numbers
• Tax registration numbers
• Social Security Numbers (SSN)
• License numbers
• Customer reference IDs
• Membership numbers
• Internal case numbers
• Asset or inventory codes
• Any custom identifier with a defined format
Setting up the Regex field is straightforward.
Simply define the validation pattern, customize the error message that respondents will see if their input doesn't match, and optionally add placeholder text to show them an example before they start typing.
For example, if you are collecting a Social Security Number (SSN), simply add three Pattern rows: ^[0-9]{3}$, ^[0-9]{2}$, and ^[0-9]{4}$ and separate them with hyphens to enforce the standard 123-45-6789 format.
The validation happens in real time, making it much easier for respondents to enter the correct information without guesswork.
If you are new to regular expressions, you don't have to start from scratch.
Zoho Forms also includes a collection of preset regex patterns for common use cases, along with documentation that explains what each regex symbol does and how to use them.
Regex field is now available under the Textbox section under fields in your form builder.
We'd love to hear how you plan to use the Regex field. What kinds of structured data do you collect that could benefit from pattern-based validation? Share your use cases and questions below!