Google Forms is a powerful, free online form creation application that provides all the necessary features to create a simple survey or a dynamic questionnaire. With Google Forms, you can add different types of questions, use form logic, customize the form to match your brand, and easily collect and analyze data with its deep integration with Google Sheets—all without leaving Google Workspace.
In this article, we will cover everything you need to know to create and share surveys using Google Forms. So let’s dive right in!
How to Create a Google Form
Creating a Google Form is a breeze. The easiest way to create one is by directly using the Google Forms web application.
- Go to docs.google.com/forms.
- Click on “Blank form” to create a new form. You can also choose a pre-made template to kickstart the process.
Alternatively, you can create a new Google Form directly from Google Sheets. This is the fastest way to automatically sync your form data with a new or existing spreadsheet.
- Open the spreadsheet you want to sync with your form.
- Click on “Tools” and select “Create a new form”.
A blank form will automatically appear in the Google Forms editor. By default, the form’s title will be the same as your spreadsheet’s title. If you created a new form directly from Google Forms, it will appear as “Untitled form”. You can also add a form description to help respondents understand the purpose of your survey.
Using the Google Forms editor is straightforward. Click on a form field to add and edit a question. To add more questions, click on the “Add question” icon, which looks like a plus sign (+), in the floating toolbar next to your question area. And to change the question type, click on the drop-down menu next to the question field.
Google Forms offers eleven different question types. Here’s what each of them does:
- “Short answer”: This field is perfect for asking for small amounts of text, such as names, email addresses, and values. Respondents have a single text line to answer the question, although they can enter as much text as they want.
- “Paragraph”: This field is intended for longer text answers. Use it when you want to gather detailed comments or longer notes in the response.
- “Multiple choice”: This is the default field for new questions in a Google Form. It allows you to list different options and ask users to select only one. You can then make the form jump to another section based on the answer or shuffle the response options to avoid bias.
- “Checkbox”: This field allows you to list different options and ask users to select as many as they want. It also includes data validation to require users to select a specific number of options. However, it doesn’t include section jumps.
- “Dropdown”: This is similar to the multiple-choice question type with the same section jump and shuffle options. The only difference is that the response choices are presented in a dropdown menu. This keeps the form compact when many response options are available.
- “File upload”: While not technically a question type, it allows respondents to upload files that will be automatically saved to your Drive. If you use this feature, make sure to share your form only with trusted individuals.
- “Linear scale”: This field allows respondents to select a number within a range. You can set a numeric scale starting from 0 or 1 and ending anywhere between 2 and 10. You can also add labels for the lowest and highest options. And yes, emojis work for labels too.
- “Multiple choice grid”: This may be the most confusing field as the fields are displayed in a list rather than a grid. Essentially, you enter questions as rows and responses as columns. You can include as many rows and columns as you want, but note that respondents will have to scroll right to see more than six columns on desktop browsers or only three columns on mobile. In addition to the standard option that requires an answer for each question, the multiple-choice grid allows you to restrict users to only one response per column.
- “Checkbox grid”: This is set up similarly to the multiple-choice grid, but respondents can select multiple response options (columns) for each row in a table. It’s a great option for allowing respondents to make comparisons or choose, for example, their level of satisfaction with a product. You can limit users to select only one response per row, and you can also shuffle the order of rows to eliminate biases.
- “Date”: This field is useful if you want to ask for a specific date, such as for event planning or logging an activity. Note that the date format will appear in the default format for your location. For example, if your account’s preferred language is American English, the dates will be formatted as MM/DD/YYYY; for British English, the dates will appear as DD/MM/YYYY. Your users will see the date options in the date format of their location unless they are signed in to their Google account.
- “Time”: This field allows respondents to enter the time in hours and minutes.
All question types allow you to insert an image. If you want to add just an image or video without a question, you can do that too. Click on the “Add image” or “Add video” icon in the floating toolbar and choose the image or video you want to insert.
Note: Google Forms only supports YouTube videos, which you can add through search or with a link.
Whether you’ve added images or videos, your entry will have standard title and description fields, as well as resizing and alignment options for video or image display—centered, left, or right.
How to Add Sections and Logic in Google Forms
Simple forms only need a few fields, but longer surveys can quickly become overwhelming with dozens of questions listed on a single page. That’s where sections come in handy—they allow you to divide your form into chunks, so respondents only have to answer one set of questions at a time.
To add a section, click on the “Add section” icon, which looks like an equals sign (=), in the floating toolbar.
This will add a new section below the current question. Each section includes its own title, description, and an “Expand”/”Collapse section” option to make your form editor more manageable.
Let’s say you want to ask follow-up questions to a respondent based on their answer. This is where form logic comes into play.
- Create a multiple-choice question or a dropdown as you normally would (note: form logic doesn’t work with other question types).
- Click on the “Additional options” icon, which looks like an ellipsis (⁝), in the question field and then click on “Go to section based on answer”.
Edit the next-step options next to each answer. In the example below, anyone answering that they will attend the event in person will be directed to the next question, while anyone attending virtually or not attending at all will be directed to the end of the survey.
Note: Be careful not to select the name of your current section, or you may create a loop where respondents can never reach the end of your form.
At any time, you can click on the “Preview” icon, which looks like an eye, above your form to make sure your survey is working as you intended.
How to Create a Quiz with Google Forms
Another way to create an interactive form is by turning it into a quiz. The quickest way to create a new quiz in Google Forms is to go to g.co/createaquiz. If you want to turn an existing form into a quiz, click on “Settings” and then toggle the switch next to “Make this a quiz”.
In the “Settings” menu, choose whether you want to show results immediately after form submission or after reviewing responses. If you choose the latter option, your form will prompt respondents to log in with their Google account first.
You can then choose whether to display missed and correct responses, as well as a point value for each option. With these options enabled, you’ll need to update your answer key.
- Click on “Questions”.
- In the question field, click on “Answer key”.
- Choose the correct answer(s) and enter the question’s point value.
- Optionally, you can click on “Add answer feedback” to provide feedback for correct and incorrect responses.
Note: You can use any question type, such as “Multiple choice”, “Short answer”, or even “Date”, in a Google Forms quiz.
How to Customize the Design of a Google Form
When you create a new form, the default design— if you can call it that—is a purple color theme. But it’s easy to change the design and include a header image to add some personality or match your business branding.
- Click on the “Customize theme” icon, which looks like a paint palette.
- In the “Theme” panel that appears, you can change the form’s text style, header image, and color theme.
How to Create a Google Forms Template
Unlike Google Docs, there’s no direct way to create and share Google Forms templates. But there is a simple workaround.
- Create your form.
- Click on the “More” icon (⋮) above the form and select “Make a copy”.
- Modify the copied form if needed.
If someone else wants to use your template, add them as a collaborator and then share a link to your form.
How to Share and Collaborate on Google Forms
Google Forms Sharing Settings
Once your form is ready, make sure to check the form settings before sharing it with the world. Here are a few fields you might want to pay particular attention to.
Responses
These settings allow you to manage response collection and sharing. You can limit users to submitting only one form, allow them to edit their responses, or receive a copy of their responses. You can also choose to collect email addresses and share the form only with your organization or publicly with anyone who has the link. You also have the option to collect respondent usernames (their Google Workspace email addresses), which is useful if you need to follow up with someone.
Presentation
These settings allow you to manage the form’s appearance and add a confirmation page to your form. It works in the same way as the form’s description field, but it’s really minimalistic—you can’t format text or add links. You can also choose to show a progress bar, shuffle the question order, or display links to submit another response.
Language
Language is not a setting you can adjust directly from Google Forms, but it’s good to note that Google will display the form’s user interface (UI) text in the default language of your respondents’ location. If your readers are in Japan and your form questions are in English, the UI text like “Required” and “Submit” will appear in Japanese while your questions will appear in English. If this is an issue, add a note at the beginning of your form to remind people to update their preferred language first.
How to Collaborate on Google Forms
If you want to get feedback from your team on your form, here’s how you can collaborate on Google Forms.
- Click on the “More” icon (⋮) above your form.
- Click on “Add collaborators”.
- Enter individual email addresses of collaborators or give general access to anyone in your organization or anyone with the form link.
- Click “Done”.
How to Share Google Forms
Once you’re ready to share your form, click on “Send” above your form.
From there, you have three ways to share the form.
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“Email”: This option allows you to send an email to recipients inside or outside your organization with an individual invitation to fill out the form. Click on “Include form in email” and your recipients can fill out the form directly from their inbox. In my experience, however, this feature doesn’t always work. For example, I couldn’t fill out the form in the Gmail mobile app. It also didn’t work when I sent a form to respondents that I created with my Google Workspace account, but it worked when I created one with my personal Google account.
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“Link”: This option allows you to copy a full link or a shortened URL to your form, which you can share as usual.
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“Embed on your site”: This option gives you a code to add the form directly to your website. You also have the option to customize the width and height to fit your site’s design.
How to Share a Pre-filled Google Form
Want to get feedback with a partially filled form? For example, a contact clicks on a button on your site saying they don’t like a product, so you want the survey form to automatically reflect that. Or maybe you have a form that needs to be filled with the same information every week, and you don’t want to have to type it again.
- Click on the “More” icon (⋮) above your form.
- Click on “Get pre-filled link”.
- Fill out the sections of the form that you want pre-filled.
- Click on “Get link”.
- A link to the form will be automatically copied to your clipboard. Paste and share the link as you normally would.
The only downside is that Google Forms doesn’t store pre-filled links for later viewing. You’ll have to repeat the process each time you want to share the pre-filled form.
How to Share a Google Form as Paper or PDF
Need to collect responses offline? Google Forms can help with that too.
- Click on the “More” icon (⋮) above your form.
- Click on “Print”.
- Google Forms will create a copy of your form in a print-friendly format, which you can print or save as a PDF.
Grids and multiple-choice options show selection buttons to fill in, while text, date, and time fields include empty lines for responses.
Once respondents have filled out your paper forms, enter their responses into your Google Sheets spreadsheet to keep them alongside your other form entries.
How to Access Google Forms Responses (and Automatically Save Responses in a Spreadsheet)
Once you’ve created and shared the form, you don’t have to do anything else to store respondents’ responses in Google Forms.
Click on “Responses” to view individual responses, response sheets and charts, as well as an option to send a reminder email to anyone who still needs to fill out the form.
The charts and sheets are great for getting a quick overview of responses, but if you want a more detailed breakdown in a Google Sheets spreadsheet, click on “View in Sheets”.
Want to create a new spreadsheet or select an existing one to store your responses instead? Click on the “More” icon (⋮) next to the summary of total responses and then click on “Select response destination”.
Note: You can store results from multiple forms in a single spreadsheet, but the responses from each form will be saved in separate sheets.
One of the great benefits of storing Google Forms responses in a Google Sheets spreadsheet is how fast it is. Change the name of your form fields, and they’ll automatically update in your spreadsheet. Get a new response, and it will appear in the spreadsheet as soon as your respondent clicks “Submit”.
Note: You can edit the form’s questions and response options at any time, but if you do, it won’t change responses that have already been added to your spreadsheet.
Accidentally deleted something from your spreadsheet? Google Forms always keeps a complete backup of your form’s data. The easiest thing to do is to unlink and relink your form and spreadsheet. Click on the “More” icon (⋮) next to the summary of total responses and then click on “Unlink form”.
Then, reconnect the form to your spreadsheet, and Google Forms will add all the form data to a new sheet.
Once your form data is in the spreadsheet, you can use Google Sheets formulas to calculate values or create custom charts to visualize your data. Add conditional formatting to the spreadsheet, and you can see trends in your form responses at a glance.
How to Use Google Forms Add-ons
Google Forms is already fantastic on its own, but it lacks some features you may want. There’s a whole library of add-ons specifically for Google Forms that allow you to do things like customize form notifications and collect signatures in a form.
- Click on the “More” icon (⋮).
- Click on “Get add-ons”.
- Search for and install the add-on you want to use.
To use an add-on, click on the “Add-ons” icon, which looks like a puzzle piece, above your form, and then select the tool you want to use. It will then run automatically in the background.
There’s no direct way to remove add-ons directly from Google Forms. The best way to manage your apps is to go to the Google Workspace Marketplace and uninstall any apps you no longer want to use.
Automating Google Forms
Google Forms offers a comprehensive set of features for creating and sharing dynamic surveys. But once you receive a form submission, you still have to perform manual manipulations—whether that’s copying them into a to-do list or notifying your team. With Zapier, you can eliminate this manual work. Connect Google Forms to your other applications, so you can automatically take actions such as:
- Notifying your team on Slack of new form submissions.
- Sending personalized notifications for each new form submission to your inbox.
- Transforming form responses into tasks in your project management application.
- Saving form responses to a database or spreadsheet other than Google Sheets.
- Adding participants to a calendar event based on their form response.
- Creating Google Docs templates based on form responses.
Learn more about how to automate Google Forms, or get started with one of these workflows.
This article was originally published in July 2016 by Matthew Guay, with contributions from Elena Alston. The most recent update was made in January 2024.
For more tips and tricks on Google Sheets and other Google Workspace tools, visit Crawlan.com.
