How to Open Main Form Again

Google Forms is office of Google'southward free suite of tools (Google Workspace). It's piece of cake to use and one of the simplest means to collect data—and automatically save information technology to a spreadsheet. Let'south dive correct in.

Turn forms and surveys into business growth

• Google forms tour

• Building your first Google Form

• Google Forms field options

• Form sections and logic

• Pattern your class

• Store responses in a spreadsheet

• Share your course

• Google Forms add-ons

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Learn more virtually using Google Sheets

A brief tour of Google Forms

Google Forms started life as a Google Sheets characteristic in 2008, 2 years after Sheets' original launch. Y'all could add together a grade to a spreadsheet, format it in a separate canvas, and see your class responses in another sheet. Information technology was basic, but it got the job washed.

Google added more features to Forms over time, then finally turned it into its own standalone app in early 2016. Today yous can make and manage forms at docs.google.com/forms, with templates and quick access to all your forms in 1 place.

Google Forms is now a full-featured forms tool that comes gratuitous with your Google account. Yous can add standard question types, elevate and drop questions into the society y'all want, customize the form with unproblematic photos or color themes, and assemble responses in Forms or save them to a Google Sheets spreadsheet.

Let'south start out by making a quick contact class so y'all tin can encounter how like shooting fish in a barrel information technology is to use.

Building your first Google Form

The simplest style to start edifice a form is right from the Google Forms app. Go to docs.google.com/forms, and then either choose a template or start a blank course.

In that location's too a link to Google Forms in Docs, Sheets, and Slides: click File > New > Course to get-go a new bare class. Or, in Google Sheets, click Tools > Create a Form to start a bare new form that's automatically linked to that spreadsheet. That'southward the quickest mode to become data into a new or existing spreadsheet: open the spreadsheet where you lot want the data, outset a form, and the course responses will automatically be saved there without any actress clicks.

The Forms editor is straightforward. Your form fills the center of the screen, with infinite for a title and description followed by form fields. Click a form field to edit it and add a question. Use the dropdown box side by side to the field to cull the field type, such as multiple choice, checkboxes, curt answer, and so on.

Google Forms offers several settings options. The floating toolbar on the right lets you lot add more course fields. On the meridian-right menu, y'all tin can alter the form's colour scheme, preview the form, use the Send push to share the course, and access other extra options, including installing add together-ons for Forms. Switch from the Questions tab to the Responses tab in your form editor to see electric current responses to your form and link it to a spreadsheet.

All you lot need to do is add your questions and transport the course out, so let's look at the form options and what you can practice with each.

Google Forms field options

Google Forms includes 12 field types: nine question types, forth with text, photo, and video fields. Just click the + icon in the right sidebar to add a new question, or click the text, photo, or video icons to add media to your class.

Each field includes a button to indistinguishable the field, for a simple mode to add similar questions to your form. There's besides a delete button, options to brand the field required, and a card with extra options on the right side. Y'all tin switch question types at any time, though exercise note that your field settings and questions will reset if you switch from multiple selection, checkbox, or carte du jour to whatsoever of the other question types. And, to rapidly fill in questions in fields, just press enter to kickoff calculation another one.

Quick Tip: Accidentally remove a grade element or add together one too many? Just tap command + Z or Ctrl + Z to undo, just as you would in a document.

Here'south what each field type offers:

Championship and description: The title and description fields are added automatically to every form and field—though the description is subconscious by default on most fields—and you can add an extra title block anywhere with the Tt button. You can leave the title and description bare on questions, but the main form championship must be filled in.

The description doesn't include formatting options—though you can include links (in a shortened format, similar zapier.com, or as the total-length fashion similar https://zapier.com/), and class readers can click those to meet your site or related material.

Short answer: This field is perfect for asking for modest bits of text: names, email addresses, values, and more than. You get one line of text to answer the question—though your users could really enter every bit much text equally they want.

To make sure you get the answers you need, this field includes number, text, length, and regular expression data validations. Number validations help yous watch for ranges of values, while text validations are perfect to spotter for email addresses or links.

Paragraph: Much the aforementioned as the short reply field, this is a field for text—long-form text. Length and regular expression are the just information validations available here, and so only use information technology when you desire detailed feedback or longer notes in the answer.

Multiple choice: The default field for new questions in a Google Form, the multiple choice option lets you listing options and take users select one. You can then have the form leap to some other department based on the answer or have the answer options shuffled to forestall bias.

Checkboxes: Similar to multiple selection, this field lets yous listing answers and have users select as many equally they desire. It also includes data validation to require users to select a specific number of options. It doesn't include section jumps, nonetheless.

Dropdown: Want all of the answer options in a card? This field's for yous. Information technology'south the verbal same equally the multiple selection field—with the aforementioned section jump and shuffle options—only this time the answers are in a card. This is useful for keeping your course meaty when there are many answer options.

Linear calibration: This field lets people select a number in a range, so yous tin set a calibration from 0 or 1 to 2-10 with labels for the lowest and highest options. And aye, emoji work for labels, besides.

Multiple choice filigree: This is mayhap the most confusing field, as the fields are displayed in a listing rather than in the grid every bit they'll announced to readers. Essentially, yous'll add together questions as rows, and options about them every bit columns.

You tin can include as many rows and columns as yous want, though do note that readers will have to scroll right to come across more than six columns on desktop browsers or merely 3 columns on mobile. Yous might want to go on the form preview open while setting upwards grid questions—just tap the eye icon on the meridian right, and refresh that page to meet your changes.

In add-on to the standard option to require responses, the grid lets y'all require a response per row and tin likewise limit users to only one response per cavalcade.

Checkbox grid: The Checkbox filigree allows respondents to select multiple reply options (columns) for each row in a tabular array. It lets survey respondents brand comparisons or select, say, their levels of satisfaction with a production.

You can limit users to cull simply one respond per row, and yous tin can also shuffle the row guild to eliminate bias. This grade field works bully for ranking grid questions, voting/poll questions, and comparing questions.

Date: Want to ask for a specific appointment or time, peradventure to schedule an event or log an activity? The date field is the i you want to select. It can inquire for a date and month and, optionally, the year and time too.

Practise notation that the date format will be shown in the default format for your location. If your Google Account is set up to US English locale, dates will be formatted as MM/DD/YYYY; UK English accounts, on the other hand, volition show dates as DD/MM/YYYY. Your users will see the engagement options in your location's date format, unless they're logged in to their Google Account, and then be sure to keep that in listen when creating forms.

Time: Time lets you request a length of time in hours, minutes, and (optionally) seconds, for a way to log how long an action took.

Paradigm: Google Forms lets you upload an epitome, insert one from a link or Google Drive, or take a photo from your own webcam (every bit long as you lot have Wink installed). Or, you tin can search Google Images for photos, including royalty-gratuitous stock photos and images from LIFE that are licensed to use within Google Bulldoze.

Video: Google Forms only supports YouTube videos, which you can add together either through search or with a link.

Whether you've added images or videos, your form entry volition take the standard title and clarification, along with options to resize and show the video or image centered, left, or right-aligned.

Notation: Y'all can besides let your respondents upload files through your form to the grade owner'southward Google Drive. Make sure you only share this form with people y'all trust.

How to create form sections and logic in Google Forms

Simple contact forms only need a few fields, merely longer surveys tin speedily go overwhelming with dozens of questions on one page. That's where sections come up in handy: they let you lot break your form up into chunks to respond one set of questions at a fourth dimension.

Simply click the final button on the right toolbar to add together a section below the current question. Each section includes its ain title and description, along with an arrow push at the elevation to prove or hide questions and keep your form editor tidy.

You can drag and drop questions between sections, but you tin't rearrange full sections. You could, instead, move the questions out and then delete that department. Or, if yous want to reuse a section, just click the section'southward card and click Duplicate section for another copy of those questions.

That's a perfect manner to commencement a course with logic jumps. Say yous desire to ask a respondent follow-upward questions based on their answer—perhaps to ask which meat an event attendee wants, simply only if they're not vegetarian.

Just add sections with the optional questions, and so either add a department jump to the individual multiple selection, checkbox, or menu questions, or to the section itself. Brand sure to think through where people who shouldn't run into those questions are sent, also, perhaps with alternate questions in a separate section. Or, you lot tin can ship them straight to the finish of the form to submit their answers, if at that place's nothing else to enquire.

Exist creative: Form sections and jumps allow yous turn your form into a mini-app, and they can be a corking way to condense detailed surveys downward into but the almost important questions for each person.

Quick tip: Be sure to not select your current section's proper noun, or you'll end up making a loop where respondents tin can never get to the end of your form.

How to build a quiz in Google Forms

Another manner to make an interactive form is with Google Forms' Quiz manner. Inside your class settings, you'll find a Quizzes tab. Select Make this a quiz, and and so choose whether to show the results immediately afterwards the form is submitted or later once you review the answers. If you lot choose the latter, your form will need to require respondents to sign in with their Google account.

You tin can then choose to bear witness missed and correct answers, as well every bit a value for each option if you'd like.

With that enabled, you'll see a new Answer Key button on the lesser left of each question. Click it, and then select the correct reply for the question. You can optionally add answer feedback both for correct and incorrect answers, with a link for respondents to view more info if you'd like.

Note that quizzes only work with multiple choice, checkbox, and dropdown questions.

How to change the pattern of a Google Grade

There's one spot where you don't accept many options: your form's design. You tin include an image for the header, pick a theme color, and select a background color. Y'all tin as well choose different font styles, from basic to decorative, formal, or playful. By default, new forms come in royal, while template forms oft include an image.

Click the color palette icon in the top right to tweak your design, if merely a little. You can choose from 15 colors, each a darker color for the header with a complementary groundwork shade.

Click the photo icon to select a photo or Google Doodle-style drawing from Google's library as your course'due south header photo. Or select one of your photos from Google Drive or upload a new one and crop it to fit in as a class header. Forms will then automatically select a background color that matches your photo. Some of the included header images are blithe GIFs with called-for candles, moving assurance, and more. Unfortunately, if yous add them to your form, they appear as a standard still image.

Store Google grade responses in a spreadsheet

In one case you've created the grade, you don't need to do anything extra to store respondents' answers in Google Forms. By default, it'll save each answer in the Responses tab, showing summary graphs and lists of answers. An individual response view shows the alive class along with the results from each respondent.

That'due south great for quick form results, but for more than tools to clarify answers, yous tin link your form to a Google Sheets spreadsheet. Just click the green Sheets icon in the Responses tab or click Select response destination in the carte, then create a new spreadsheet or select an existing one to store the answers.

Annotation: You tin store results from multiple forms in one spreadsheet; each form's responses will be saved to a separate sheet. Yous cannot, however, save multiple forms' responses to a single sheet.

One great matter about saving Google Forms entries to a Google Sheets spreadsheet: it's fast. Alter your grade field names, and they're automatically updated in your spreadsheet. Get a new entry, and information technology'll show up in the spreadsheet equally presently as your recipient clicks Submit.

Note: You lot tin can change class questions and reply options at any fourth dimension, merely if you do, information technology won't modify entries that have already been added to your spreadsheet.

Google Forms always keeps a full copy of all your form data, so if you accidentally delete something from your spreadsheet, don't worry. Just open your Form response settings and unlink it from your spreadsheet, or click Class > Unlink class inside your spreadsheet. Then reconnect the form to your spreadsheet, and Google Forms volition add all the form data back to a new sheet.

With your grade information in the spreadsheet, you can utilise Google Sheets' formulas to summate values or make custom graphs to visualize your information. Add conditional formatting to the spreadsheet, and you'll exist able to encounter patterns in your grade responses at a glance.

There's 1 other handy extra with Sheets: notifications. Google Forms by default can email you whenever the grade is filled out, but click Tools > Notification Rules in Google sheets for more detailed options. At that place, you can choose to get emailed merely in one case a twenty-four hour period with a summary of all responses or whenever changes are fabricated to a form entry.

How to share Google Forms

Y'all've made a form, and now information technology's time to share it with the world and get responses to your questions. Or peradventure you want to get feedback from your team on your form. Either way, here's what yous need to do in Google Forms.

Interact on forms

One of Google Forms' best features is that you can share the cadre class with others to permit them assist y'all build and edit the form. The same sharing features you'd expect in Google Docs and Sheets are included with Forms.

Just open up the Forms menu and select Add Collaborators, then enter individual collaborators' email addresses. Or click Change... to make the form public to the web or just inside your organization.

Tip: Want to make your own form template? Just make a form, then click the form'southward menu and select Make a copy . Or share your original form, and so everyone with the link can make their own copy—an easy style to make shared squad template forms.

Google Forms sharing settings

Presentation

One time your form is finished, be sure to check the form settings before sharing information technology with the world. Click Settings, coil down, and select Presentation, where yous can add together a confirmation page to your course. This works the aforementioned every bit the form description field with no formatting but support for links. You can also cull whether to show a progress bar, shuffle your question order, and show links to submit another response.

Responses

Click Responses, where you tin allow users submit some other response, edit their responses, or meet a summary of all responses. You lot can also cull to collect email addresses, share the class either merely within your organization or publicly with anyone who has the link. There are also options to collect their username (their Google Workspace e-mail accost) or only allow ane response (which requires respondents to log in to their Google account).

In that location'south 1 more affair to notation: linguistic communication. Google volition evidence the grade'southward interface in the default language for your recipients' location. If your readers are in Japan, say, and your form questions are in English, the UI text like Required and Submit will be in Japanese while your questions are in English. If that'southward an issue, you can add a notation to the showtime of your form to remind people to set their Google language from google.com first.

Share finished Google Forms online

Ready to become responses to your form? Just click the Transport button in the summit-right to share the course via email or social networks, copy a link to the form, or become an embed code to add information technology to your site.

With the link, you tin either copy a full-length link or go a shortened goo.gl/forms/ link to share more than hands on social networks. The embed option includes width and height options to fit the form within your site's blueprint.

Sharing the form via electronic mail includes an extra option: including the form in the e-mail. This copies your actual form options into the email, and if your recipient uses Gmail, they tin fill out the form inside their Gmail inbox, click Submit, and send in their answer without ever seeing your real form. That only works in Gmail, though—Apple Mail shows the class fields but doesn't ship the answers to Google Forms, while Outlook.com tin can't even open up the form—and so you might desire to include a note with your course for non-Gmail users.

Share pre-filled form

Desire to get feedback with a class partly filled in? Perhaps a contact clicks a button on your site that says they dislike one product, so you want the survey grade to reverberate that automatically. Or maybe you have a form that needs to be filled out with similar info each week, and you lot don't desire to re-blazon information technology.

For cases like these, click Get pre-filled link in the Forms menu, then fill in the options you want on the form. Click Submit at the end, and Google will give you a unique link to share that re-create of the form with the answers pre-filled.

Share paper or PDF Google Forms

Demand to gather responses offline? Google Forms can aid with that too. Just click Print in your Forms menu, and Google Forms volition make a ballot-fashion re-create of your class that you lot can impress or salvage equally PDF.

Grids and multiple-pick options prove pill buttons to fill in, while text fields include blank lines for answers. Once respondents have filled out your newspaper forms, just type their answers into your Google Sheets spreadsheet to salvage them along with your other form entries.

Google Forms add-ons

Google Forms is peachy on its own, but odds are it's still missing some features you want. Forms add-ons let y'all add together extra features to your forms, get customized notifications, turn your form entries into documents, and more.

At that place's an entire library of add-ons tucked away in the Google Forms menu. Just click the menu, click Add together-ons, then find an addition you lot want and install it. You'll so get a new puzzle slice icon in Google Forms, with a bill of fare that lists each of your add-ons.

Most add-ons run in a pop-upwardly square on the lower correct side of your forms editor, and they may also include an options pane for options that opens in the center of your editor. To open an add-on, just select information technology in the add-ons bill of fare, manage its settings from its add-on pop-upward, and it'll then run in the background automatically. At that place's no bill of fare option to manage or remove add-ons; instead, just open up the add-ons pane again, detect the add-on you want to remove, click Manage, and and so select Remove in its menu.

Here are some of the best Forms add-ons to get started:

• CheckItOut lets you check in or out items with a form, essentially by rearranging data from one category to some other in a spreadsheet. It'south a great tool for managing inventory or shared items, or it could be used creatively to, say, corroborate tasks or exercise other jobs where yous need to move items between ii categories.

• Pick Eliminator Lite eliminates options from multiple-choice, list, or checkbox questions if they've already been selected. It'south a neat way to, say, brand a signup form where respondents tin each select 1 day or an gild form for limited-quantity items.

• Data Director adds form responses to alternate sheets and sends email notifications based on conditions. You could apply information technology to sort all like entries into unlike sheets automatically.

• docAppender adds your form results to the finish of a Google Docs document instead of a spreadsheet. Each response tin be added to unique documents based on form questions, or they each can exist added to the same certificate.

• Grade Notifications sends custom e-mail notifications to y'all and optionally to form respondents with details most the class results and a thank yous message.

• Form Publisher makes template Google Docs documents, PDF files, or unique spreadsheets for each entry, and so shares them via email.

• formRecycler imports questions from other forms to apace reuse them without copying the entire form.

Or, if yous're storing your form information in a Google Sheets spreadsheet, there'southward a wealth of Sheets add-ons to do more with your data.

Build add together-ons with Google Apps Script

Demand to receive files in a Google Form? At that place's no improver for that, but yous tin use a Google Apps Script to have files in a secondary grade and add together them to Google Drive. That's simply ane of the many things yous could practice with Google Apps Script, the scripting language for building macros and add-ons in Google'southward apps.

Google Apps Script lets you add form options, send notifications, and more with merely a few lines of Javascript code. You can find Google Apps Scripts online, or learn to build your own using Google's tutorials for edifice Forms add-ons.

Automate Google Forms

By connecting Google Forms to Zapier, you can automatically practice things like:

• Get a notification wherever you want when your form is filled out (or even when your form is filled out in a specific way)

• Relieve form entries in a database or spreadsheet other than Google Sheets

• Save respondent info (including their responses!) to your CRM

• Add respondents to your email marketing list, tagged a certain manner depending on their answers

• Plough form responses into tasks in your projection management app

• Create documents from course entries

Larn more about how to automate Google Forms.

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Whether you need to make a simple poll or desire a dynamic survey with customized questions for different response types, Google Forms has the essential tools you demand. It'due south not the virtually powerful or customizable form builder. Instead, it's incredibly like shooting fish in a barrel to employ, right from your Google account.

And thanks to its deep integration with Google Sheets—and a wealth of add-ons—it tin exist a powerful tool to get together data and mine it for insights without leaving Google Workspace.

This commodity was originally published in July 2016 and was updated in Apr 2022 by Elena Alston.

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Source: https://zapier.com/blog/how-to-use-google-forms/