Start with a blank form or a template

Open Google Forms by going to forms.google.com and signing in with your Google account. Click the plus sign to create a new form, or scroll through the template gallery to find a starting point. Templates exist for customer feedback, event registration, quiz creation, and other common survey types — they save time if your survey matches one closely.

If you start blank, you'll see a form with one default question. Give your form a title and description at the top. The title appears when people open the survey; the description explains what you're asking them to do. Keep both clear and specific — "Customer Feedback on Website Redesign" tells people more than "Quick Survey."

Key Takeaways

  • Google Forms is free and requires only a Google account; responses collect automatically into a spreadsheet you can read or analyze within the platform.
  • Question types include multiple choice, checkboxes, short answer, paragraph, dropdown, linear scale, and multiple choice grid — choose the type that matches what you're asking.
  • You can make questions required, randomize answer order, and shuffle question order to reduce bias in how people respond.
  • Share your form by copying the link, embedding it on a website, or sending it through email; Google Forms tracks who answered only if you require sign-in.
  • Responses appear in real time in the Responses tab, and you can view individual answers, see summary charts, or read all data as a spreadsheet.

Add and arrange your questions

Click the plus sign to add a new question. A menu appears with question type options: multiple choice, checkboxes, short answer, paragraph text, dropdown, linear scale (1 to 5 or 1 to 10), and multiple choice grid. Choose the type that fits what you're asking. If you want one answer, use multiple choice or dropdown. If you want several answers to the same question, use checkboxes. If you want a rating, use linear scale.

Type your question in the text field. Add answer options for multiple choice, checkboxes, or dropdown by typing each option in its own field. Click "Add option" to create more fields. You can add an "Other" field that lets respondents type their own answer if none of your options fit.

Drag questions up or down to reorder them. Click the three-dot menu on any question to duplicate it, delete it, or access advanced settings. You can make a question required (the form won't submit until it's answered), randomize the order of answer choices, or shuffle the order of all questions so different people see them in different orders.

Customize how your form looks and behaves

Click the paintbrush icon at the top to change colors, fonts, and background images. Choose a preset theme or upload your own image. These changes are visual only and don't affect how responses are collected.

Click the settings gear icon to control how your form works. You can require sign-in (so only people with Google accounts can respond, and you'll see their names), allow one response per person (so the same account can't submit twice), or shuffle question order. You can also set the form to show a confirmation message after someone submits, or redirect them to a website instead.

Share your survey and collect responses

Click the Send button at the top right. A window opens with three tabs: a link you can copy and share, an email option to send to specific people, and an embed code if you want the form to appear on your website. Copy the link and paste it into email, chat, social media, or anywhere else you want people to find it. If you email the form directly from Google Forms, recipients get an email with a button that opens the survey.

Responses start arriving as soon as people submit. You don't have to do anything to collect them — Google Forms stores them automatically. If you required sign-in, you'll see each person's name and email. If you didn't, responses are anonymous.

View and analyze your results

Click the Responses tab to see your data. By default, you see a summary view with charts for each question — bar charts for multiple choice, pie charts for single-answer questions, and word clouds for text answers. Scroll through to see patterns in how people answered.

Click the "Individual" button to see each person's complete response set, one form at a time. This is useful if you need to follow up with someone or see how one person answered all your questions together. Click the "Question" button to go back to the summary view.

Click the three-dot menu in the Responses tab to read all responses as a spreadsheet (CSV or Excel format), print a summary, or delete all responses. Downloading gives you a file you can analyze in Excel, Google Sheets, or any other tool, and keeps a backup of your data outside Google Forms.

Common settings that change how people respond

In the settings gear, turn on "Shuffle question order" if you're concerned that the order of questions might influence answers — for example, if your first question is about price and your second is about value, people might answer differently than if those questions were reversed. Shuffling randomizes the order for each person.

Turn on "Show progress bar" if your survey is long, so people know how many questions remain. Turn on "Collect email addresses" if you want to follow up with respondents later. Turn on "Require sign-in" if you only want responses from people in your organization or if you want to prevent duplicate submissions from the same person.

If you're creating a quiz rather than a survey, turn on "Make this a quiz" in the settings. You can then assign points to correct answers, set an answer key, and Google Forms will automatically grade responses and show people their score.

Move responses to a spreadsheet for deeper analysis

Google Forms stores responses in a linked Google Sheet automatically — you don't have to create one yourself. Click the green Sheets icon in the Responses tab to open or create the linked spreadsheet. Each response becomes a row, and each question becomes a column. Timestamps show when each person submitted.

In the spreadsheet, you can sort, filter, and create charts using Google Sheets' built-in tools. You can also read the spreadsheet as an Excel file to analyze it in other software. If you delete responses from Google Forms, they also disappear from the linked sheet, so read a backup copy if you need to keep the data long-term.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I see who answered my survey?

Only if you turned on "Require sign-in" in the settings. If you did, Google Forms records the email address of each person who submits. If you didn't require sign-in, responses are anonymous and you won't know who answered.

Can I edit my survey after people have started answering?

Yes. You can add, delete, or change questions at any time. Existing responses won't change, but new responses will reflect your edits. If you delete a question, the responses to that question disappear from the summary, though they remain in the spreadsheet if you downloaded it before deleting.

What's the difference between checkboxes and multiple choice?

Multiple choice lets people pick one answer. Checkboxes let people pick as many answers as they want. Use multiple choice for "What is your age group?" and checkboxes for "Which of these features would you like to see?"

Can I set a important date for responses?

Google Forms doesn't have a built-in important date feature. You can manually close the form by clicking the toggle at the top of the form editor, or you can tell people when you plan to stop accepting responses and close it yourself on that date.

Can I use Google Forms on my phone?

Yes. The Google Forms app works on iPhone and Android. You can create and edit forms on your phone, and respondents can fill them out on any device. The experience is slightly different on mobile, but all features work the same way.