How to make a Google Form, from blank to published

Go to forms.google.com, click Blank form, name it, then click Add to build each question and pick its type. When the questions are done, click Publish in the top right, choose who can respond, and click Publish again. Then copy the responder link and send it. Until you publish, the link does not work for anybody.

Learn how to make a Google Form from scratch, select the right question types, and publish it correctly.

That last sentence is the part almost every guide still gets wrong. Google changed Google Forms: a form you have built is not a form anybody can fill in. There is now a Publish step between the two, and if you skip it and hand out the link, people get a page telling them they need permission. Everything below is the whole job in order, including the settings worth changing before you send it and the five reasons somebody still cannot open your form.

How to make a Google Form, step by step#

Twelve clicks, start to finish, and about four minutes for a form with six questions. Go to forms.google.com, click Blank form, build the questions, then publish it and copy the responder link.

1. On a computer, go to forms.google.com.
2. Click Blank form. You can also start from Google Drive with New, then Google Forms, or from a spreadsheet with Tools, then Create a new form, which saves the answers straight into that sheet.
3. Click Untitled form at the top and give it a real name. This is what people see, and it is what the file is called in your Drive.
4. Click the first question and type it. To the right of the question, open the dropdown and pick the question type.
5. Type the answer options underneath, if the type needs them. Keep most lists short, around 3 to 7 options, unless a dropdown will save space.
6. Turn on Required at the bottom right of the question if people must answer it. Use it sparingly, because 1 or 2 required fields feels easier than 6.
7. Click Add, the plus button on the right, for the next question. Repeat until your form has all the questions you need.
8. Click Settings at the top and change anything you need. The section below covers the ones that matter.
9. Click Publish, top right.
10. Click Manage to choose who can respond, or leave it open to anyone with the link under General access.
11. Click Done, then Publish. The top right now reads Published.
12. Click Published, then Copy responder link, and send that link.

A form holds up to 300 items, counting questions, descriptions, images and videos, and up to 75 sections, so you will not run out of room. Draft answers are kept for 30 days, so somebody who starts your form on Monday can finish it on Friday.

Which question type should you use?#

Short answer for anything one line long, Multiple choice to pick one thing, and Checkboxes to pick several. Those 3 cover most forms. There are 11 types in the dropdown and the names do not all explain themselves, so here is the whole list.

Type	Use it for
Short answer	A name, an email, a phone number. One line
Paragraph	Comments, notes, anything that runs long
Multiple choice	Pick one from a list. The most common choice by far
Checkboxes	Pick as many as apply
Dropdown	Pick one, but from a long list, so it does not fill the page
File upload	They attach a document or photo. They must be signed in to Google
Linear scale	Rate it 1 to 5, or 1 to 10
Multiple choice grid	The same set of answers for several rows of questions
Date and Time	A date or a time, with a real picker instead of typed text

For a sign-up sheet you usually need 3 questions and about 90 seconds: Short answer for the name, Short answer for the email or phone, and Multiple choice or Checkboxes for what they are signing up for.

What does the Publish button do?#

It is the switch that turns your link on. A form you have finished building is still closed until you press it, and anyone you send the link to before then gets a permission screen instead of your questions.

Google's own wording is blunt: if the form is unpublished, responders with the link cannot access it. Building the form and sharing the form are now two separate actions.

So when the questions are ready:

1. Click Publish at the top right.
2. Under General access, decide who can respond. Anyone with the link is the usual answer for a public sign-up. For a class or a team, click Manage and add people, who then get Responder access.
3. Click Done, then Publish.

You will see Published in the top right from then on. Click that word any time to change who can respond, or to copy the link again.

There are three places to get the link, and they all give the same one: Published, then Copy responder link, Share, then Copy responder link, or Preview, then Copy responder link. If the link is going on anything printed or spoken aloud, tick Shorten URL first, then click Copy. That turns a 56-character address into about 30.

Which settings should you change before you send it?#

Three, and they all live under Responses: Collect email addresses, Limit to 1 response, and Allow response editing. Click Settings at the top to find them.

• Collect email addresses, under Responses. Without it you get anonymous answers and no way to follow up. Turn it on for anything where you will need to reply.
• Limit to 1 response, under Responses. Stops one person filling it in five times. It does mean everyone has to sign in to a Google account, so do not use it for a public sign-up where that would lose you answers.
• Allow response editing, under Responses. Lets people fix a typo instead of emailing you about it.

Two more under Presentation are worth knowing about. Confirmation message, then Edit, changes the "Your response has been recorded" line into something useful, like where to go next or when you will be in touch. Shuffle question order randomizes the order for every person, which is what you want for a quiz and the last thing you want for a sign-up sheet.

Anything you turn on under Default applies to every new form you make after that.

Where do the answers go?#

Into the form itself, and into a spreadsheet if you ask for one. Click Responses at the top and you get a summary with a chart for each question straight away, with no setup at all.

For anything you will sort, filter or total, send it to a spreadsheet instead. In Responses, link the form to Google Sheets, and every answer lands as a new row as it arrives. If you created the form from inside a spreadsheet in the first place, this is already done.

Why can't people open your form?#

Nine times out of ten the form is not published. Work through these 5 in order, because the first one is almost always it.

1. The form is not published. Open it and look at the top right. If it says Publish rather than Published, nobody can get in. This is the new behavior and it catches almost everyone.
2. You sent the editing link. The address in your browser bar while you are building the form ends in /edit. That link asks people for permission to edit. Always use Copy responder link.
3. Access is restricted to your organization. On a work or school account, the default may be your domain only. Click Published, then widen General access.
4. The form requires sign-in and they are on the wrong account. Turning on Limit to 1 response, or collecting verified email addresses, means they must be signed in. People with a work and a personal Google account often open it on the wrong one.
5. A file upload question. Those always require the responder to be signed in to Google, no matter what else you set.

When is a printed code better than a link?#

When the people you need are in a room instead of an inbox. A link works when you can email it. It stops working the moment the people you need are standing in a room.

That is the gap a printed code fills. A teacher puts the field trip permission form on the classroom door. A gym puts the class sign-up by the front desk. A church puts the volunteer sheet in the porch. A shop puts the feedback form on the counter. People point a camera at it and your form opens on their own phone, with no app, no sign-in and nobody typing a long address off a poster.

It takes about two minutes. Publish the form, copy the responder link, paste it into a free generator, download the image and print it.

A form code is a link code, so the usual sizes apply: at least 2 inches (5 cm) across for something read at arm's length, around 3 inches (7.6 cm) if it will sit on a counter, and 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm) for a wall where people stand 3 to 6 feet (1 to 2 m) back. The print size guide has the rest, and there is a full walkthrough of the form code itself if you want help choosing a simple generator before you print.

One decision is worth thirty seconds. If this form will be the same one every term, a free static code is fine forever. If you will make a new form next season and want the same printed sign to point at it, you need a dynamic code, which lets you change the destination without reprinting. The static and dynamic guide covers the trade honestly. It is the same pattern as printing a sign that stays up for 6 months or 12 months while the destination changes underneath.

Questions people ask about making a Google Form#

Are Google Forms free?#

Yes. Google Forms is free with any Google account, with no limit on the number of forms or the number of responses. The paid Workspace plans add administration and security controls, not form features.

How do I make a Google Form on my phone?#

Open forms.google.com in a phone browser. There is no Google Forms app, but the website works, and if the layout fights you, open your browser menu and request the desktop site. Building a long form is genuinely easier on a computer.

Can people fill in my form without a Google account?#

Yes, as long as you have not turned on Limit to 1 response, verified email collection, or a file upload question. Any of those three requires the responder to sign in.

How do I see the answers in a spreadsheet?#

Open the Responses tab and link the form to Google Sheets. Every answer arrives as a new row. You can also create the form from inside a spreadsheet, with Tools then Create a new form, and the sheet is connected from the start.

Can I send a form with some answers already filled in?#

Yes. Click More, the three dots at the top right, then Pre-fill form, fill in the fields you want pre-populated, and click Get link. Send that link instead.

Build the form first, then decide who it is for. If the answer is a room rather than an inbox, print a code for it, free at QRFLOW.codes.

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