Google Forms Locked Mode: The Complete Teacher Guide (Requirements, Setup, Limits)
Dvir Atias
Jul 14, 2026
Google Forms Locked Mode: The Complete Teacher Guide
Locked mode is a Google Forms quiz setting that stops students from leaving the quiz tab while they answer. When it is on, a student taking the quiz on a school-managed Chromebook cannot open other tabs, switch apps, take screenshots, or copy the questions until they submit. If they try to leave the quiz, the teacher can see it.
That one paragraph is the whole feature. The complications are in the requirements, because locked mode only works in a very specific setup - and if your class does not match it, the setting simply will not appear or will not enforce anything. This guide covers exactly what you need, how to turn it on, what students experience, what locked mode cannot do, and what to use instead when you do not have managed Chromebooks.
What you need before locked mode will work
Locked mode has three hard requirements, and all three must be true:
- A Google Workspace for Education account. You must create the quiz from your school account, not a personal @gmail.com account. Personal accounts never see the locked mode option.
- The quiz must be a quiz. Locked mode is a quiz setting, so the form has to have quiz mode enabled first (Settings, then "Make this a quiz").
- Students must take it on school-managed Chromebooks. This is the requirement that catches most teachers. The Chromebooks have to be enrolled in and managed by your school's admin console. Personal Chromebooks, iPads, Windows laptops, Macs, and phones cannot enter locked mode at all.
If a student opens a locked mode quiz on any non-managed device, they will see a message telling them the quiz can only be taken on a managed Chromebook. There is no workaround on the student side - and that is by design.
How to turn on locked mode, step by step
- Open your form and enable quiz mode: Settings -> toggle Make this a quiz.
- In the same Settings panel, find the Chromebook settings (on some accounts it appears under "Responses" or "Presentation" depending on the Forms version).
- Toggle Turn on locked mode.
- Assign the quiz through Google Classroom or share the link as usual.
When students open it on a managed Chromebook, the quiz takes over the full screen. When they submit, the Chromebook unlocks.
What students see in locked mode
- The quiz opens full screen and the Chromebook locks to that single window.
- Other tabs, apps, extensions, screenshots, and copy-paste are blocked.
- Most Chrome extensions are disabled, with a short Google-approved list of accessibility tools (like screen readers) still allowed.
- If the student exits the quiz, the form can record that they left, and depending on admin settings the quiz may close.
What locked mode does not do
This is the part most guides skip, and it is where teachers get surprised:
- It has no timer. Locked mode keeps students in the quiz, but it does not limit how long they stay. Google Forms has no built-in time limit at all.
- It does not stop a phone on the desk. Locked mode secures the Chromebook, not the room. A second device is untouched.
- It does not work outside managed Chromebooks. BYOD classes, 1:1 iPad schools, and remote students on family laptops cannot use it.
- It does not shuffle anything by itself. Question and option shuffling are separate quiz settings - turn them on too, or neighboring screens will show identical quizzes.
- It does not proctor. There is no camera, no screen recording, and no identity check. It is tab-locking, not remote proctoring.
Locked mode alternatives when you do not have managed Chromebooks
If your students are on iPads, personal laptops, or a mix of devices, you cannot use locked mode - but you can still make a Google Forms quiz meaningfully harder to game:
- Shuffle questions and answer options so no two students see the same order. If you need a fresh version of the test entirely, a multiple choice test generator can produce a second variant on the same topics in seconds.
- Add a time limit. A tight timer removes most of the incentive to search for answers, because there is no slack time to do it. Formswrite Proctor adds a timer to Google Forms and turns a normal quiz into a timed test with student tracking.
- Use question banks and fresh variants. Reusing last year's exact quiz is the biggest leak. Generating fresh questions from your own material each term costs a few minutes with an AI quiz generator.
- Ask application questions. Recall questions are searchable; "apply this concept to the scenario" questions mostly are not.
Quick answers
Does locked mode work on personal devices? No. Only school-managed Chromebooks enrolled in your school's admin console.
Can teachers see if a student exits a locked mode quiz? Yes - exits can be flagged, and admins can configure the quiz to close when a student leaves.
Does locked mode have a time limit? No. Google Forms has no native timer. If you need one, add it with a tool like Formswrite Proctor.
Does locked mode record the student's screen or camera? No. It locks the browser to the quiz tab; it does not record anything.
Why don't I see the locked mode option? Either the form is not in quiz mode, or you are signed in with a personal Google account instead of a Google Workspace for Education account.
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The bottom line
Locked mode is genuinely useful in exactly one environment: quiz mode on, school account, managed Chromebooks. Inside that environment, turn it on for every assessment - it is free and takes one toggle. Outside it, do not chase workarounds; combine shuffling, fresh question variants, a real timer, and application-level questions instead. That stack works on any device your students bring.
Ready to transform your documents?
Convert Google Docs, PDFs, and spreadsheets into Google Forms in one click.
Start free →Or go straight to a converter: Google Docs to Forms, PDF to Google Form, Word to Google Form, Google Forms Quiz Generator