Google Forms Settings: Every Option Explained (2026)

Dvir Atias

Sep 14, 2026

Google Forms Settings: Every Option Explained (2026)

Google Forms Settings: Every Option Explained, With Recommended Setups

Google Forms settings live in the Settings tab at the top of the form editor, grouped into four areas: Make this a quiz, Responses, Presentation, and Defaults. Who can open the form and whether it accepts responses are controlled separately in the Publish panel at the top right. Older guides mention a gear icon with General, Presentation, and Quizzes tabs; that dialog was replaced by the Settings tab, and the old General options now sit under Responses.

Below is what each setting does, followed by recommended setups for a graded quiz and an anonymous survey. Google renames settings from time to time, so if a label looks slightly different in your account, look for the closest match in the same section.

Settings map

Area	Key settings	What it controls
Make this a quiz	Release grades, Respondent settings, Locked mode, Default question point value	Scoring, answer keys, and what students see
Responses	Collect email addresses, Send responders a copy of their response, Allow response editing, Limit to 1 response	Who is identified, receipts, editing, one-per-person
Presentation	Show progress bar, Shuffle question order, Show link to submit another response, Confirmation message, View results summary, Disable autosave	The respondent experience before and after submitting
Defaults	Collect email addresses by default, Make questions required by default	Starting values for new forms and questions
Publish panel	Publish, Responders, Accepting responses, Close date or response limit	Access and open or closed status

Make this a quiz

Turn on Make this a quiz to enable answer keys and points. The quiz options then appear.

Release grades

Immediately after each submission: students see their score right away.
Later, after manual review: you release scores yourself from the Responses tab. Choosing this turns on email collection, because Google needs to know whom to send each score to.

Respondent settings (what students can see after submitting)

Missed questions: which questions they got wrong.
Correct answers: the right answer for each question. Turn this off if the quiz will be reused or other classes have not taken it yet.
Point values: points per question.

Locked mode (under Chromebook settings): prevents students from opening other tabs or apps during the quiz. It works only for Google Workspace for Education accounts on school-managed Chromebooks. See the locked mode teacher guide.

Default question point value: points assigned to new questions, which saves setting each one by hand.

For answer keys, feedback, and scoring details, see Google Forms quiz settings explained.

Responses

Collect email addresses

Do not collect: no email recorded. Needed for anonymous surveys.
Verified: respondents sign in, and their Google account email is recorded.
Responder input: respondents type an email address, with no sign-in and no verification.

Send responders a copy of their response: Off, When requested (a checkbox respondents can tick), or Always. Requires email collection. See send me a copy of my responses.

Allow response editing: lets people change answers after submitting through an edit link. Usually off for quizzes, often on for sign-ups and registrations.

Limit to 1 response: one submission per Google account. Respondents must sign in, so people without a Google account cannot respond. Details in Google Forms limit responses.

Restrict to users in your organization: in Workspace accounts, an option can limit responses to people in your school or company and its trusted organizations. With the newer publishing model, who can respond is also managed in the Publish panel.

Presentation

Form presentation

Show progress bar: shows how far through the sections the respondent is. Useful only when the form has several sections.
Shuffle question order: randomizes question order for each respondent. Questions stay within their sections. See Google Forms shuffle questions.
Show link to submit another response: adds a link on the confirmation page to fill in the form again.

After submission

Confirmation message: replaces the default "Your response has been recorded" text. Good place for next steps.
View results summary: shares summary charts of all responses with respondents. Rarely appropriate for quizzes or sensitive surveys.

Restrictions

Disable autosave for all respondents: by default, signed-in respondents' progress is saved as a draft. Turn autosave off on shared devices so the next person does not see earlier answers.

Defaults

Defaults apply to new forms or new questions you create, not to forms you already have.

Form defaults: Collect email addresses by default. Handy if every form you make is for a signed-in class.
Question defaults: Make questions required by default. Saves toggling Required on every question in long assessments.

The Publish panel: access and accepting responses

New forms must be published before anyone can respond.

Publish: click it at the top right. After publishing, the button shows Published, and clicking it opens the options again.
Responders: choose who can respond, such as specific people, your organization, or anyone with the link.
Accepting responses: turn it off to close the form while keeping the link valid. Respondents see a closed message.
Close date or response limit: since early 2026, Google Forms can close automatically on a set date and time or after a set number of responses. Look for the option to set a close date or response limit in the published form options.

Recommended settings for a graded quiz

Step 1: Turn on the quiz and choose release

Turn on Make this a quiz. For auto-graded multiple choice, choose Immediately after each submission. If the quiz has short answer or paragraph questions you will check, choose Later, after manual review.

Step 2: Limit what students see

Under Respondent settings, leave Missed questions and Point values on, and turn Correct answers off if other sections will take the same quiz later.

Step 3: Identify students and prevent repeat attempts

Set Collect email addresses to Verified and turn on Limit to 1 response. Leave Allow response editing off.

Step 4: Reduce copying

Turn on Shuffle question order, and shuffle answer options inside individual questions. Turn off Show link to submit another response and View results summary. Use Locked mode if students are on managed Chromebooks.

Step 5: Set defaults for next time

Turn on Make questions required by default and set a Default question point value.

Recommended settings for an anonymous survey

Setting	Recommended value	Why
Make this a quiz	Off	No scoring needed
Collect email addresses	Do not collect	Keeps responses anonymous
Limit to 1 response	Off	It requires sign-in, which links responses to accounts
Allow response editing	Off	Editing relies on identifying the respondent
Show progress bar	On, if several sections	Reduces drop-off on long surveys
Show link to submit another response	Off	Avoids duplicates
View results summary	Off, unless sharing results is the point	Protects privacy
Disable autosave	On for shared devices	Prevents others seeing drafts

A note on anonymity: "anonymous" in Google Forms means no email is collected, but free-text answers can still identify people. For more, see can Google Forms be traced back to you.

Settings copy with the form

When you use Make a copy on a form, most settings carry over. Still, check the quiz, response, and publishing options on the copy before sharing it with a new class.

Skip the manual question entry

Settings take a few minutes. Typing 30 questions takes much longer. Formswrite turns a Word document, Google Doc, or PDF into a quiz with answer keys, so you spend your time on the settings above instead of data entry. Try Word to Google Form or the Google Form quiz generator. Google Forms export is on paid plans; the free plan includes Formswrite forms and flashcards.

FAQ

Where are the settings in Google Forms?

Open the form in edit mode and click the Settings tab at the top, next to Questions and Responses. Access and accepting responses are in the Publish panel at the top right.

What happened to the General tab in Google Forms settings?

The old settings dialog with General, Presentation, and Quizzes tabs was replaced by the Settings tab. General options such as email collection, editing, and one response per person are now in the Responses section.

How do I make a Google Form anonymous?

Set Collect email addresses to Do not collect, turn off Limit to 1 response, and avoid questions that ask for names. Respondents will not need to sign in.

Why does my Google Form require sign-in?

Verified email collection, Limit to 1 response, file upload questions, and restricting responses to your organization all require sign-in. Turn those off if respondents should not need a Google account.

How do I stop accepting responses in Google Forms?

Click Published at the top right and turn off Accepting responses. You can also set the form to close automatically on a date or after a number of responses.

Do default settings change my existing forms?

No. Defaults apply to new forms and new questions. Change existing forms individually in their Settings tab.

What are the best Google Forms settings for a quiz?

Turn on Make this a quiz, collect verified emails, limit to one response, shuffle question order, hide correct answers if the quiz will be reused, and release grades after review when you have questions to check by hand.

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