📎 This article includes 1 downloadable practice file ↓
In this article
Leave requests, event registrations, customer feedback, daily stock counts: anything people fill in repeatedly belongs in a form, not in emails you copy into a spreadsheet. Google Forms sends every response straight into a Sheet.
Build the form
Drive › New › Google Forms (or forms.google.com). Choose question types carefully:
| Type | Use for |
|---|---|
| Short answer | Name, invoice number (add Response validation: number, length, regex) |
| Multiple choice | One option: Region, Yes/No |
| Checkboxes | Several options |
| Dropdown | Long lists (cities, products) |
| Date / Time | Dates (avoids typing formats) |
| Linear scale | Ratings 1-5 |
| File upload | Bills, photos (needs Google sign-in) |
Tick Required where needed. Use sections and “go to section based on answer” for branching.
Send responses to a Sheet
Responses tab › Link to Sheets › create a new spreadsheet. Each response becomes a row with a timestamp. Don’t insert columns in the middle of the responses sheet; do calculations on a separate sheet.
Summarise
=COUNTIF('Form Responses 1'!C:C, "North")
=QUERY('Form Responses 1'!A:F, "select C, count(A) group by C", 1)
=AVERAGE('Form Responses 1'!F2:F)Charts built on these update with every new response. The Form’s own Responses tab also shows quick summary charts.
Settings worth knowing
- Settings › Responses: collect email addresses, limit to 1 response, allow editing after submit.
- Make this a quiz for tests with automatic scoring.
- Pre-filled links (⋮ › Get pre-filled link) to send a form with some answers already filled.
Where beginners go wrong
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| Free-text for everything | Dropdowns and validation give clean data |
| Formulas inside the responses sheet | Use a separate summary sheet |
| Editing questions after responses arrive | Changes the columns; plan the form first |
Practice
Download the practice file below and upload it to Google Drive (File › Import in Sheets). Then build a small order-request form with Region as a dropdown and link it to a new sheet.
📎 Practice files for this article
- 📗Practice sheet (import into Google Sheets)60 orders plus a Tasks sheet: QUERY, FILTER, UNIQUE, SPLIT, ARRAYFORMULA, GOOGLETRANSLATE, SPARKLINE and more.⬇ XLSX · 8 KB
Free to use for learning. Files with macros (.bas) are plain text — import them with Alt+F11 → File → Import File, and always test on a copy.
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