Google Forms General Information

Intended Audience

This article is intended for faculty, staff, and students who would like to learn about Google Forms, a Google Workspace Application used for building and configuring forms for surveys, RSVPs, etc.

Requirements

This article is for general informational purposes and has no specific requirements.

What is Google Forms?

With the partnership between Google and the University of Michigan, affiliates of the University are granted access to Google's Workspace apps - Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, and Google Forms, among other Google Apps and Services.

UM-Flint students, staff, and faculty members can log in and access this service using their uniqname and current password at forms.google.com

Google Forms is covered by the University's Google Apps for Education agreement, which provides a secure environment within which to maintain or share the university's sensitive unregulated data, as well as some - but not all - kinds of sensitive regulated data. Before utilizing this service, please carefully read through the Sensitive Data Guide for UM Google.

Creating a Form

From forms.google.com:

  1. On a computer, go to forms.google.com
  2. Under "start a new form" near the top, click Blank to start a new blank form. You may also choose a template next to it.

From within Google Drive:

  1. On a computer, go to drive.google.com.
  2. In the top left, click New.
  3. Click Google Forms. If Google Forms is not present, hover over More and then click Google Forms.

More information on creating a form can be found at this link.

Building a form

For details on creating questions, question types, editing your form, and general form building, please refer to this document.

Sharing a Form

Red arrow pointing to the sharing icon

  1. Open a form in Google Forms.
  2. In the top right, click on the Share icon.
  3. At the top of the window, enter the email addresses of people that you would like to share the Form with.
  4. Under General access, edit the Editor View drop-down to change who can edit the form.
    1. Restricted: Only people with access can open it with the link.
    2. University of Michigan: Anyone with University of Michigan affiliation with the link can edit
    3. Anyone with the link: Anyone on the internet with the link can edit.
    4. Remove link: Reverts the Editor View permissions to Restricted.
  5. Under Responder View, edit the drop-down to change who can respond to the form.
    1. Restricted: Only people with access can open with the link.
    2. University of Michigan: Anyone with University of Michigan affiliation with the link can respond.
    3. Anyone with link: Anyone with the link can respond.
    4. Remove link: Reverts the Responder View permissions to Restricted.

Other Methods of sharing a form can be found at this link.

Uploading Form Data to a Spreadsheet

  1. Open a form in Google Forms.
  2. Click Responses.
  3. Choose an option:
    • Create a new spreadsheet: Creates a spreadsheet for responses in Google Sheets
    • Select existing spreadsheet: Choose from your existing spreadsheets in Google Sheets to store responses
  4. Click Create or Select

Tip: You can find the response spreadsheet in the Google Sheets home screen, the Google Sheets app, or in Google Drive. More information on uploading form data to a spreadsheet is found at this link.

Uploading Documents to a Form

Warning: To have users upload a document in a form, the form cannot be stored on a Shared Drive. All form respondents will need a Google account as well, whether it is a UMICH Google Account or a free Google account. A common solution for multiple people to own the form, as well as not be tied to any one person's account, is to store the form on a Shared Account. Information on what a Shared Account is and how to get one can be found at this link.

  • To allow the form respondent to upload a file, create a new question on your form and change it to a File Upload question.
  • All uploaded files will be located in the Responses section for this respondent by clicking "View folder" for that question.
  • If your form is linked with a spreadsheet, a link to the file will appear in the Google sheet and also be located in the answers section of the form.

More information on uploading files is found Here.

Additional Information

Troubleshooting

If you have any questions or experience any issues not covered by the information in this article, please contact the ITS Helpdesk for assistance.

 

Location: 206 Murchie Science Building

Hours: go.umflint.edu/hours

Phone: (810) 762-3123

Email: flint.its.support@umich.edu

 

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the use of Google Drive, please contact Ann Arbor's ITS Service Center for assistance.

 

Phone#: 734-764-HELP (4357)

E-mail: 4HELP@umich.edu

Website: http://its.umich.edu/help/

 

 

 

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