Quick answer: To use a Google Forms quiz, turn on “Make this a quiz” in the form’s Settings, then add an answer key and point value to each question. Google Forms grades every submission automatically.
- Open Google Forms and create a new form.
- Click the Settings tab and toggle on “Make this a quiz.”
- Add questions, then click “Answer key” to mark the correct answers and assign points.
- Add feedback for correct and incorrect answers.
- Click Send to share the quiz, then review scores in the Responses tab.
Google Forms has a built-in quiz mode that handles grading automatically. You set the correct answers once, and Google Forms scores every submission without any manual work. This makes it ideal for knowledge checks, onboarding assessments, certification tests, and classroom quizzes.
This Google Forms quiz tutorial shows how to use Google Forms quiz mode step by step: creating a quiz, adding questions with answer keys, setting feedback, adding a time limit, and reviewing results.
How to Use Google Forms Quiz Mode
Google quizzes are regular Google Forms with quiz mode turned on. Quiz mode adds answer keys, point values, and automatic grading to the normal form builder, so anyone with a Google account can build one for free. The workflow below has eight steps: enable quiz mode, add questions, set answer keys, add feedback, add a time limit if you need one, control access, review results, and share the quiz. If you would rather not start from a blank form, copy one of the Google Forms quiz templates and adapt it.
Step 1: Enable Quiz Mode in Google Forms
When you create a new form, it starts in survey mode. To use grading and answer keys, you need to switch it to quiz mode.
- Open Google Forms and create a new form.
- Click the Settings tab (gear icon at the top right).
- Under the “Quizzes” section, toggle on “Make this a quiz.”
- Choose when to release grades: “Immediately after each submission” for self-paced quizzes, or “Later, after manual review” for tests you want to review first.
- Click Save.
Step 2: Add Quiz Questions
Google Forms supports several question types for quizzes. Each has specific grading behavior.
Multiple Choice
Best for questions with one correct answer. The respondent selects one option from a list.
- Add a question and select “Multiple choice.”
- Type your question and all answer options.
- Click “Answer key” at the bottom left of the question.
- Select the correct answer and assign a point value.
- Optionally add answer feedback for both correct and incorrect responses.
Checkboxes
Best for questions with multiple correct answers. The respondent can select more than one option.
In the answer key, mark all correct answers. You can award partial credit or require all answers to be correct before giving points.
Short Answer and Paragraph
For text-based answers. Google Forms does exact-match grading: the respondent’s text must match one of your accepted answers exactly (case-insensitive).
Enter all acceptable answer variations in the answer key. For example, “Paris,” “paris,” and “PARIS” are all treated the same, but “paris, france” would not match “paris.”
Dropdown
Works the same as multiple choice but displays as a dropdown menu. Useful for long lists of options.
Step 3: Set Point Values and Answer Keys
Every question in quiz mode can have a point value. This lets you weight certain questions more heavily.
To set the answer key and points for any question:
- Click “Answer key” at the bottom of the question card.
- Select the correct answer(s).
- Type the point value (can be 0 for ungraded questions).
- Add optional feedback that appears after submission.
The total score is automatically calculated as the sum of points earned divided by total possible points, shown as a percentage and raw score.
Step 4: Add Answer Feedback
Answer feedback lets you explain why an answer is correct or incorrect. It appears to respondents after they submit, so it doubles as a teaching tool.
For each question, you can set:
- Feedback for correct answers: Reinforce why it is right, add extra context.
- Feedback for incorrect answers: Explain the correct concept, link to a resource.
Good feedback transforms a quiz from a simple test into a learning tool. Respondents understand their mistakes instead of just seeing a score.
Step 5: Add a Time Limit to Your Quiz
Google Forms has no built-in countdown timer for regular quizzes. Respondents can keep a quiz open as long as they want, and the form accepts their answers whenever they click Submit. If timing matters, you have three practical options.
Install a timer add-on. Several add-ons in the Google Workspace Marketplace add a visible countdown and auto-submit the form when time runs out. Open the three-dot menu in the form editor, select “Add-ons,” and search the Marketplace for a timer. Our overview of Google Form add-ons explains how installation works. Check each add-on’s permissions and pricing, and test it on a copy of your quiz before using it with real respondents.
Close responses at the deadline. In the Responses tab, switch “Accepting responses” off when time is up, or click “Set close date or response limit” next to the toggle so the form closes on its own at a set time. Anyone who has not submitted by then can no longer send answers. This works for a fixed exam window, but everyone gets the same end time instead of a personal countdown.
Run the quiz in a supervised session. Schools on Google Workspace for Education may be able to run quizzes in locked mode on managed Chromebooks, which keeps students on the quiz while it is open. Locked mode is not a timer, so pair it with a set class period and close responses when the period ends. Availability depends on your edition and device setup, so check with your Workspace administrator first.
For recommended durations, auto-submit settings, and anti-cheating options, see the Google Forms online exams guide. If different questions need different amounts of time, the Google Forms time limit per question guide shows how to use sections as timed stages.
Step 6: Control Who Can Take the Quiz
Under the Settings tab, Responses section, you have several options to control access.
Limit to one response: Requires Google sign-in. Each account can only submit once. Good for formal assessments.
Collect email addresses: Required if you want to send grade emails or identify respondents.
Shuffle question order: Randomizes the order of questions for each respondent, reducing answer sharing.
Restrict to organization: For Google Workspace accounts, you can limit responses to people in your organization.
Step 7: Review Quiz Results
After respondents submit, go to the Responses tab in your form.
Summary View
The Summary tab shows aggregated results: score distribution, average score, frequency charts for each question. This gives you a quick overview of which questions were answered correctly most and least often.
Question View
Click “Question” to see response breakdown by question. You can see which answer choices were selected most, and how many respondents got each question right or wrong.
Individual View
Click “Individual” to review responses one at a time. This is useful for the “Manual grade release” mode where you want to review each submission before releasing scores.
Export to Google Sheets
Click the Sheets icon in the Responses tab to send all responses to a Google Sheet. From there you can sort, filter, run calculations, and build charts beyond what Forms provides natively.
Export quiz results to Google Sheets to build a score histogram, track improvement over multiple attempts, or calculate class averages. The export includes each respondent's score, timestamp, and answer for every question.
Step 8: Share the Quiz
Share your quiz link the same way you share any Google Form.
- Click the Send button at the top right.
- Choose your sharing method: email, link, or embed code.
- To embed in a website, click the embed icon (
<>) and copy the iframe code. - For anonymous quizzes, make sure “Collect email addresses” is off and “Limit to 1 response” is off. Our guide on how to make a Google Form anonymous covers the remaining settings.
You can shorten the link under the Link tab by checking the “Shorten URL” option.
Best Practices for Google Forms Quizzes
Mix question types. Multiple choice is easy to grade, but short answer reveals deeper understanding. Use both in the same quiz.
Write clear answer keys for short answer questions. List all acceptable answer variations (abbreviations, alternate spellings) to avoid marking correct answers as wrong.
Use sections for long quizzes. Google Forms lets you add sections. Each section can have a page break, so respondents move through the quiz step by step instead of seeing all questions at once.
Test before distributing. Complete the quiz yourself in a private browser window to check grading, feedback, and the submission flow.
Test timing before a timed exam. If you use a timer add-on, take the quiz yourself and confirm the countdown and auto-submit fire at the right time. If you rely on a close date instead, check that it matches the end of your exam window.
Frequently Asked Questions
Conclusion
For teams using Google Forms to collect employee feedback or run onboarding assessments, see the Google Forms for business guide and Google Forms employee evaluation templates.
Quiz mode is free and available in every Google account, including personal Gmail accounts. Start with a small quiz to familiarize yourself with the grading settings before building a longer assessment.
