When you're running a Google Form, there comes a time when you need to close it. Keeping a form open indefinitely leads to an unwanted number of submissions and overwhelming data. 

But exactly how do you close a Google Form?

Google Forms lets you close it manually with just a few clicks. However, if you forget to do so at a certain time, you might end up with more responses than you bargained for. 

Fortunately, there are add-ons you can use to automatically close your form after a certain time has elapsed or after you have reached the desired number of responses. 

In this article, I’ll walk you through how to close a Google Form at a specific time using the automated technique or whenever you want it closed manually. 

How to close a Google Form manually

Here’s how to close a Google Form manually in 4 simple steps: 

1. Open the Google Form

Head over to forms.google.com to create a new Google Form or open an existing one that you want to close. 

If you have to create a new online form, simply click on the big + icon with the description “Blank form” to get started. You can also choose from Google Form’s gallery of templates to save yourself some time and energy. 

All your previously created forms will appear on the Google Forms homepage. Click to select your desired form if you already have it created. 

2. Click on the responses tab

Once you have your form opened, you will see three tabs at the top. 

• Question: This is the default tab when you open a form. Here, you will find the form title, description, and all the questions it contains. You will also have the option to edit your form from this tab. 

• Responses: The responses tab gathers and displays all the answers you receive after a form has been distributed. Based on the data collected, it also displays charts and graphs to make your analysis easy. The responses tab shows combined answer responses from all respondents as well as individual responses. 

• Settings: In this tab, you can make changes to the form’s settings. For example, you may want to limit responses in Google Forms, collect email addresses, assign point values to questions to make your form a quiz, etc. 

Select the “Responses” tab, and you’ll land on the page that displays your form responses. 

3. Toggle off the accepting responses button

In the “Responses” tab, there's an option at the top that says “Accepting Responses.” It is toggled on by default, which means all new forms you create are open to responses. 

Toggle this option off. Google Forms will automatically show a red indication and “Accepting responses” will now change to “Not accepting responses.” 

Anyone who opens the form after you have turned the “Accepting responses” toggle off will be unable to submit a response. 

Instead, they will be met with the default message that says, “This form is no longer accepting responses.” 

And with that, you have learned how to close a Google Form manually. 

4. Add a closing message

It is always a good idea to customize your form as much as you can. Google Forms customization features are already pretty limited, so there’s no point why you shouldn’t leverage what it offers. 

After you close a Google Form, you can personalize your message to respondents who click on the form to submit their responses. 

Just click on the textbox below the “Not accepting responses” toggle to write your custom message.

Here’s an example of a custom message: 

How to close a Google Form automatically

Closing a form manually isn’t much of a hassle because you can do it in just a few clicks. 

The problem, however, arises when you forget to close a form at a certain time, or you end up getting more responses than needed, which can skew your survey results. 

Is it possible to close Google Forms automatically?

One of the icks I have with Google Forms is that it doesn’t allow you to automatically close a form. You can only do it manually or rely on third-party tools, such as add-ons from Google Marketplace, to sort it out. 

One such add-on compatible with Google Forms is formLimiter which limits form responses by automatically closing a form when a certain criterion is met. These criteria include: 

• Limiting the maximum number of responses, for example, closing a form at 500 responses
• Closing the form at a specified time and date, say, seven days after form creation

The steps below explain how to close a Google Form using formLimiter. However, make sure you have downloaded the add-on from Google Workspace before you read further. 

Here are the steps you can follow to download formLimiter and automatically limit responses in Google Forms. 

1. Open your Google Form and click on the three dots in the top right corner

2. Select "Get add-ons" to head over to the Google Marketplace

3. By default, formLimiter is visible on the home screen on the add-ons menu. If you don’t see it on the homepage, just search for “formLimiter” and click on it.

4. Go ahead and install formLimiter

5. Make sure you grant all necessary permissions. You will need to allow formLimiter to view, edit, and delete any of your Google Drive files, send emails on your behalf, and operate in the background.

Once you have formLimiter downloaded and configured, follow the steps below to learn how to close a Google Form without manual effort. 

Steps to automatically close a Google Form at a certain time

Now that you have formLimiter set up, follow these simple steps to know exactly how to close a Google form on a certain date and time. 

1. Open the Google Form you want to set the limit on 

2. Click on the puzzle piece icon for add-ons in the upper right corner of the form editor.

3. If you have multiple add-ons installed, you will see a drop-down menu of all your add-ons. Click on formLimiter from the list. 

4. FormLimiter will open yet another menu for you. Click on “Set limit” in the formLimiter menu.

5. In the formLimiter settings, select “Date and Time” as the limit type.

6. Specify the Google Form closing date and time for your form to stop accepting responses.

7. Add a custom message that respondents will see when they try to access the form after it’s closed.

8. Once you’ve set everything up, click “Save and Enable” to activate the automatic closing feature.

Steps to automatically close a Google Form after certain number of responses

Limiting the number of form responses is also very similar to closing the form at a specific date and time if you use formLimiter. 

Here are the steps that describe how to close Google Form after certain responses.

1. Go to Google Forms and select the form you want to manage.

2. Again, click on the puzzle piece add-ons icon located in the top right corner of the form editor.

3. Pick formLimiter from the dropdown list of your installed add-ons.

4. Click on “Set limit” within the formLimiter settings

5. Choose “Response Count” as the type of limit you want to set.

6. Enter the maximum number of responses you wish to accept. 

7. After entering the details, click “Save and Enable” to put the automatic closure in place. And tada! You’re done. 

FAQs

How do I close a form in Google Forms?

You can close your Google form by clicking on the “Responses” tab inside your form and then toggling off the “Accepting responses” option. It will then change to “Not accepting responses,” and your Google form will be closed.

How do I automatically close a form?

Since Google Forms doesn’t have an in-built feature to close a form automatically, you will have to download a third-party add-on to close your Google Form automatically. The most famous add-on for this purpose is formLimiter.

Formaloo: A better alternative to Google Forms

You must know when and how to close a Google Form to ensure you don’t end up with an overwhelmingly unwanted number of responses. 

Since Google Forms doesn’t allow an in-built feature to close form responses automatically, formLimiter is a literal lifesaver that gets the job done. 

However, it might be difficult to set up formLimiter’s menus upon menus, especially when you’re trying to use it for the first time. 

It is also a third-party tool and requires permission to view and use your data, which may be a problem for you if your form contains sensitive information. 

Formaloo is a great alternative to Google Forms with a native activate/deactivate feature for your forms without the need for additional downloads. 

Plus, it goes beyond Google Forms in multiple other ways: 

• 7,000+ interactions for automated workflows 
• Library of 200+ form templates 
• Conditional logic 
• Easy-to-use drag-and-drop form builder 

Check out Formaloo today and create modern forms like a pro!