Get the right link from Google Forms

1. 01Open your form in Google Forms and click Send, at the top right.
2. 02Choose the link tab (the chain icon), not the email tab.
3. 03Tick Shorten URL. You get a forms.gle address, which makes a simpler code that scans from further away.
4. 04Click Copy, paste it into the Web address box above and check the scan score.

The most common mistake: copying the address from your browser while you edit the form. That address ends in /edit and opens the editor, so people are asked to sign in and request access. The link from Send ends in /viewform, or is a forms.gle short link.

Check these form settings before you print

• Responses tab: Accepting responses must be on, or every scan lands on a closed form.
• Settings, Responses: Limit to 1 response, or collecting verified email addresses, makes people sign in to a Google account. Many people scanning a poster will not. Leave them off unless you need them.
• On a school or work Google account, a form can be restricted to people in your organisation. Anyone outside it gets an access message instead of the form.
• Open the short link on your own phone in a private tab, signed out, before you print anything.

Printing tips

• A flyer read at arm's length (about 50 cm): print the code at least 6.6 cm wide. A poster read from 2 m: at least 26.4 cm. A forms.gle link makes a code of about 29 to 33 modules, so these use the calculator's typical column; it works out other distances.
• Say what the form is for, next to the code: "2-minute parent survey" gets more scans than "Scan me".
• Dark dots on white, on matte paper. Glossy lamination under bright lights causes missed scans.
• Keep the white margin around the code (the quiet zone). Cropping it is the most common print mistake.
• Print one copy and scan it from the real distance with two different phones.

How long will the code work?

The code holds the form's link itself, so nothing on our side can switch it off. It works for as long as Google keeps the form and the form accepts responses. If you delete the form or make a new one, the printed code still points at the old link.

If you might switch forms later, make the code editable: you can point it at a new form after printing, and see scans by day. Your first 3 editable codes are free with an email. After that, $3 CAD once per code.

One or two questions? A QR poll may be faster

Google Forms is the right tool for a long form. For one or two questions, a QR Polls poll shows the answers live on a screen, works without anyone signing in, and counts scans as well as answers, so you can see how many people looked and did not answer.