How to edit a form after submitting it in Google Forms

Google Forms is a great tool for creating all types of forms, surveys, and job submission forms. It’s a free tool with many pre-designed forms that you can edit to your liking and post online for others to fill out.

Sometimes, however, you will need to change the original template to better suit your needs. Instead of creating a new form from scratch, you can edit an already submitted form at any time. This article will explain how you can do it.

Change submitted forms

Google Forms templates are pre-designed, but you can make your own changes before publishing. You can also make changes after publishing. This is what you have to do:

Method 1: Set up an edit link

The first method allows you to create an edit link that you can use later to change the information on the form. The edit response link must be set before submitting the form for the first time so that it can allow you to make changes in the future.

1. Open the Google form you need.
   
2. Click on the “Settings”at the top of the document.
   
3. When the new window appears, select “Answers“and toggle”Allow response editing“forward.
   
4. Click the little eye icon to enter the information you want and click “Deliver.”
   
5. You will see a link that says “Edit your answer.” Click the link to edit the information you previously submitted.
   
6. Copy the link and save it to your PC so you can edit the form at any time.
   

The method works well when you want to edit a single Google Form response, but things get a little more complicated if multiple responses are involved. Here’s what you need to do to set up unique edit links.

Method 2: create your script

1. First, you need to create a spreadsheet with the answers you already have. Click on the “Answers” tab and then click on the small green spreadsheet icon.
   
2. Open the form responses spreadsheet. Click on “Extensions” and select “Application script.”
   
3. Removes the text that appears when opening the script.
   
4. Copy the following script into the script editor:
   

   function assignEditUrls(){
var form = FormApp.openById('Your form key goes here');
var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getSheetByName('Your responses Google Sheet name goes here – The tab name, not the file name');
var urlCol = Enter column number where, the one where URLs are entered;
var responses = form.getResponses();
var timestamps = [], urls = [], resultUrls = [];
for (var i = 0; i < responses.length; i++) {
timestamps.push(responses[i].getTimestamp().setMilliseconds(0));
urls.push(responses[i].getEditResponseUrl());
}
for (var j = 1; j < data.length; j++) {
resultUrls.push([data[j][0]?urls[timestamps.indexOf(data[j][0].setMilliseconds(0))]:""]);
sheet.getRange(2, urlCol, resultUrls.length).setValues(resultUrls);
}
}

5. Change the command (“Your form key goes here”) with the correct form key for each report.
   
6. The key to the form is the letters found in the address bar. Copy and paste into the required row in the script editor.
   
7. Next, copy the sheet name and paste it to replace “The Google Sheet name of your answers goes here.” – You need the tab name, not the file name.’
   
8. When you’re done, you’ll need to edit the var urlCol line in the script editor. Enter the number from the first empty column in your spreadsheet. In our case there are 8.
   
9. Enter a name and save the script.
   
10. When you have everything set up, select “assignEditUrls” and run the function for your script.
    
11. Review the permissions and allow your account to use the script.
    
12. Go back to the spreadsheet and you’ll see that each entry has a unique link.
    
13. Click a link and you can edit each link at any time.
    
14. Run the script whenever you want to add more results to your form to get unique links.

Frequent questions

Google Forms are a great way to find out more about people, their opinions, and have fun while doing it. If you still have doubts, continue reading this section.

Can I change the questions or description of a form after I submit it?

Absolutely! If you notice an error, need to add more questions, or realize that an existing question is too confusing, you can easily edit a form after you submit it. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Open Google Forms and sign in with the same sign-in information you used to create the form.

2. Click on the Form in question. Now you can edit the Description by clicking the Description box at the top and typing what you need. Then hit Eyelash on your keyboard until the text box is highlighted.

3. If you need to replace a question or get rid of one, hover over the selection. Then, press the x icon on the right.

4. To add a new question, click Add option. Type the question and click elsewhere on the screen.

Unfortunately, you can’t edit a question, but you can delete one and add a new one. After making modifications, ask your respondents to refresh their screens. Updates will appear automatically.

Save time using this simple method

The second method requires you to create a script, but that script does most of the work automatically. Creating the script may seem complicated, but it is not. Setup only takes a few minutes, and once you’re done, you can reuse the same script as many times as you like. You’ll then get direct links to each form, so you can change all the results whenever you need.

Have you ever used Google Forms? Do you know of any other methods to change already submitted forms? Share your wisdom with the community in the comments section below.