How to make a Google Form anonymous (step-by-step guide)

Creating an anonymous Google Form can lead to more participation and honest feedback.

It's important for people to feel safe expressing themselves, especially in the corporate environment. Ensuring anonymity in surveys is key to raising honest feedback and higher participation. Addressing employee concerns about feedback confidentiality can lead to a more positive and open workplace culture.

Google Forms is one of the most widely used tools for creating surveys, but it is not anonymous by default. Depending on how your account is set up, it can collect email addresses, timestamps, and tie responses to the logged-in account. Getting to true anonymity requires a few specific configuration changes and an awareness of what the tool can and cannot do.

This article will cover how to make an anonymous Google Form, the pros and cons of anonymous Google Form surveys, the limitations you might face when making Google Forms anonymous, a better alternative, and commonly asked questions, such as “Are Google Forms anonymous?”, “What happens if I want to limit responses to 1?” and so on.

What does "Anonymous" mean in the context of forms & surveys?

An anonymous form or survey is one where no information that could identify a respondent is collected or stored. That means no name, no email address, no employee ID, no IP address, and no metadata that could be used to trace a response back to a specific person.

This is different from a confidential form/survey, where the form owner can see who submitted a response but commits to keeping that information private. It is also different from Anonymized form/survey, where the identifying information was collected, but was later stripped or masked. Anonymous means identity is unknowable by design.

Can Google Forms Be Anonymous?

Yes, Google Forms can be anonymous, but only if you configure it correctly. Out of the box, Google Forms may collect email addresses, require a Google sign-in, and restrict access to people within your organization (especially in Google Workspace accounts).

With the right adjustments, you can make your form genuinely anonymous for most practical purposes. The steps below show exactly how to do that.

How to make Google Forms anonymous (in 5 steps)

Many forms or survey types need to be anonymous to work as intended. So whether you create online surveys on Google Forms, employee feedback forms, market research sheets, or even a Google Forms petition form, you may need to make your Google Form anonymous. Here are the steps:

1. Log in to Google and start creating a new form

Go to docs.google.com/forms and log in to your Google Account. Once you log in, start a new form by clicking on the “Plus” button for a blank form or choosing from Google Forms templates from the gallery.

Plus button for creating a new form on Google Forms

2. Add your questions (and leave out PII)

Now, you can customize your form and add the necessary questions. It is wise to think carefully about what you are actually asking. In small teams, especially, even a combination of demographic questions, like "what department are you in?" and "how long have you worked here?", can make responses identifiable.

A customized employee feedback form example on Google Forms

3. Go to form settings & open “Responses” dropdown

When you are finished customizing, press the "Settings" button on the form editor. Then open the “Responses” dropdown section.

Opening the responses section under the settings

4. Turn off "Collect email addresses"

Now, you need to turn off gathering email addresses with Google Forms to make your form anonymous.

Under the "Responses" area, choose “Do not collect” option for the "Collect email addresses" setting for Google Forms privacy.

Choosing “Do not collect” option for the "Collect email addresses" setting

5. Disable "Limit to 1 response"

Then, make sure the “Limit to 1 response” option is disabled to permit multiple responses. When this option is enabled, Google Forms requires users to sign in. If you want to create a truly anonymous form and let people submit a Google Form without signing in, the limit to 1 response option should stay disabled.

Disabling the "Limit to 1 response" setting

6. Check for organization restrictions (Google Workspace users)

If your form was created through a Google Workspace account, click on “Publish” and look for a setting that says "Restrict to users in [your organization]" or similar. If this is enabled, only signed-in members of your organization can respond, which again ties responses to identities. Turn this off if anonymity across your team is the goal.

Changing organization restrictions when publishing a Google Form

7. Preview and ensure anonymity

You can click on the eye icon at the top of the screen to preview your form. Press the "Send" button and share the form with yourself using the link. Fill out and submit the form as a participant. Review the results by clicking the "Responses" tab to ensure no identifying information is present.

The location of the preview button on Google Forms

8. Add a privacy statement to your form (optional)

Add a short note at the top of your form, something like: "This survey is completely anonymous. No names, email addresses, or other identifying information are collected." This simple step increases both participation rates and response honesty. When respondents can see the commitment upfront, they are more likely to answer candidly.

Adding a privacy statement in the Google Form description

When should you use an anonymous survey?

Anonymous surveys are not always the right choice. They work best when:

Anonymous surveys are a poor fit when follow-up is critical (if you need to contact specific respondents for clarification), when accountability matters (such as compliance assessments), or when you need to analyze results by specific segments that require knowing who responded.

Pros and cons of anonymous Google Forms surveys

Limitations of Google Forms for anonymous forms

Google Forms is a capable tool for basic anonymous data collection, but it has several limitations that are worth understanding before you rely on it for sensitive surveys and forms. Apart from anonymity, Google Forms comes with many limitations. Below, you will find a comparison table to better understand the limitations of Google Forms, especially when you compare it with an advanced form builder, like forms.app.

How to create an anonymous form with forms.app

If anonymous surveys are a regular part of how you gather feedback, forms.app removes the configuration burden entirely. There are no hidden settings to disable; the form simply does not collect information you do not ask for.

Here’s how to create an anonymous survey with forms.app:

1. Log in to forms.app & Click "Create a form" and either choose a form template or use the AI form generator.

The form creation options on forms.app

2. Add your questions, and simply do not include name, email, or other identifying fields.

Editing a form on forms.app

3. Add a brief privacy statement by dragging and dropping an explanation field to the top of your form, or to the welcome page. In this guide, we’ll add the statement to the welcome page.

Add a brief privacy statement to the form’s welcome page

4. Click Share and distribute via link, embed code, or email.

The form sharing page on forms.app

Frequently Asked Questions

Key points to take away

In conclusion, anonymous employee surveys enhance the work environment and boost team productivity. By prioritizing anonymity and acting on feedback, you can build trust between management and the team, improving your company's business process.

In this article, we showed you how to make responses anonymous on Google Forms. You also learned about its benefits and drawbacks. With our step-by-step guide, you are ready to make your form anonymous in Google Forms or in forms.app!