How to collect emails with Google Forms

Summary

Google Forms can add an email field to every response without you building a question yourself. You turn it on in Settings, and each respondent's address is stored alongside their answers, which makes follow-ups and de-duplication much easier.

Step-by-step guide

1. Step 1

   Open the Settings tab

   Open your form in the editor and click Settings in the tab row at the top, next to Questions and Responses. The settings page lists options for quizzes, responses, presentation and defaults.

2. Step 2

   Expand the Responses section

   Find the Responses card, which is described as managing how responses are collected and protected. Click its arrow to expand it and show the options inside.

3. Step 3

   Open the Collect email addresses dropdown

   Inside Responses, find Collect email addresses. It starts on Do not collect. Click the dropdown to see the three choices: Do not collect, Verified and Responder input.

4. Step 4

   Choose Responder input

   Select Responder input so respondents type their email address themselves. The setting's description changes to say that respondents will manually enter their email response.

5. Step 5

   Go back to the Questions tab

   Click Questions to return to the editor. The Responses section also shows Send responders a copy of their response, which is switched off by default and needs email collection turned on.

6. Step 6

   Check the email field on your form

   At the top of your form, below the form title and description, you now see an Email question marked as required with a Valid email placeholder. A note reads "This form is collecting emails." and a Change settings link takes you back to Settings if you want a different option.