Editing a shared form
Why a shared form is locked
While a form has shared links, you can add to it and reword it, but you can't remove questions or change what they ask for. That keeps every response matching the form, so your results don't end up as answers to different forms.
If a form has no links, or only archived ones, you can change anything.
What you can and can't change
| Change | On a shared form | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Add a question | Yes | Earlier responses simply have no answer to it. Nothing they said changes. |
| Reword a question or an option | Yes | It's still the same answer. Only its label changes. |
| Add an option to a choice question | Yes | Every earlier answer is still one of the options. |
| Reorder elements, or put them in columns | Yes | Layout doesn't change what was asked. |
| Add, edit or remove titles, text, dividers, spacers and images | Yes | They aren't answered, so no response depends on them. |
| Change colours | Yes | Looks only. |
| Make a required question optional | Yes | Earlier responses all answered it, so they still fit. |
| Remove a question | No | The link's responses would have a column that's no longer on the form, and later ones wouldn't have it at all. |
| Remove an option | No | Responses that chose it would point at something that's gone. |
| Change a question's type | No | A date can't be compared with a number: the same column would hold two kinds of answer. |
| Change a number's or date's limits | No | Earlier answers were checked against the old limits and might not fit the new ones. |
| Make a question required | No | Earlier responses may have left it blank, which a required question doesn't allow. |
When a change is locked, its control is greyed out, or you're told "This form has shared links. Archive them to make this change."
Questions added after sharing
A question you add after sharing isn't locked straight away. Until someone answers the form, you can still change its type, its limits and its options, or remove it as no response depends on it yet. The first response that includes it locks it like the rest.
The one exception is making it required, which is locked for every question on a shared form, new or not.
Making a locked change
Choose Archive links, on the notice at the top of the form or beside the form's shared links. It archives all of the form's links at once:
- They stop taking responses, for good. An archived link can't be reopened.
- They move to Archived, with their responses kept to read and download.
- Visitors to an archived link see "This form isn't accepting responses anymore.", or a message you write, such as where to find the new link.
- The form unlocks. Change anything, then create new links for the new version.
Archiving is the point of no return for those links, so do it when you're ready to start a new round of responses, not for a small fix.
What happens to responses
- Responses you already have are always safe. Each one keeps the questions exactly as they were when it was sent.
- Questions removed after archiving still appear in the archived links' responses, marked "(removed)".
More on links and archiving in Sharing & QR codes, and on reading what you've collected in Responses & downloads.