How to Duplicate a Question in Google Forms
Quick answer: Click the question you want to copy, then click the duplicate icon — two overlapping squares — in the action row at the bottom of the question, next to the delete icon and the Required toggle. An exact copy appears directly below, with the same question type, options, and validation rules, ready to edit. This works the same way on desktop and in the mobile browser.
Duplicating a question is one of the fastest ways to speed up building a Google Form, especially when you need several similar questions in a row — a rating scale repeated across five product features, or a template question you'll tweak slightly each time. Rather than rebuilding a question from scratch, one click gives you an identical starting point.
Where the duplicate icon is
Click on any question in your form to select it — this expands the question and reveals a row of icons along its bottom edge. That row typically shows, from left to right: a trash/delete icon, the duplicate icon (two overlapping squares), a "Required" toggle switch, and a three-dot menu for additional options. Click the duplicate icon and an identical copy of that question appears immediately below the original.
What carries over when you duplicate
Everything about the question's setup copies exactly:
- Question type — a multiple choice question stays multiple choice, a linear scale stays a linear scale, and so on.
- All answer options — every choice, checkbox label, or grid row and column copies over word for word.
- Validation rules — if the original question had response validation set (like requiring a number in a range, or text matching a pattern), the duplicate keeps that same rule.
- The Required toggle state — if the original was marked required, so is the copy.
The one thing that never copies is responses, which makes sense — the duplicate is a fresh, unanswered question with its own independent response data going forward, even if it looks identical to the one above it.
Why this is useful
Duplicating shines in two common situations. First, repeated rating scales: if you're asking respondents to rate five different aspects of an experience on the same 1–5 scale, build the first question fully, then duplicate it four times and just change each copy's question text — much faster than recreating the linear scale settings from scratch each time. Second, template questions: if you're building several multiple-choice questions that share the same set of answer options (say, a satisfaction scale used after several different questions), duplicate the first one and swap only the question text on each copy, leaving the shared options untouched.
Editing the duplicate
After duplicating, click into the new copy just like any other question. Change its question text, add or remove answer options, or adjust the required toggle independently of the original — the two questions are completely separate from this point forward, so editing one never affects the other.
Moving a duplicated question to a different section
If your form uses sections and the duplicate needs to live somewhere other than right below the original, grab the six-dot drag handle that appears on the left edge of the question when you hover or tap it, and drag it up or down. You can drag a question across a section break the same way you'd reorder it within one section — Google Forms doesn't restrict drag-and-drop to staying inside a single section. For a long form where dragging a large distance is awkward, use the three-dot menu on the question to cut it, scroll to where you want it, and paste, which is often more precise than a long drag on a small screen.
Doing this from a phone
The duplicate icon works the same way in a mobile browser as it does on desktop — tap the question to select it, then tap the two-overlapping-squares icon in the action row that appears at the bottom. The main difference on a phone is precision: the drag handle for repositioning a question is small, so if you need to move a duplicated question far up or down a long form, the cut-and-paste option from the three-dot menu is usually easier than trying to drag it accurately with a finger. If you're building forms on your phone regularly, our guide on building multi-page Google Forms with sections covers organizing longer forms in a way that makes both duplicating and moving questions less fiddly.
FAQ
How do I duplicate a question in Google Forms?
Click the question you want to copy to select it, then click the duplicate icon (two overlapping squares) in the action row at the bottom of the question, next to the delete icon and the Required toggle. An identical copy appears directly below the original.
What gets copied when I duplicate a question?
The question type, all answer options, and any validation rules carry over exactly. Nothing about existing responses copies, since the duplicate is a brand-new, unanswered question.
Can I move a duplicated question to a different section?
Yes. After duplicating, drag the question by the six-dot handle on its left edge up or down across section breaks, or cut and paste it using the three-dot menu if dragging across a long form is awkward.