How to Make a Quiz in Google Forms (Self-Grading)

Updated July 2026 · 7 min read

Google Forms has a full quiz engine hiding behind a single toggle. Flip it, and every question gains an answer key, point values, and per-answer feedback — and your responses tab turns into a gradebook with score distributions and a list of the questions everyone missed. It's free, it works for classroom quizzes, training checks, trivia nights and certification prep, and here's how to set it up properly, including from a phone.

Step 1: Turn on quiz mode

Open a new or existing form, go to the Settings tab, and switch on Make this a quiz. That's the whole activation — no add-on, no upgrade. You'll immediately see new options under Settings ("Responder settings" and "Global quiz defaults") and a new Answer key link at the bottom-left of every question in the editor.

Tip: set default point value in the quiz settings before writing questions (say, 2 points each) so you're not assigning points one question at a time.

Step 2: Know which question types grade themselves

This is where most first quizzes go wrong. Auto-grading depends entirely on question type:

• Fully automatic: multiple choice, checkboxes, dropdown, multiple choice grid, checkbox grid. You mark the correct option(s); Forms does the rest. For checkboxes, respondents must select exactly the right set — a correct answer plus one wrong one scores zero.
• Automatic only for exact matches: short answer. You can list accepted answers ("Lincoln", "Abraham Lincoln"), but "abe lincoln" or a stray period scores wrong. Fine for numeric answers and single vocabulary words; risky for anything else. Add every spelling variant you'll accept.
• Always manual: paragraph. Forms can't judge an essay. These questions show up ungraded, and the quiz total stays incomplete until you score them by hand — which also means you can't use "release grades immediately" meaningfully if the quiz contains one.

Practical rule: if you want a hands-off, self-grading quiz, build it entirely from multiple choice, checkboxes and dropdowns, plus numeric short answers.

Step 3: Set the answer key and points

1. Click a question, then click Answer key (bottom left).
2. Select the correct choice — or several, for checkbox questions.
3. Set the point value in the top right of the key view. Weight harder questions higher: 1 point for recall, 3 for application.
4. Click Done and repeat for each question.

Example, for a food-safety training check: "What is the minimum safe internal temperature for chicken?" — multiple choice: 145°F / 155°F / 165°F ✓ / 180°F, worth 2 points. Ten questions like that and the entire grading workload is zero.

Step 4: Add feedback for correct and wrong answers

Inside the answer key, click Add answer feedback. You get two tabs:

• Incorrect answers: explain the right answer or link to review material — a video timestamp, a textbook section, your slides. "Poultry needs 165°F; 145°F is the standard for whole cuts of beef and pork. See handbook §3.2."
• Correct answers: a short reinforcement or an extension fact.

Feedback is where a quiz stops being a test and starts being teaching — respondents who review missed questions get the explanation exactly when they're curious about it. You can attach links to both tabs.

Step 5: Decide when grades release — and what respondents see

In Settings, under the quiz options, you'll make two choices:

• Release grades: Immediately after each submission. Best for practice quizzes, trivia and self-checks — respondents see their score on the confirmation screen.
• Release grades: Later, after manual review. Required when you have paragraph questions, and smart for real assessments — nobody can text answers to a friend mid-exam period. This option requires collecting email addresses so Forms can email scores when you click Release scores in the Responses tab.

Then choose respondent visibility: whether they can see missed questions, correct answers, and point values. For a reusable question bank, turn off "correct answers" so the key doesn't circulate; for a learning-focused practice quiz, turn everything on.

Step 6: Shuffle to discourage copying

Two separate shuffles, both useful for in-room quizzes:

• Shuffle option order — per question, via the three-dot menu on the question. Neighbors see the same question with answers in a different order. Don't use it on questions with "All of the above" — that option shuffles too and reads as nonsense mid-list.
• Shuffle question order — in Settings under Presentation. Skip this if your questions build on each other or reference "the passage above."

Step 7: View scores and spot weak questions

The Responses tab becomes a gradebook once quiz mode is on:

• Summary shows the average, median, a score distribution chart, and — most useful — frequently missed questions. If 80% missed question 4, the problem is usually the question, not the class.
• Question view shows every answer given to each question.
• Individual view is where you hand-grade paragraph answers and adjust points, then release scores.
• Click the Sheets icon to send everything to a spreadsheet — scores land in their own column, ready for a gradebook import.

Doing all of this from a phone

There's no official Google Forms app, so on a phone you have two routes. The browser route works — open forms.google.com, request the desktop site, and the quiz toggle, answer keys and feedback editors are all reachable, if fiddly at touch size. The faster route is a mobile-first tool: FormMaker creates real Google Forms through your own Google account with a native touch editor, and lets you share the quiz link or QR code and view responses from the same app. Either way, the quiz your students open is a standard Google Form — same link format, same grading engine.

FAQ

Related guides

• Google Forms on mobile: the complete guide
• Logic branching in Google Forms
• View Google Forms responses on your phone