Connecting a Question

Connecting a question hands its option list to a spreadsheet. This guide covers what that spreadsheet is, how its columns work, and how to undo it.

Connect a Question

Open the Questions tab in the sidebar, click a question, and press Connect question.

The first connect on a form creates one spreadsheet in your Drive, named - Dynamic Form Choices, and gives the question a tab of its own. The tab is seeded with the options the question already has, so nothing is lost when you connect an existing question. Every later connect adds another tab to that same spreadsheet.

There is no file to pick and no dialog to fill in. The add-on creates the sheet itself, which is also why it never needs access to the rest of your Drive.

The Options Sheet

One spreadsheet per form, one tab per connected question. You can reach it two ways:

• Open {tab name} inside a connected question, which jumps straight to that question's tab
• Open the options sheet in the cog menu, which opens the file

Tab names follow the question title. If you rename the tab by hand, your name wins and the add-on stops renaming it.

The Three Columns

Every tab has the same fixed layout, and each column has exactly one owner:

The add-on writes column C and nothing else. It never overwrites what you put in column A or column B, and it never reads any spreadsheet other than this one.

Column A: Options

One option per cell, starting in row 2. Blank rows are skipped and case-insensitive duplicates are dropped, so a slightly untidy list is fine.

Column B: Capacity

A number in B5 caps whatever option sits in A5. Capacities are matched by row, not by name.

• Blank means unlimited
• 0 keeps the option closed without deleting its row
• Any other number is the maximum number of sign-ups; when it is reached the option is removed from the form automatically
• Raising the number brings the option back on the next sync

Column C: Taken

Written by the add-on after every submission. Leave it alone; anything you type there is replaced on the next sync.

Keep the Header Row

Row 1 holds Options, Capacity, and Taken, and these headers stay in English in every language. The add-on checks that cell A1 still reads Options before it writes anything, which is what stops a shifted or deleted column from pushing capacity numbers into your form as options.

If A1 says anything else, that question's sync stops with a layout error and the question keeps the options it already has. Put the header back, or disconnect the question.

Edit in the Sheet, Not in the Form

Once a question is connected, the sheet is the source of truth. Editing the question's options in the Google Forms editor works until the next sync, which overwrites them from column A. The sidebar says as much on every connected question.

Disconnect a Question

Open the question in the sidebar and press Disconnect question. You are asked to confirm first, because:

• the question's tab is deleted from the options sheet, capacities included
• the question gets its full option list back, including anything capacity had removed
• capacity limits and syncing stop for that question

Deleted tab data is recoverable from the spreadsheet's version history in Google Sheets.

Disconnecting the last connected question keeps the options sheet in your Drive and adds (disconnected) to its name. Columns A and B are your own work, so the add-on never bins the file; it simply stops tracking it, and connecting a question again starts a brand new options sheet. If you had added extra tabs of your own, only the add-on's tab is removed and the file carries on unchanged.

Connecting the question again starts a fresh tab, seeded from the question's current options.

Deleting From the Sheet Side

The mirror runs both ways, so you can also disconnect from the spreadsheet:

• Delete a question's tab and that question is disconnected on the next sync. Its full option list is restored, capacity limits and syncing stop, and the sidebar shows a notice on the row explaining that the tab was deleted. You can dismiss the notice, or press Connect question to reconnect with a fresh tab
• Delete or trash the whole options sheet and every question on the form is disconnected. There is no confirmation prompt here, because these syncs run in the background with nobody watching

Recovery is Google's own: restore the file from Drive trash within 30 days, or use Sheets version history for tab contents. Note that a restored file is no longer the one the add-on is tracking, so the next connect starts a new options sheet.

A Few Practical Tips

• One tab per question. To feed several questions, connect each one and fill in its own tab
• Keep column A a simple vertical list starting at row 2
• Renaming an option's text starts its count from zero, because counts are tied to the exact text. Fix typos before you share the form, not mid-rush
• If your options already live in another spreadsheet, do not retype them. See Advanced: Options From Another Spreadsheet