Keeping Choices in Sync

Once a question is connected there is nothing to switch on. Syncing is automatic, and the sidebar tells you when it last ran.

When a Sync Runs

• When you connect a question, immediately
• When you open the sidebar, quietly, so edits you made in the sheet are already in the form by the time you look
• Every hour, in the background, whether or not the form or the sidebar is open
• On every form submission, which also refreshes the Taken counts
• When you press "Sync all questions" in the cog menu

Hourly is the fastest background schedule Google allows for forms add-ons, so a sheet edit can take up to an hour to appear on its own. Press Sync all questions if you want it now.

If the add-on is paused on the Form tab, background syncs stop as well; a form that says "Paused" should not have an hourly job rewriting its questions. Pressing Sync all questions yourself still works, because pressing it is the intent.

What a Sync Writes

A sync reads columns A and B of the question's tab and then:

1. Replaces the question's options with column A, after trimming whitespace, dropping blank rows, removing case-insensitive duplicates, and cutting the list to Google Forms' limit of 500 options. An "Other" option on the question is kept
2. Stores each row's capacity from column B as that option's limit
3. Rewrites column C with the current number of sign-ups per option

The sidebar row then shows the option count, how many are full, and the time of the last sync.

Capacity: Options That Close Themselves

With a number in column B, the add-on watches responses as they come in:

• When an option reaches its capacity it is removed from the form automatically, usually within seconds of the response that filled it. Google runs the trigger on its own timer and does not guarantee an exact moment, so an occasional slower run is normal, and this applies to every add-on on a Google Form. Two people racing for the last spot inside that window can both take it, so treat capacity as "options are removed when they fill up", not as a hard guarantee
• Raise the number in column B and the option comes back on the next sync
• Set it to 0 to close an option from the sheet without deleting its row
• If every option is full or closed, the question shows a single "No spots available" placeholder until something reopens

Two things to keep in mind:

• Capacities are matched by row. The number in B5 caps whatever option sits in A5. Reordering column A without reordering column B moves every cap to the wrong option
• Renaming an option starts it fresh. Counts are tied to the exact option text, so renaming "Robotics Lab" to "Robotics 101" restarts that option at zero sign-ups

When a Sync Fails

A sync never leaves a question broken. If it cannot complete, the question keeps its current options and the sidebar shows the reason on that row:

• "The Options column is empty" - column A has no usable values, so the question was left alone. Add options and sync again
• "This tab's layout changed (column A must be 'Options')" - cell A1 no longer reads Options, usually because a column was inserted or deleted. Repair the tab or disconnect the question. The add-on stops here on purpose, rather than writing your capacity numbers into the form as options
• "The Options column contains a formula error" - a cell resolves to something like #REF! or #N/A, typically a broken or unauthorized =IMPORTRANGE(). The error text is never written into the form as a choice. Fix the formula in the options sheet and sync again
• "Can't read the options sheet" - the file is gone or the add-on lost access. Check whether it is still in your Drive
• "Temporary Google error" - try again in a moment; the hourly sync will retry on its own
• "Couldn't update the question" - Google Forms refused the write. This usually means the question has answer validation or branching tied to specific options. Review the question in the form editor. Capacity on that question is paused until it is resolved, and you may get an email about it: see Paused Capacity Limits

Note that a question whose tab was deleted is not an error. It is treated as a disconnect, with its own notice on the row. See Connecting a Question.

Copies of Your Form

If you copy a form ("Make a copy" in Drive), the connections copy with it, but Google never copies background schedules. Open the Dynamic Form Choices sidebar once in the copy, or run any sync, and the hourly schedule is restored automatically.

One caution: a copy inherits the original form's options sheet rather than getting one of its own, so anything you do from the copy can reach the spreadsheet the original is using. If you want a clean start, build the copy's questions from a form that has nothing connected yet.