Google Sheets

A Google Sheets step adds each response to a spreadsheet: one row per response, one column per answer. It’s available on every plan.

Connect Google Sheets

Go to Integrations, pick Google Sheets, and sign in with Google. Nextforms can only open spreadsheets you pick or that it created for you, never the rest of your Drive.

Add the step

In a workflow, add a Google Sheets step and pick the connection. Under Spreadsheet, either:

• Create a new sheet: name it (it starts as “Form title — responses”) and click Create. It appears in your Google Drive with a header row ready.
• Choose from Drive: pick an existing spreadsheet in Google’s file picker.

Then choose the Tab. Renaming the tab in Google later is fine.

Map answers to columns

Columns to write has a row per column: the Column header and the value, which can be an answer, a variable, or text around them. A new step starts with the response number (as a link), the revision, the submission time and a column per question; an address gets a column per part.

• Values are written under the column with the matching header, so reordering columns in the sheet is safe.
• A header that isn’t in the sheet yet is added to the first row.
• Add N missing questions adds a row for every question the step doesn’t send yet.

How answers are written

• Numbers and dates are typed in as if by hand, so Sheets treats them as numbers and dates.
• A value that starts with =, +, - or @ is written as text, so an answer can never run as a formula. A phone number like +31 6… stays as typed.
• Several choices are joined: “Red, Blue”.
• File uploads show the file name, or “3 files”, and a signature shows “Signed”. The files themselves stay in Nextforms; the response link opens them.
• The response number is a link to the response in Nextforms, for your team.
• Times use your team’s time zone, set under Settings → Team.

When a response is revised

A response sent back for changes runs the workflow again. When a response is revised can:

• Update its row (the default): the row written earlier gets the new answers. Only the mapped columns change, so notes your team added in other columns stay.
• Add a new row: every revision gets its own row.

Updating finds the row by the response link, so keep a column that holds it (the default Response column does). Without one, a revision adds a new row.

Offer rows as options

The same connection can feed a form too: a Database choice question offers the rows of a Google Sheets tab as its options, kept up to date.

When a run fails

The run shows the reason. The common ones:

• The spreadsheet was deleted or moved to the bin in Drive: the step shows that it couldn’t be opened. Pick another one.
• Google access was removed (you disconnected Nextforms in your Google account, or the password changed): the connection is paused and runs wait. Reconnect it under Integrations, then retry.
• Google is busy: Nextforms retries by itself before giving up.

After fixing it, retry the step from the run. See Runs and fixing failures.