Google Form lost my answers? Why your progress wasn't saved, and the fix for each cause

How Google's save-your-progress works, and what each message means

Google's help says forms you fill out while signed in to your Google Account are saved as a draft for 30 days, so you don't have to start over if you switch devices or can't finish. On the owner's side, Google says draft responses are autosaved by default, for 30 days after the responder's last edit or until the form is complete, whichever comes first. Look at the top of the form for one of these:

• 'Draft saved' with a cloud icon: your progress is saved to the account you are using.
• 'Saving disabled': the creator may have turned autosave off. See cause three.
• 'Unable to save your draft': the save failed, but you can still submit. See cause three.
• 'You need access': you are on the wrong account or no longer have permission. See causes two and four.
• 'Form is no longer accepting responses': the form is closed. See cause four.

Cause 1: You weren't signed in to a Google Account

Everything Google says about autosave is about people who are signed in. Its help page describes progress saved in your Google Account and doesn't describe any saving for anyone else. So if you opened the link without signing in, or in a private window you never signed in to, assume nothing was kept and that you will have to start again.

Plenty of forms can be filled in without signing in, so it is easy to get a long way down the page without noticing. Other forms do make you sign in: Google requires it for file upload questions, and for any form where the owner has turned on 'Limit to 1 response'.

• Respondent: sign in to your Google Account before you start a long form, then check that 'Draft saved' appears after your first few answers.
• If 'Draft saved' never appears, don't rely on it. Finish in one sitting, or write long answers elsewhere first and paste them in.
• Owner: if your respondents don't have Google Accounts, they don't get this safety net. Shorten the form, or split it into two separate forms.

Cause 2: You came back on a different account, or a different browser or device

This looks the most like data loss, and it is often the most fixable. Google's instruction for finding a draft is to reopen the form URL in the same Google Account you used to start it. A different account won't show it, even on the same computer. It is common to start on a work account and come back on a personal one, or the other way round.

A different browser or device is only a problem because of the account it is signed in to. Google says you don't have to start over if you switch devices, so your phone should show the draft you started on your laptop as long as it is using the same account. If it is signed out, or on another account, you will see a blank form and it can look as if the answers were lost.

• If you can, go back to that device and browser and open the same form link.
• To change accounts, Google's steps are: go to myaccount.google.com, select your profile image, choose the account and click 'Sign in'. If it isn't listed, click 'Add another account' first.
• Then open the form link again. Use the original link, not a new copy of the form, because the draft belongs to that form.
• If you get 'You need access', you may be on an account the creator hasn't approved. Switch accounts, or click 'Request access' and wait for the email saying the owner has granted it.

Cause 3: Your progress was never saved

Sometimes nothing was lost after the fact, because nothing was saved in the first place.

The owner turned autosave off. If you see 'Saving disabled', Google says the creator may have disabled draft autosaving, and that you would need to contact the form owner to turn it on. Google actually suggests turning it off for forms used for repeated data entry, forms embedded in websites, and registration or sign-ups on shared devices, so it may be deliberate.

You were offline. Google says autosave doesn't work while you are offline. Anything you typed during a dropped connection may not have been saved, so wait until you are back online and check that 'Draft saved' returns before you leave the page.

The save failed. On 'Unable to save your draft', Google's wording is that you can still submit your response and all your responses will be recorded, but that if you close the form before you submit it, you might lose your progress. The rule is simple: leave the tab open and submit.

• Owner, to turn autosave back on: open the form, click 'Settings', click the down arrow next to 'Presentation', and turn 'Disable autosave for all respondents' off.

Cause 4: The owner changed the form, or you lost access to it

A draft is tied to a form that can change while you are away. Google lists exactly what affects it, and this explains the confusing case where some answers are still there and others are not.

• The owner deleted a question: your answer to it is deleted.
• The owner changed an option you had selected: it is no longer selected in your draft, so check your multiple choice answers again.
• The owner changed the branching logic: you may lose access to some pages of the form.
• The owner changed a question's wording or other answer options: Google says this doesn't affect your answers.
• You lost access to the form: you lose access to the draft as well. Google also says unpublished forms can't be opened by responders, even with the link.
• The form closed: you will see 'Form is no longer accepting responses', and Google's advice is to contact the form owner. Its help doesn't say whether a draft comes back if the form reopens, so don't promise yourself that it will.

Cause 5: The 30 days ran out, or someone clicked 'Clear form'

These are the two cases with no fix that Google documents.

The 30 days count from your last edit. If you started a long application in spring and came back months later, the draft has probably gone. Any edit restarts the period, so changing one answer now and then keeps a draft alive while you gather what you need.

'Clear form' is at the bottom right of the form, and it is Google's own way of deleting a draft: it clears all your answers once you confirm. It sits close to where you finish the form, so it can be hit by mistake. Google's help doesn't describe an undo, so if you see the confirmation and didn't mean to, don't confirm. If you have already confirmed, the only way forward is to fill the form in again.

Also, a draft isn't meant to last after you finish: Google says it is kept until the form is complete. If you have submitted and want to change an answer, you can only do that if the owner has turned on 'Allow response editing' under 'Responses'. If that is off, ask the owner.

Prevent it next time

Google's help pages don't describe a way for an owner to see or restore someone's unsubmitted draft.

• Respondent: sign in first, and look for 'Draft saved' before you trust it.
• Respondent: keep using one account from start to finish, and reopen the original link.
• Respondent: write long answers in a separate document and paste them in, so you have a copy whatever happens.
• Respondent: finish within the 30 days, and don't touch 'Clear form' unless you mean it.
• Owner: open 'Settings', then 'Presentation', and check that 'Disable autosave for all respondents' is off, unless you have a reason for it such as a shared device.
• Owner: try not to delete questions, change options or rework branching once people have started. Google says rewording a question doesn't affect saved answers, so that is the safer kind of edit.
• Owner: tell people up front how long the form is and what they need to have ready, and that signing in lets their progress save.
• Owner: if you collect email addresses, you can set 'Send responders a copy of their response' under 'Responses' to 'When requested' or 'Always', so people keep a record once they have submitted. Google notes spam filters can catch these.

If your respondents aren't signed in to Google

If your form is long and your respondents aren't signed in to Google, a shorter OneSol form with no sign-in may suit them better. The aim there is a form short enough to finish in one sitting, rather than one that needs saving part way through.