Google Forms locked mode greyed out, missing or not working? Why, and the fix for each cause

Cause 1: The form isn't a quiz yet

An ordinary form isn't enough. In Google's steps, 'Make this a quiz' comes first, and 'Locked mode' is the next setting after it. To turn it on from Forms:

• Open the form in Google Forms.
• At the top, click 'Settings'.
• Turn on 'Make this a quiz'.
• Under 'Chromebook settings', turn on 'Locked mode'.
• Or, if you assign through Google Classroom: open the class, go to 'Classwork', click 'Create', choose 'Quiz assignment' and turn on 'Locked mode on Chromebooks'.

Cause 2: You or your students are on the wrong account

Locked mode needs a Google Workspace for Education account. A personal Gmail account doesn't qualify, and neither does an ordinary business Workspace account. The first item in Google's troubleshooting for teachers is 'Make sure you're signed in to your Google Account through school.'

This catches people who keep a personal and a school account in the same browser, because the form may be sitting under the personal one. Check which address is active before you go any further. If you created the quiz under your personal account, build it again under your school account.

Students need the right account as well. Google tells them to make sure they are signed in with their school Google Account. Locked mode also collects email addresses and limits the quiz to your domain, so a student signed in with a personal address, or an account from another school, is not someone the quiz is set up for.

Cause 3: The Chromebook isn't managed by your school

This is the requirement that surprises teachers most. It isn't enough for a student to have a Chromebook, or to sign in to one with a school account. Google's Classroom help states it plainly: 'Unmanaged devices can't access the Forms quiz.' That rules out personal Chromebooks that were never enrolled, and devices that aren't Chromebooks at all, such as phones, tablets and home laptops.

A managed Chromebook is one enrolled in your school's Google Admin console. Enrollment is normally done by an administrator, or by users only where the school has the right upgrade and the admin allows it. Your admin can see the list of enrolled devices in the Admin console, so they can confirm a specific machine by checking that list.

The same requirement can explain a missing option in Classroom. Google says the 'Locked mode on Chromebooks' option is available for schools that use managed Chromebooks, and its troubleshooting for teachers warns that 'Your school might not have managed Chromebooks.' If that is your school, no setting on your side will change it.

• Ask your admin: 'Are our student Chromebooks enrolled, and is this device on the list?'
• If a student brings their own device, plan ahead: lend them a school Chromebook, or agree an arrangement that fits your school's exam rules.
• Don't ask a student to enroll a personal device themselves. Enrollment is your admin's decision.

Cause 4: ChromeOS is out of date

Google asks for Chrome OS 75 or later, and its troubleshooting tells both teachers and students to update if locked mode won't work. Any Chromebook that has kept up with updates will be well past that version, so this mostly affects machines that have been sitting in a cupboard or have stopped getting updates. To check one:

• At the bottom right of the Chromebook, select the time, then the 'Settings' gear.
• At the bottom left, select 'About ChromeOS'. The version number is shown under 'Google ChromeOS'.
• Select 'Check for updates'. If an update is found, it downloads automatically.
• To finish, select 'Restart' on the update notification next to the date.
• If the update won't go through on a school device, or 'Additional details' says 'Updates are managed by your administrator', contact your admin.
• 'Additional details' also shows the 'Update schedule', which tells you how long the device will keep getting automatic updates.

Cause 5: An admin setting affects Forms or the devices

Google's locked mode help page doesn't list a separate admin switch for locked mode, so don't ask your admin to 'enable locked mode' and leave it there. Ask about the things that sit underneath it. The first is whether the Forms service itself is on for your group of users. When Forms is off, users can't access or respond to forms and see an error message when they try. So if nobody in a class can open any form, this is worth checking.

An admin with the Drive & Docs privilege can check it under 'Menu', 'Apps', 'Google Workspace', 'Drive and Docs', 'Google Forms'. The 'Service status' can be set differently for each organizational unit, so staff and students may not have the same setting. Forms also can't be turned on unless Google Drive is on. Google says changes can take up to 24 hours, though they usually happen sooner, so don't leave this until the morning of the test.

The other two questions are the ones from causes three and four: are the student Chromebooks enrolled, and are they being held back on an old ChromeOS version by the school's update settings?

Cause 6: A Class Tools session is blocking the quiz

If your school uses Class Tools, Google lists a known issue that looks exactly like locked mode failing. In sessions where 'Only allow Class Tools' is turned on, students can't open quizzes that are in locked mode.

The fix is on the teacher's side. Google says to turn off 'Only allow Class Tools' in teacher mode before you start the session when you are sharing locked quizzes.

Don't confuse the two features either. The 'Lock' button in a Class Tools session locks student screens for a set time. Google documents it separately from the 'Locked mode' setting on a Forms quiz.

Prevent it next time: test before test day

Most locked mode problems show up the moment a class tries to start, which is the worst time to find them. A short run-through a few days before avoids that.

• Make a one-question quiz with your school account and turn on 'Locked mode'.
• Open it on a real student Chromebook with a student account, not only on your own teacher device.
• Confirm you get the alert: Google says the teacher is notified by email if a student exits the quiz or opens another tab, so check your school inbox.
• Check accessibility needs early. Google's Classroom help says ChromeVox, high-contrast mode and the full-screen and docked magnifiers are available on a locked Chromebook. Some extensions are disabled in locked mode, so test any reading or math tool a student relies on.
• Ask your admin about device or Forms problems at least a day ahead, given the 24-hour window for setting changes.
• Tell students which device and account to bring. If a student still can't start the quiz, Google's advice to them is to contact you, so be ready with a plan for that student.

When you don't actually need locked mode

OneSol has no locked mode, so it is not a replacement for a locked exam and only suits ordinary forms. For things like a parent sign-up, a trip permission list or a feedback form, a free OneSol account is enough to make one: respondents don't need to sign in, and you are emailed each new response.