GOOGLE FORMS · BEFORE YOU SHARE

Test the route,
not just the first page.

A short manual checklist for a form you own, followed by a worked example. You do not need a script, an add-on, or a Google permission grant to use this guide.

For a practice form, use fictional questions and answers. Keep student, customer, and confidential data out of examples you share.

1. Write down what should happen

Use section names and the answer that chooses each path. Here is an illustrative registration flow:

Registration → “Myself” → Your details → Attendance agreement → Final details → Submit

Registration → “A team” → Team booking → Attendance agreement → Final details → Submit

If everyone must see the attendance agreement, both routes must include it. A required question does not, by itself, establish that every route visits its section.

2. Check the two places that control navigation

The branching question: inspect the destination beside each answer. Google supports answer-based section routing for multiple-choice and dropdown questions.
The section exit: inspect the next-section setting at the bottom of each section. Check where each branch rejoins the shared part of your form.

Google’s section-routing instructions.

Keep a small table beside your form. Add one row for every answer route and section exit:

Starting section	Answer / exit	Expected next section
Registration	Myself	Your details
Registration	A team	Team booking
Team booking	Finish booking	Attendance agreement

3. Walk the paths in your form

Use Google Forms preview or an authorized test copy. Start a fresh run for each branch. Stop before submitting unless test responses are appropriate for that form.

Each routing answer reaches its intended next section.Every intended section can be reached from the start.Every route that should finish can reach Submit.Any route back to an earlier section is intentional, and an exit exists.Every section I consider essential appears on every applicable path.I retested after moving sections or changing destinations.

These checkboxes are a temporary worksheet; they are not saved or sent anywhere. You can print this page using your browser.

If Next is blocked, also inspect required fields and answer-validation errors. If Next returns to an earlier section, the route may be intentional. Google’s troubleshooting guide explains these cases. BranchCheck checks structure; it cannot diagnose every form problem.

Try the worked example

Open BranchCheck, then choose Try the example. This uses fictional workshop registration data.

Find the missing section. Dietary requirements has no reachable route from the start in this example.
Inspect the loop. In Team booking, “Change registration type” returns to the beginning. Choose “Show route” to inspect the path. A restart may be intentional; review its purpose.
Check the agreement. Mark Attendance agreement as a must-visit section. The team route can submit before reaching it.
Compare the corrected example. Use the comparison button to see a different route design, then inspect the map and download the report.

The comparison is a teaching example, not an automatic repair of your form. A clean structural report still needs a real respondent walkthrough.

Check your own form when you are ready

For automated route analysis, the beta needs a structure snapshot exported from a form you own or can edit. That export currently requires running a helper and granting Google’s current-form permission; this is more work than the manual checklist above.

Imported snapshots are processed in your browser. They are not uploaded to our server, and the helper does not read respondent answers. Dropdown routing and “Other” answers need manual review in this beta.

Read the export steps and limitations. If your organization blocks scripts, use its approved process and the manual checklist.

Feedback is most useful when it describes the expected route, the route you saw, and whether the report helped. Please do not send respondent data or confidential form content.