# Import from Typeform or Google Forms
Bring a form, and optionally its responses, over from Typeform or Google Forms as a new draft.

Import a form from Typeform or Google Forms and you get a draft with the same questions in the same order, plus its responses if you want them. Nothing goes live until you publish it.

## Where your data goes

Imported forms and responses are stored in the EU and encrypted at rest like any other response (see EU data residency). For Typeform, our server reads the form and responses through Typeform’s API with the token you provide, and sends nothing else. For Google Forms you paste the data yourself, so we never contact Google.

A Typeform token is used for that one import and is never stored or logged. Close the tab and it is gone.

## Import from Typeform

1. Create a personal access token: In Typeform, open the menu next to your name, choose Account, then Personal tokens (or go straight to [admin.typeform.com/user/tokens](https://admin.typeform.com/user/tokens)). Select Generate a new token, name it, and give it the forms:read and responses:read scopes. Use the account that owns the form.
2. Start the import: On Forms, select Import next to New form and choose Typeform. Paste the token and the form’s share link (like https://yourname.typeform.com/to/abc123) or its form id. Leave Import responses too on to bring responses.
3. Review and import: The preview shows the title, the question and response counts, and every question that doesn’t map one to one. Select Import form. Responses arrive up to 1,000 at a time; keep the window open until it finishes. If a request fails, retry from where it stopped.

> When the import is done, delete the token in Typeform. Forms on Typeform’s EU data center import the same way.

## Import from Google Forms

Formbear doesn’t ask for access to your Google account. You read the form with Google’s API Explorer and paste the result.

1. Find the form id: Open the form in Google Forms. The id is the long part of the edit link: docs.google.com/forms/d/id/edit.
2. Run forms.get: Open [forms.get](https://developers.google.com/workspace/forms/api/reference/rest/v1/forms/get) in Google’s API reference, enter the form id under Try this method, and run it. Copy the whole JSON response.
3. Optionally, run forms.responses.list: For the responses, do the same with [forms.responses.list](https://developers.google.com/workspace/forms/api/reference/rest/v1/forms.responses/list), with pageSize set to 5000. Google returns at most 5,000 responses per page, and Formbear imports the page you paste.
4. Paste and import: On Forms, select Import, choose Google Forms, paste the form JSON (and the responses JSON), preview, and import.

## What maps to what

Where there is no direct match among Formbear’s question types, the importer picks the nearest type and the preview says what changes.

### From Typeform

| Typeform | Formbear |
| --- | --- |
| Short text, Long text, Email, Phone number, Website, Number, Date, Dropdown | The same type |
| Multiple choice, Picture choice | Single select or Multi select (pictures are dropped) |
| Yes/No, Legal | Single select with the two options |
| Checkbox, Ranking | Multi select (the ranked order isn't kept) |
| Rating | Rating, shown as stars (2 to 10) |
| Opinion scale, Net Promoter Score | Number with the same range |
| Matrix | One Single select per row |
| Question group, Contact info | A heading, then the questions inside it |
| Statement | Paragraph |
| File upload, Signature | File upload (Pro); files aren't copied |
| Video and audio | Long text; only typed answers come over |
| Hidden fields | Hidden fields |
| Payment, Calendly, Google Calendar | Left out |

### From Google Forms

| Google Forms | Formbear |
| --- | --- |
| Short answer, Paragraph | Short text, Long text |
| Multiple choice, Checkboxes, Dropdown | Single select, Multi select, Dropdown |
| Linear scale | Number with the same range (end labels are dropped) |
| Rating | Rating, shown as stars |
| Date | Date (a time part is dropped) |
| Time, Duration | Short text |
| Multiple choice grid, Tick box grid | One select per row |
| Section | A page break, then its title as a heading |
| Title and description | Heading and paragraph |
| File upload | File upload (Pro); files aren't copied |
| Collected respondent emails | An Email question |
| Image, Video | Left out |

## What doesn't carry over

- Logic. Logic jumps and go-to-section rules aren’t imported. Every question shows in order.
- Welcome and ending screens. Set a thank-you message on the form’s Settings tab instead.
- Uploaded files. File questions come over, but the files stay in the source. Download them before you close that account. File upload is a Pro feature, so on Free remove those questions before publishing.
- Design. Themes, images, and pictures on choices aren’t imported.
- Recalled answers. Typeform question text that quotes an earlier answer shows an ellipsis in its place.

## Responses

- Only completed responses are imported, each with its original submission time.
- One import brings in at most 10,000 responses, the most recent ones.
- Text typed into an Other choice is kept in a hidden field named after the question, like Your role (other).
- An answer that doesn’t fit its question (a number outside the range, for example) is left out; the rest of the response is imported.

## After the import

The new form is a draft, with its imported responses already in Results. Publish it to start taking new responses. Each import creates a new form, so importing the same source twice gives you two forms.

Source: https://formbear.app/docs/import-forms