How to Add Location Detection in Google Form
Google Forms has no built-in way to capture where a respondent is filling out your form. There's no "location" question type, and asking people to type their country, state, and city manually leads to messy, inconsistent data — misspellings, abbreviations, and blank fields.
With CustomGForm's Location addon, you can auto-detect a respondent's country, region, city, and timezone the moment they open the form. The detected value pre-fills a standard text field so respondents can review it, correct it if needed, and submit — all without typing a single character.
Before starting, connect your Google Form to your CustomGForm dashboard (opens in a new tab). Location detection requires a Starter or Pro plan.
Live demo: Location Detection Form — open the showcase.
What you need before you start
- A Google Form with at least one Short Answer or Long Answer (Paragraph) field
- A CustomGForm project connected to that form
- A Starter or Pro plan (the addon is not available on the Hobby plan)
Step-by-step: add location detection to a Google Form
Step 1: Add a text field in Google Forms
- Open your Google Form in edit mode.
- Add a Short Answer or Paragraph question.
- Label it clearly — for example, "Your location" or "City, country and timezone".
The field will be auto-filled with detected values. Choose "Short Answer" for a compact, single-line result or "Paragraph" if you want to display longer location strings.
Step 2: Sync your form in CustomGForm
- Go to the CustomGForm dashboard.
- Open the form you want to update.
- Click Refetch Google Form so the new field appears in the customizer.
Step 3: Add the Location addon
- Open Field addons in the form customizer.
- Choose Location as the addon type.
- Select the text field you created in Step 1.
- Click Add field addon.
Step 4: Choose which location values to collect
In the Location addon settings modal you'll see:
- Values — a multi-select of all detectable parts:
| Value | Example output |
|---|---|
| Country code | US |
| Country name | United States |
| State/Region name | California |
| State/Region code | (region code, when available) |
| City | Mountain View |
| Timezone | America/Los_Angeles |
| EU member | Yes or No |
- Order matters — the order you pick them in is the order they are written to the field, separated by commas.
- Live preview — a preview box shows the exact value that will be submitted based on your current location.
Pick the values that matter for your use case and click Save.
Step 5: Test your form
Open your form preview (or the live embed). You should see:
- The text field auto-fills with your detected location within a second.
- The value is editable — respondents can correct it before submitting.
- After submission, check the Google Forms Responses tab to confirm the location string appears in the linked field.
What the respondent sees
When a respondent opens the form, the location addon:
- Detects their location using the same IP-based signals that web analytics tools use — no GPS, no browser permission prompt.
- Pre-fills the text field with the formatted string, for example:
US, United States, California, Mountain View, No. - Lets them edit the value before they submit. If the detection gets it wrong — say a respondent uses a VPN — they simply correct the field.
- Skips unknown values. If a particular part can't be determined (e.g. city for some IP ranges), it's silently omitted instead of writing "Unknown".
Location detection uses IP-based geolocation — the same class of data most analytics platforms collect. It does not request GPS coordinates or trigger a browser permission dialog. Review your privacy policy before enabling it on forms that target regulated audiences (GDPR, CCPA, etc.).
Real-world use cases
| Use case | Recommended values | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Event registration | Country name, City | Know where attendees are coming from to plan logistics |
| Lead capture | Country name, State name, Timezone | Route leads to regional sales teams |
| Support requests | Country code, Timezone | SLA routing and response-time calculation |
| EU compliance checks | EU member, Country name | Flag respondents inside/outside the EU |
| Market research | Country name, State name, City | Segment responses by geography without manual data entry |
Tips and best practices
- Don't mark the field as required in Google Forms. If detection fails for any reason (corporate proxy, unusual network), a required field would block the submission. Let it be optional and treat missing data as "unknown" on your end.
- Use clear labels. "Your location (auto-detected)" tells respondents what to expect and reduces confusion.
- Combine with Hidden Fields. If you want location data without showing it to the respondent, consider using hidden fields alongside the location addon.
- Test behind a VPN. Toggle your VPN to different regions to verify the detection and preview work as expected.
Troubleshooting
The field does not appear in the addon list
- The field must be Short Answer or Long Answer (Paragraph). Other field types are not supported.
- Click Refetch Google Form after adding the field in Google Forms.
Location is not being detected
- Make sure the form is loaded over HTTPS.
- Some corporate firewalls and privacy-focused browsers may block the geolocation API endpoint. The field remains editable so respondents can type their location manually.
The addon option is greyed out / shows an upgrade prompt
- Location detection is available on Starter and Pro plans. Check your current plan (opens in a new tab).
Changes not showing on the live form
- Save the addon settings in the dashboard and refresh the form preview.
- Clear your browser cache or open the form in an incognito window.
Frequently asked questions
Does location detection require the respondent's permission?
No. It uses IP-based geolocation — the same method used by analytics tools like Google Analytics. There is no browser permission prompt or GPS access.
Which Google Form field types work with the location addon?
Short Answer and Long Answer (Paragraph). The addon replaces the default text input and auto-fills it with the detected value.
Can respondents change the auto-detected value?
Yes. The field is fully editable. Respondents see the pre-filled value and can correct it before submitting.
What happens if a value can't be detected?
It's skipped. For example, if the city can't be determined but the country and timezone can, only those two appear in the field.
Is location detection available on the free plan?
No. It's available on the Starter and Pro plans. See pricing (opens in a new tab).
Is the detected data GDPR-compliant?
Location detection collects coarse, non-precise data (country/region/city level, not GPS coordinates). It falls into the same category as standard web analytics data. However, you should review your own privacy policy and data processing agreements before enabling it.
Conclusion
Adding location detection to a Google Form takes less than five minutes with CustomGForm. You get clean, structured location data without forcing respondents to type anything — and they can always correct the auto-detected value before hitting submit.
Ready to try it? Open the live demo or create your first project (opens in a new tab) to get started.