Question types

The eleven kinds of question a form can ask, the settings each one takes, and how every answer reads in the WhatsApp message.

Updated November 11, 2026 View as Markdown

A form holds up to 20 questions. Each one collects one kind of answer, chosen in Answer Type, and the form checks that answer before the respondent can move on.

The eleven types

Type	What it collects
Short text	A single line of text
Paragraph	A longer, multi-line answer
Email	An email address, checked for a valid format
Phone	A phone number with its country code, checked for that country
Dropdown	One option from a dropdown list
Number	A numeric value
Single choice	Exactly one option
Multiple choice	Any number of options
Time	A time of day
Date	A single calendar date
Date range	A start date and an end date

Dropdown suits a long list. Single choice shows every option at once, which suits a few.

Settings on every question

Question: what you ask, up to 120 characters. Every question needs one before the form can be published.
Required: on for every new question. A required question must be answered before the respondent can continue. An optional one shows an Optional tag, and in the step-by-step layout its button reads Skip until it is answered.
Helper Text: guidance shown under the question, up to 500 characters.
Placeholder: a hint inside the field, up to 200 characters. Short text, Paragraph, Email, Number and Dropdown take one.

The arrows on a question move it up or down, the copy icon duplicates it with all its settings, and the trash icon deletes it. A new form starts with two questions, Full name and Email address, which you can change.

Choices

Dropdown, Single choice and Multiple choice list their Options. Select Add option for each one, up to 20 options of up to 200 characters. To publish, a choice question needs at least one option and no blank ones.

In the step-by-step layout, picking an option in a Single choice or Dropdown question moves on to the next question. On the last question it doesn't: the respondent taps Finish.

Renaming an option keeps any conditional logic that uses it.

Minimums and maximums

Four types take an optional minimum and maximum. Leave a box blank for no limit.

Type	Setting	What it limits
Short text, Paragraph	Answer length	Characters in the answer
Number	Value range	The number itself
Multiple choice	Selectable choices	How many options can be picked

The maximum can't be lower than the minimum, and a Multiple choice minimum can't be higher than its number of options. A respondent outside the limits is told why, for example "Use at least 10 characters." or "Pick at most 2."

The other types check their own format:

Email needs a valid address.
Phone has a country list with search, and the number must be valid for the country picked.
Date range needs both dates, and the end date can't be before the start date.
Date and Time take any date or time.

How answers appear in WhatsApp

Each answered question becomes one line of the message: the question, a colon, then the answer. WhatsApp shows the text between the asterisks in bold.

Type	Line in the message
Short text	`Full name: Ana Torres`
Paragraph	`Notes: Sensitive to cold drinks.`
Email	`Email: ana@example.com`
Phone	`Phone: +1 415 555 0123`
Dropdown	`Clinic: Mission Bay`
Number	`Patients: 2`
Single choice	`Visit type: Checkup`
Multiple choice	`Treatments: Cleaning, Whitening`
Time	`Preferred time: 9:30 AM`
Date	`Preferred date: Sep 12, 2026`
Date range	`Stay: Sep 12, 2026 → Sep 15, 2026`

A few details:

An optional question left blank, or one the respondent wasn't asked, is left out of the message.
Several choices are separated by commas.
Dates are written as month, day and year, and times on a 12-hour clock, in every form.
Phone numbers are written in international format, with the country code.
A Paragraph answer starts on the same line as its question and keeps its own line breaks.
If a question ends with a colon, the colon isn't doubled.

The whole message, with your opening line, is on Responses.