Formatting text in Google Forms is a great way to make surveys look more professional and organized. Specifically, italicizing text is a great way to emphasize certain keywords and phrases. Using italics helps draw attention to important parts of the survey, too!
Luckily, italicizing is easily done in Google Forms! In this post, we’ll show you how to do it in four simple steps. So, let’s jump in.
How to italicize text in Google Forms
Italicizing text is just one way to format your text in Google forms. You can also easily make the text bold or underlined, depending on your needs. Italicizing text in your Google Form involves these simple steps:
Step 1: Create a new Google Form
First and foremost, navigate to the Google Forms website.
With the Google Forms homepage open, you can start a new form by clicking the “+” button under the “Start a new form” category.
You don’t necessarily have to start a blank form. If you’re creating a new form, you can also select a pre-made template from the “Template Gallery.” You can find this in the upper-right.
However, if you already have a form made that you’d like to edit or format, you can just find it in the “Recent Forms” category and below.
Step 2: Add your questions
On your new form, fill in an appropriate form title and description if creating a new form. Now, you’re ready to add your questions.
To add a new question, click the “+” button on the floating menu on the right-hand side.
By default Google Forms opens a new question with the multiple-choice format. Now add the text for your question in the blank “Question” field. You can also select the format of your question from the button on the right-hand side of the question field.
Step 3: Highlight the text you want to italicize
Once you have entered your question and selected the appropriate question format, it's time to format the text of your question.
To do this, select the part of the text that you want to italicize. When you select a portion of the text, new formatting options will appear under the question. These options include bold, italics, underline, hyperlink, and remove formatting.
Step 4: Click the “Italicize” button
Now all you have to do is click the italics button to italicize the selected text—this looks like a slanted “I.” Once done, the text in your question will appear like this:
That's how easy it is to italicize text in Google Forms. Learn more about the other formatting options that Google Forms provides.
Tips on using italics in Google Forms
Now that you know how to italicize text in Google Forms, you can easily format your text in seconds. Remember not to overuse this formatting option in your Google Forms so it doesn’t lose its potency. Here’s how to best use italics and a few other helpful things you should know:
When should you use italics?
Italicized text stands apart from the rest because the letters are slanted. It draws attention to the particular section of text that's italicized. As a rule of thumb, you should italicize text in the following scenarios:
- When referring to a piece of work like a book, magazine, article, movie, etc.
- When referring to a part of a text or an excerpt from a work.
- If you’re using words from a foreign language.
However, most use italics to emphasize a key word or phrase. In surveys or quizzes, for example, one might italicize “not” in the question so respondents know they should pick what doesn’t fit from the options—or, rather, which option they feel most negatively about.
You can’t italicize answers
In Google Forms, it’s possible to italicize text in questions and description. However, it’s not possible to italicize the text in answer options.
For example, when you select some text in the question, formatting options will appear under it. However, no such options will appear when you select the text in the answer options.
It’s also important to know that there’s no way for a respondent to italicize their responses to short answer or paragraph questions.
There are plenty of text formatting options
Another essential thing to know is that there are plenty of ways to format text, make it stand out, and look different in Google Forms. As mentioned before, there are other options that appear along with the button for italicizing text, like bolding and underlining text.
Also, you can change the font, size, and color of text on the entire form per your preference or branding. To do this, you’ll need to go to the Theme settings. Click the palette button found in the top right corner.
After, theme options should open up on the right. You’ll see the text options first.
From there, you can mess around with the different options and find what best fits your preferences.
Learn everything you can do with Google Forms
Italicizing text in Google Forms is as simple as that. If you’re looking to emphasize text or format the title of a work correctly, all you need to do is highlight the text and click “italicize.” Remember that this is only an option for the questions and descriptions on your form.If you work a lot with Google Forms, it can help to learn about some of the other features and functions of Google Forms. Luckily, all you need to know is on the Form Publisher blog. Check it out!