Checkboxes

Free feature

Checkboxes is available to all Fomr users.

The Checkboxes component allows respondents to select multiple options from a list. Unlike single-choice components, users can check as many options as apply to them, which works well for “select all that apply” questions.

A checkboxes component with multiple options

When to use Checkboxes

Checkboxes is ideal for:

• “Select all that apply” questions
• Interest or preference selection
• Feature or service selection
• Skills or qualifications lists
• Multiple category selection
• Any question where multiple answers are valid

Tip

For single selection where only one answer is allowed, use Multi Choice or Dropdown instead.

Adding a Checkboxes component

1. Open your form in the editor

2. Drag the Checkboxes component from the left sidebar onto your form

3. Click the component to select it and configure its settings

4. Add your options in the settings panel

Configuration options

Question label

The main question or prompt displayed above the checkbox options.

Tips for effective labels:

• Clearly indicate that multiple selections are allowed
• Use phrases like “Select all that apply” when appropriate
• Be specific about what you’re asking

Examples:

• “Which features are most important to you? (Select all that apply)”
• “What topics are you interested in?”
• “Which of the following apply to your situation?”

Supporting content

Add helper text, an example image, or a divider between the question’s title and its input: drag a Text, Image, or Divider component onto the question and drop it on the line that appears under the title. Supporting text comes with full formatting and answer piping. Learn more in Supporting content.

Options list

The list of choices available for selection. Each option appears with its own checkbox.

The options list being edited

To manage options:

• Click to add new options
• Drag to reorder options
• Click the delete icon to remove options
• Edit option text directly
• Paste multiple lines of text to add several options at once — each line becomes its own option, blank lines are skipped, and supported text formatting is preserved

Tips for options:

• Keep option text concise and clear
• Use parallel structure (all start with verbs, all are nouns, etc.)
• Order logically (alphabetically, by popularity, or by category)
• Turn on the “Other” option if the list might not be exhaustive

Random order

Toggle to display options in a random order each time the form is loaded.

When to use randomization:

• To prevent order bias in surveys
• When no logical ordering exists
• For research where response patterns matter

When NOT to use randomization:

• When options have a natural order (e.g., frequency: daily, weekly, monthly)
• When users expect a specific order
• For short lists where order doesn’t matter

Style

Show the options as checkboxes or as radio buttons. Set Style to Checkbox or Radio to match the look you want.

Layout style

By default, the question follows the option layout set for the whole form in the Design panel — see Option layout. Turn on Layout style to give this question a layout of its own:

Layout	Description
List	Full-width options stacked in a vertical list
Bordered	Compact outlined options that hug their text, stacked and left-aligned
Inline	Bordered options that flow side by side and wrap onto new lines — great for many short options

The Layout style setting enabled with the List, Bordered, and Inline options

The layouts change only how options are arranged:

• The checkbox or radio indicators from the Style setting appear in every layout
• The “Other” option works in every layout — in Inline, its text input appears as a full-width row below the options
• You can drag options to reorder them in every layout, including Inline

Save as form default applies this question’s layout to the whole form and turns the override off. Turning Layout style off returns the question to the form’s layout.

Colorful

Turn on Colorful to give each option its own color. Fomr derives ten distinct hues — the form’s option colors — from the theme’s primary color and hands them out by position: the first option gets the first hue, the second option the second, and so on. After ten options the sequence starts again from the first hue.

The Colorful setting enabled on a checkboxes question with the Bordered layout

How the colors show up:

• An unchecked option shows its hue on the checkbox or radio indicator from the Style setting. In the Bordered and Inline layouts the option’s outline takes the hue as well.
• A checked option fills its indicator with the hue and draws the checkmark in a contrasting color.
• The “Other” option is colored like any other option.

Colors belong to positions, not to specific options. With Random order on, the same option can appear in a different color for different respondents, and reordering options in the editor recolors them. Changing the theme’s primary color regenerates all ten hues, so recoloring a form is a single change in the Design panel.

Maximum options

Let respondents select just one option (One) or several (Multiple).

Required

Toggle whether at least one option must be selected before the form can be submitted.

When enabled:

• An asterisk (*) appears next to the question label
• Users must select at least one option to submit
• A validation message appears if no options are selected

”Other” option

Turn on “Other” option to let respondents give an answer that isn’t in your list. This adds an “Other” choice as the last option, alongside the options they can already check.

When a respondent selects it, a text input appears below the question where they type their answer. Typing an answer is required whenever “Other” is selected — to submit without one, they need to deselect it.

A checkboxes question with the "Other" option checked and the text input visible below the question

On the editor canvas you can:

• Edit the option’s label directly (the default is “Other”)
• Edit the text input’s placeholder inline (the default is “Type your answer”)
• Delete the option to turn the setting off

The “Other” choice always stays at the end of the list, even when Random order is on. It can also be preselected as a default value — respondents still type their answer before submitting.

Tips

• Indicate multiple selection is allowed — Add “(Select all that apply)” to your label so users know they can choose more than one.
• Keep the list manageable — If you have more than 7-10 options, consider using Multiselect for a more compact display.
• Use logical grouping — If options fall into categories, consider using multiple checkbox questions or adding visual separators.
• Include “Other” when appropriate — If your list might not cover all possibilities, turn on the “Other” option so respondents can type their own answer.
• Consider “None of the above” — For some questions, explicitly offering “None” as an option provides clearer data than no selection.
• Randomize for unbiased results — In surveys, randomizing option order helps prevent the first options from being selected more often.

Validation

When checkboxes are marked as required:

• At least one option must be selected
• A validation message appears if no options are checked
• The field is highlighted to draw attention

Validation error

Accessibility

The Checkboxes component is built with accessibility in mind:

• Each checkbox has a properly associated label
• Labels are clickable to toggle checkboxes
• Keyboard navigation between options (Tab, Space to toggle)
• Screen reader compatible with proper grouping
• Focus states are clearly visible

Handling responses

Checkbox responses in your form results:

• Show all selected options as a list
• Show the typed answer when the “Other” option was selected — in results, CSV exports, and Google Sheets
• Can be filtered by specific selections
• Are included in exports as comma-separated values
• Allow analysis of selection patterns and combinations