How do I get a CSV from Google Forms?

You have two options. The quickest way is to open your Google Form, go to the Responses tab, click the three-dot menu, and select "Download responses (.csv)." Alternatively, open the linked Google Sheet and go to File > Download > Comma Separated Values (.csv). Both methods give you a CSV file you can upload to HackHQ.

What if my form has different column names?

Google Forms uses your question text as column headers (e.g., "What is your full name?" instead of just "Name"). During the mapping step in HackHQ, you can manually assign any column to the correct field regardless of the header name.

Will importing overwrite existing participants?

No. HackHQ detects duplicates by email address. If a participant already exists in your event, they will be skipped during import. You will see a summary of how many were imported and how many were skipped before confirming.

Can I import from multiple Google Forms?

Yes. You can run the import process multiple times. Each import checks for duplicates by email, so respondents who submitted multiple forms will only be added once.

What if my form does not have an email field?

HackHQ requires an email column for participant import. If your Google Form does not collect emails, you can enable "Collect email addresses" in the form settings for future responses, or manually add an email column to the spreadsheet before exporting.

Can I keep using Google Forms for registration and import later?

Yes. Many organizers use Google Forms because it is free and familiar. You can keep collecting responses there and import participants into HackHQ whenever you are ready to set up submissions, judging, and results.

100% Free

Import Google Forms Responses
into HackHQ

Using Google Forms for hackathon registration? Export your responses as a CSV and import participants into HackHQ in minutes. Completely free.

Works with Any Google Form

Google Forms and Google Sheets are completely free. Export your responses as a CSV from Sheets and upload to HackHQ - no paid tools or API integrations required.

How to Import in 5 Steps

Open responses in Google Sheets

Your Google Form responses are linked to a Google Sheets spreadsheet. Open it to access the raw data.

Open your Google Form
Click the Responses tab
Click the Link to Sheets button to open the responses spreadsheet

If you haven't linked your form to Sheets yet, clicking Link to Sheets will create one automatically with all existing responses. You can also skip Sheets entirely and download a CSV directly from the Responses tab using the three-dot menu > "Download responses (.csv)".

Download as CSV

Download the spreadsheet as a CSV file from Google Sheets.

In Google Sheets, go to File > Download
Select Comma Separated Values (.csv)
Save the file to your computer

Make sure your form collects email addresses. In Google Forms, go to Settings > Responses and enable "Collect email addresses" if it is not already on.

Create your event on HackHQ

If you haven't already, create your hackathon event on HackHQ. Set up your event details, schedule, judging criteria, and submission requirements.

Takes about 30 minutes to configure everything

You can import participants at any point - before or after event setup

Upload and map columns

Upload the CSV to HackHQ and map your form questions to participant fields.

Open your event's Manage > Participants page
Click Import
Drag and drop your CSV file or click to browse
Map columns like "What is your full name?" to the Full Name field

Google Forms uses your question text as column headers. HackHQ will try to auto-detect standard fields, but you may need to map custom questions manually.

Confirm and start your hackathon

Review the import summary and confirm. Your Google Forms respondents are now HackHQ participants, ready for submissions, judging, and live results.

Once imported, participants can submit projects and your judges can score them - all from one platform with transparent live results.

Google Forms to HackHQ Field Mapping

Google Forms uses your question text as column headers. Here is how common registration fields map to HackHQ. All columns can be mapped manually during the import step.

Google Forms Column	HackHQ Field	Notes
Full Name (or First/Last)	Full Name	Auto-detected if column header contains "name"
Email Address	Email	Auto-detected, used for deduplication
Timestamp	Registration Date	Preserves original response date
Custom Questions	Custom Fields	Mapped manually during import

Frequently Asked Questions

Ready to Import Your Google Forms Responses?

Create your event, upload the CSV, and focus on what matters - mentorship, community, and innovation. Not spreadsheets.

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Import Google Forms Responsesinto HackHQ