File upload greyed out in Google Forms: causes and fixes
Updated 2026-10-17. Every fact links to its source; prices are as published on each vendor's page on that date.
Short answer: the File upload question type is unavailable when (1) the form lives in a shared drive or (2) your Workspace admin has turned on Data Loss Prevention (Google Help). Move the form to My Drive, or ask your admin. Separately, every uploader must sign in to a Google Account.
Cause 1: the form is in a shared drive
- Symptom when adding: the File upload option is greyed out (Stony Brook IT).
- Symptom after moving an existing form: editors see "Forms containing File Upload questions are not currently supported in shared drives. Please remove this form from the shared drive." and respondents see "no longer accepting responses" (Stony Brook IT).
- Google calls it a known issue (Workspace Learning Center).
Fix: in Drive, move the form to My Drive (or File → Make a copy into My Drive). Uploaded files then go to a new folder in the form owner's Drive (Google Help).
Cause 2: Data Loss Prevention is on
If your organization enables DLP, the question type is unavailable (Google Help). Only an admin can change that.
Cause 3: respondents can't upload (not greyed out for you)
- They aren't signed in to a Google Account: required for every upload (Google Help).
- They're trying to pick a file from a shared drive: not supported (Google Help).
- The file breaks your type, number or size limit. Check limits with the upload limits calculator.
- Errors like "Server rejected": see the server rejected guide.
If the form must stay in a shared drive
Keep the form for text answers and link to a separate upload page that writes into a Drive folder. A Drive folder can be in My Drive even when the form isn't. See upload-only options.
Related
FAQ
Why is File upload greyed out in Google Forms?
Usually because the form is stored in a shared drive; Google says you can't use the File upload question then. It's also unavailable when your administrator turns on Data Loss Prevention (Google Help).
How do I fix File upload greyed out in a shared drive?
Move the form (or make a copy) into your My Drive, then add the question. Stony Brook IT documents the same fix and the editor error 'Forms containing File Upload questions are not currently supported in shared drives' (Stony Brook IT).
My form moved to a shared drive and now says it's no longer accepting responses. Why?
Forms with File upload questions can't accept uploads from a shared drive; Google lists this as a known issue (Workspace Learning Center), and respondents see 'no longer accepting responses' (Stony Brook IT).
Can respondents outside my organization use the upload question?
Only if they sign in to a Google Account; file upload always needs sign-in (Google Help). If the form is restricted to your domain, outside people can't open it at all.