Timed exams in Google Forms without cheating loopholes

Running an exam in Google Forms is convenient until someone refreshes the page and gets a fresh clock. A browser-only timer is not enough for high-stakes assessments.

Use a real countdown

Form Timer shows a live countdown on the form and can auto-submit when time hits zero. Students see the same limit and cannot casually keep typing past the deadline.

Add availability windows

Pair the per-student countdown with start and end dates so the whole class opens and closes together.

Prefer server-backed limits on Pro

Pro anti-cheat validation makes it much harder to reset time by reopening tabs. Combine that with duration columns in Sheets when you need an audit trail after the test.