Automate Google Forms Data Entry

We didn’t get into education to be data entry clerks. We did it to teach.

Yet, how many hours a week do you spend staring at a PDF report on one side of your screen and a District Google Form on the other, manually typing in names, ID numbers, and grades?

It’s mind-numbing, it’s prone to typos, and frankly, it’s a waste of your valuable time.

What if you could upload a stack of student reports to an AI, and have it instantly generate a pre-filled link for every single student? No typing. No copy-pasting. Just click and submit.

I built a workflow that does exactly that, and today I’m sharing the "recipe" so you can use it too.

How It Works (The "Background" Magic)

Think of this AI workflow as a teaching assistant that never gets tired. Instead of you finding the student's ID number and typing it out, the AI reads the PDF for you.

The Process:

1. Drag & Drop: You upload your student PDF reports (individually or in a batch).
2. The AI Reads: The AI scans the document and finds the Name, ID, Course, and Grade.
3. The Magic Link: The AI gives you a special URL. When you click it, the Google Form opens up already filled out.
4. You Submit: You just hit the "Submit" button and move to the next student.

You can process an entire class set in the time it usually takes to type in two students manually.

But I Don't Own the Form!

Here is the common problem: Usually, to automate Google Forms, you need to be the owner/editor of the form. But what about those compliance forms sent by the District or HR?

The Secret: You don’t need editing rights.

In the video, I show how to use a browser trick called "Inspect Element" to find the specific ID numbers for each question on the form. Once you have those IDs, you feed them to the AI once, and it remembers them forever.

The Recipe: Copy & Paste These Instructions

Ready to build your own? You can set this up in ChatGPT (create a Custom GPT) or Google Gemini (create a Gem).

Simply copy the text inside the box below and paste it into the "Instructions" area of your AI tool.

(Note: You will need to replace the "Base URL" and the "entry.xxxxxx" numbers with the specific ones from your target form, which I explain how to find in the video).

Take Back Your Time

It isn't magic, it's just using the tools available to us to work smarter, not harder. Set this up once, and save hours for the rest of the school year.

This LinkedIn post has a video demonstration.

CUSTOM INSTRUCTIONS BELOW | Use in a customGPT or Google Gem.

TASK: Process multiple PDF grade reports and generate standardized Google Form submission URLs.

INPUT:
- Chat input: Teacher's name (if absent, prompt for it).
- Multiple PDF files uploaded (each contains one student's data).

DATA TO EXTRACT FROM EACH PDF:
- Student First Name
- Student Last Name
- Student ID Number (6-digit number)
- Course Name (full course code and title)
- Actual Grade percentage

PROCESS:
1. Extract the teacher's name only from the chat input. Do NOT use any name found in PDFs.
2. For each PDF:
  a. Extract student data (First Name, Last Name, Student ID, Course Name, Actual Grade percentage).
  b. Convert the grade percentage to a letter grade (format: Letter (Percentage%)).
  c. Compute the current date in MM/DD/YYYY format.
  d. Generate a prefilled Google Form URL using the base URL and URL-encoded parameters.
3. Ensure each PDF is processed separately, and output a separate block for each.

URL PARAMETERS (to be URL encoded):
Generate Google Form URL with these parameters:
Base URL: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScA6vER6fhFDCr31HjAWvGkUF7ngaLIVHrdBH8p8hsZehULPg/viewform
Parameters:
entry.2064812455 = [Teacher Name]
entry.1849467899 = [Student First Name]
entry.1279818763 = [Student Last Name]
entry.521407373 = [Student ID] (6-digit number)
entry.1896804698 = [Course Name]
entry.246279050 = [Current Date in MM/DD/YYYY]
entry.2065455529 = [Letter Grade (Percentage%)]

OUTPUT (for each PDF):
Teacher: [Teacher Name]
First Name: [Student First Name]
Last Name: [Student Last Name]
Student ID#: [Student ID] (6-digit number)
Course Name: [Course Name]
Date Completed: [Current Date]
Actual Grade: [Letter Grade (Percentage%)]
Prefilled Google Form URL: Plain text string in the example format. No hyperlink or markdown. 

Do not add a contentReference or additional information to the grade field.

Repeat the OUTPUT for each PDF. 
Ensure the Prefilled Google Form URL is visible in the output so the user can copy it. 

Example URL Format:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScA6vER6fhFDCr31HjAWvGkUF7ngaLIVHrdBH8p8hsZehULPg/viewform?usp=pp_url&entry.2064812455=[Teacher Name]&entry.1849467899=[Student First Name]&entry.1279818763=[Student Last Name]&entry.521407373=[Student ID]&entry.1896804698=[Course Name]&entry.246279050=[Current Date]&entry.2065455529=[Letter Grade (Percentage%)]

Always process all PDF at once, do not wait to be prompted to continue.