Google Docs Table Parsing

“Form Builder” is a Google Workspace add-on that streamlines the creation of Google Forms and Quizzes. It allows users to import content from Google Forms, Docs, Slides, Sheets, Drive, Gmail, and Calendar to quickly build forms and assessments.

One of the most powerful improvements in Form Builder is the Google Docs Table Parsing feature. This feature helps users convert structured tables inside Google Docs into well-formatted quiz questions and form fields with greater accuracy and flexibility.

What is Google Docs Table Parsing?

Table Parsing is a feature that allows Form Builder to intelligently read and parse tables inside Google Docs. Instead of simply extracting plain text, it understands the structure of rows and columns and maps them into form elements such as:

Questions
Question types
Multiple choice options
Correct answers
Points
Feedback

This makes it much easier to create quizzes and forms from pre-structured documents.

How It Works?

Using Google Docs Table Parsing in Form Builder is simple and flexible.

1. Open a Google Docs File

The Google Docs Table Parsing feature is available in Form Builder, Form Builder Plus, and Form Builder for Docs variants.

To get started, open the add-on or select Google Docs in the Forms variants.

2. Extract Content from Google Docs

Form Builder will automatically read and extract the document content, including:

Text
Headings
Lists
Tables

If the selected Google Docs file contains tables, Form Builder will automatically detect them. When table content is detected, it displays the Detect Table Content screen for table configuration and parsing setup.

3. Detect and Configure Table Content

If the document contains tables, Form Builder will automatically detect them and display the Table Configuration screen.

In the configuration screen, you can choose how the table should be parsed by mapping columns such as:

Question
Question Type
Options
Correct Answer
Points
Feedback

This helps Form Builder generate more accurate and structured quiz questions from table-based content.

If multiple tables are detected in the document, you can:

Configure each table individually, or
Configure the first table and use the Apply All option to apply the same configuration to all detected tables

When using Apply All, Form Builder uses the first table configuration as the default configuration for all other tables.

You can also enable the First Row Contains Headers option. When enabled, Form Builder treats the first row as table headers and automatically removes the header row from parsing. This improves parsing accuracy and creates cleaner quiz imports.

If you do not want to configure the table manually, you can simply skip the configuration step. Form Builder will continue parsing the document using the default parsing behavior.