Blog · October 21, 2026

Choice Eliminator not working? Causes and fixes

Choice Eliminator Lite has more than 9 million installs, so when it misbehaves, a lot of sign-up sheets break at once. Its Marketplace reviews show the same few problems again and again. Here's what causes each one and how to fix it.

First, what the add-on says about itself

Choice Eliminator Lite's own Marketplace listing says it is "designed for light use only, and may be unreliable" when several people fill in the form at the same time. It recommends dropdown questions instead of multiple choice for better reliability.

So if your form gets a rush of responses, say right after you email 200 parents, some double bookings come with the tool. That's not something you can configure away.

Problem: Configure is missing from the menu

Several reviewers report opening the add-on and finding only Help, with no Configure option. Two causes are common:

• The add-on hadn't finished loading. Google sometimes loads add-on menus slowly. Refresh the form editor, wait 30 seconds to a minute, then open the Add-ons menu (puzzle icon) again. Form Choice Limiter's listing gives the same advice for its own menu.
• You're signed into more than one Google account. Apps Script add-ons often run as the default account in the browser, not the one you're editing with. Sign out of the other accounts, or open an incognito window and sign in only with the account that installed the add-on. One reviewer put it simply: don't be logged into multiple accounts or it will fail.

Problem: choices aren't removed

A reviewer in October 2025 wrote that it worked once, then kept failing to register, and people picked options that should have been removed. Things to check, in order:

1. Is the add-on set up on this copy of the form? Open the add-on in that form and check the question's settings. If you made the form by copying last year's, the background triggers that react to new responses don't come with the copy, so set it up again.
2. Did you rename a choice? Several choice limiters count picks by the choice text. Form Choice Limiter's listing says plainly that changing an option label resets its limit. If you fixed a typo in "Tueday 3pm", the old responses no longer count toward the new label.
3. Are people submitting at the same time? Look at the timestamps of the double bookings in the responses sheet. If they're seconds apart, it's the simultaneous-submit issue above. Every add-on that uses the normal Google Forms link has it, ours included. It's just much rarer when the add-on removes the choice within seconds of each response.
4. Is it a multiple choice question? Try a dropdown, as the listing suggests.
5. Is the add-on still allowed to run? If you removed its access in your Google Account settings, its background trigger stops. Open the add-on once in the form so it can ask for permission again.

Problem: I can't set how many times a choice can be picked

Reviewers in 2022 reported that Lite no longer let them set a limit per time slot, only one pick each. One band director who used it for years to sign students up for lessons couldn't allow several students per slot anymore. That feature lived in Choice Eliminator 2.

If you need a different number per choice (12 seats for one workshop, 30 for another), you need a different add-on. Most current choice limiters support it.

Problem: Choice Eliminator 2 disappeared

Choice Eliminator 2 is no longer in the Marketplace, and searching for it brings up Lite instead. Forms that relied on it stop removing choices. You can't reinstall it. Moving the form to another add-on is the only fix. Our Choice Eliminator 2 alternative guide covers that move step by step.

Quick fix checklist

• Use one Google account in the browser, or an incognito window.
• Refresh the form editor and wait up to a minute before opening the add-on.
• Reopen the add-on in the form and check the question is still set up.
• Don't rename choices after responses come in, or re-enter the limit afterwards.
• Switch the question to a dropdown.
• Check double bookings' timestamps to see if they came in together.

If it keeps failing, switch

If your sign-up matters, a tool that warns its own users about reliability is a risk. There are several alternatives, and we compare them honestly in choice eliminator add-ons compared and on our Choice Eliminator Lite alternative page.

We make one of them, Audeza Choice Sync. Here's how it differs from Lite:

• Limits per choice from a sheet. Each choice can be picked once by default, or you set a limit per row in a column next to the choices.
• It recounts from the responses every time. It syncs after every response, every hour, and when you click Sync now. A deleted response frees its slot at the next sync.
• It tells you when it fails. If a sync breaks, the question keeps its current choices, the sidebar says why in plain words, and you get an email from alerts@audeza.com, at most once per question and error a day. A run log shows every sync.
• Narrow permissions. It opens only the spreadsheet you pick in Google's file picker. Lite's listing asks for all your Google Drive files, all your spreadsheets and permission to send email as you.
• Free for 3 linked questions per form. Every feature included. Pro removes the limit for $49 a year.

It shares one limit with Lite: Google Forms can't hold a choice while someone answers, so two people submitting in the same second can both get the last spot.

Choice Eliminator Lite is a product of Accemy & SW gApps. Quotes and details come from its Google Workspace Marketplace listing and public reviews, checked November 1, 2026. Audeza isn't affiliated with Accemy.

Questions

Why is Configure missing from the Choice Eliminator menu?

Usually the add-on hasn't finished loading or you're signed into several Google accounts. Refresh, wait up to a minute, and try again in an incognito window signed into one account.

Where did Choice Eliminator 2 go?

It's no longer in the Google Workspace Marketplace. Forms that used it need another add-on. Our Choice Eliminator 2 guide moves a form over and keeps the places already taken.

Can any add-on stop two people from taking the last spot?

Not with the normal Google Forms link. The form doesn't reserve a choice while someone is answering, so two people who submit at the same moment can both get it. Some add-ons avoid this by sending respondents to their own custom form page instead.