onFormSubmit Trigger – Apps Script

The onFormSubmit(e) trigger fires automatically whenever a Google Form is submitted. Combined with a Google Sheet that collects form responses, it lets you process new submissions in real time — sending confirmations, updating records, notifying team members, or routing data.

Setting Up the Trigger

The simple onFormSubmit function works for spreadsheet-bound forms. For full permissions (email, Drive), use an installable trigger:

// Run once to install the trigger
function createFormSubmitTrigger() {
  var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
  ScriptApp.newTrigger("onNewDealSubmitted")
    .forSpreadsheet(ss)
    .onFormSubmit()
    .create();

  Logger.log("Form submit trigger installed.");
}

The Event Object

When a form is submitted, e contains:

function onNewDealSubmitted(e) {
  Logger.log("Named values: " + JSON.stringify(e.namedValues));
  Logger.log("Range: " + e.range.getA1Notation());
  // e.namedValues maps question titles to arrays of answers
}

Processing a New Lead Submission

Suppose Acme Corp uses a Google Form to log new leads. The form has fields: Customer Name, Email, Product, Amount, Region. When submitted, this trigger adds the entry to the Sales Tracker and sends a notification:

function onNewDealSubmitted(e) {
  var values = e.namedValues;

  var customerName = values["Customer Name"][0];
  var email = values["Email"][0];
  var product = values["Product"][0];
  var amount = parseFloat(values["Amount"][0]) || 0;
  var region = values["Region"][0];

  // Assign a sales rep based on region
  var repAssignments = {
    "North": "Alex Martinez",
    "East": "Jordan Lee",
    "South": "Sam Rivera",
    "West": "Sam Rivera"
  };
  var salesRep = repAssignments[region] || "Unassigned";

  // Add to Sales Tracker sheet
  var sheet = SpreadsheetApp
    .getActiveSpreadsheet()
    .getSheetByName("Sales Tracker");

  sheet.appendRow([
    customerName,
    email,
    product,
    amount,
    region,
    salesRep,
    "In Progress",
    new Date()
  ]);

  // Notify the assigned sales rep
  var repEmails = {
    "Alex Martinez": "[email protected]",
    "Jordan Lee": "[email protected]",
    "Sam Rivera": "[email protected]"
  };

  var repEmail = repEmails[salesRep];
  if (repEmail) {
    GmailApp.sendEmail(
      repEmail,
      "New Lead Assigned: " + customerName,
      "Hi " + salesRep + ",\n\nA new lead has been assigned to you:\n\n"
        + "Customer: " + customerName + "\n"
        + "Email: " + email + "\n"
        + "Product Interest: " + product + "\n"
        + "Region: " + region + "\n\n"
        + "Log in to the Sales Tracker to follow up."
    );
    Logger.log("Lead assigned to " + salesRep);
  }
}

Sending a Confirmation to the Customer

After the new lead is logged, send an automatic acknowledgment to the customer:

function sendConfirmationEmail(customerName, email, product) {
  var firstName = customerName.split(" ")[0];
  var htmlBody = `
    <p>Hi ${firstName},</p>
    <p>Thank you for your interest in the <strong>${product}</strong> from Acme Corp.</p>
    <p>One of our team members will be in touch within 24 hours.</p>
    <br>
    <p>Best regards,<br>The Acme Corp Sales Team</p>
  `;

  GmailApp.sendEmail(
    email,
    "We received your inquiry – Acme Corp",
    "Thank you for your interest in " + product + ". We'll be in touch shortly.",
    { htmlBody: htmlBody }
  );
}

Call this from within onNewDealSubmitted():

sendConfirmationEmail(customerName, email, product);

Accessing Submitted Data by Column Index

If you prefer column positions over named values:

function onNewDealSubmitted(e) {
  var row = e.range.getValues()[0];
  // Column order matches your form response sheet
  var timestamp = row[0];
  var customerName = row[1];
  var email = row[2];
  var product = row[3];

  Logger.log("New submission: " + customerName + " – " + product);
}