How to collect files from people who don't have a Google account
Google Forms only takes files from people signed in to Google. Here are the ways to collect files from everyone else, what each costs, and setups for schools, hiring, events and client work.
Why Google Forms can't do this on its own
Google Forms has a File upload question, but anyone answering it must be signed in to a Google account. A Google account doesn't have to be Gmail; it can be made with any email address. Still, asking a parent, a job applicant or a customer to create one for a single form is where many of them stop. People on school or work accounts have a second problem: their organization may block uploads to forms outside it. The details are in Google Forms file upload not working.
Free ways to collect files without an account
Ask people to email the file. No setup, but attachments are limited (most email services stop at 20 to 25 MB), the files aren't next to their form answers, and you'll be saving attachments by hand.
Ask for a link
Replace the upload with a Short answer question asking for a link to the file in Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive. It's free and keeps the answer in your responses, but many people don't know how to make a shareable link, and links set to private are common.
Dropbox file requests
Dropbox lets you create a file request link; people upload to it without a Dropbox account. The files land in your Dropbox rather than Google Drive, and they aren't connected to anyone's form answers, so you match them up yourself. It works well when you only need the files.
Keeping the Google Form: Formfile
If you want the files to arrive with the rest of each response, Formfile adds upload buttons that need no account to the Google Form you already have. Files go to a folder in your Google Drive, and the response in Google Forms (and your linked Sheet) gets a link to each file. Free for 25 files a month; Pro is $8 a month.
Setups that work, by situation
Teachers and schools
Parents rarely have a Google account they're willing to use for a school form, and students signed in to a school account often can't upload to a form owned by another school or a personal account. With Formfile, neither group signs in. Ask for the student's name in a required question, set the upload to accept PDFs and images, and allow up to 10 files so a phone photo of each page works. Share the link in Classroom, email or your school website in place of the Google one.
Job applications and HR
A sign-in screen in the middle of an application is where candidates drop off. Ask for a resume as one file and a portfolio or cover letter as another question, limited to documents and PDFs. Collect the applicant's email with a normal question (not Google's "Verified" setting, which needs a sign-in). Each applicant's files arrive in your Drive folder and link from their row in the responses Sheet, so you can review in one place.
Events, contests and registrations
Photo contests, speaker submissions and event registrations mostly happen on phones. Formfile's upload button opens the camera or photo library, and you can limit the question to images or video. Pro allows files up to 250 MB, enough for short phone videos; for long or 4K recordings, Google's own upload question (up to 10 GB) or a link is a better fit.
Clients and customers
Intake forms for accountants, photographers, print shops and repair services often need a document or a photo from someone who has never heard of Google Forms. Embed the form on your website with Formfile's embed code, so customers upload from your own page.
What you give up
Without a sign-in you don't get Google's record of which account sent a file. Ask for the name and email you need as normal questions. Formfile also needs the File upload question swapped for a Short answer question, and you share Formfile's link instead of Google's. Everything else about the form stays in Google Forms. The setup guide walks through it.
Common questions
Can someone without a Gmail address upload to a Google Form?
Only if they have a Google account. A Google account can use any email address, not just Gmail, but they still have to create one and sign in. People who won't do that can't use the File upload question.
Is it safe to accept files from people without an account?
You can't verify who sent a file without an account, so ask for a name and email in the form. Formfile refuses programs and scripts, rate-limits uploads, and saves files to your Drive, where Google scans downloads for viruses.
Can respondents upload from a phone?
Yes. Formfile's upload button works in any phone browser, and on most phones it offers the camera as well as the photo library and files.