--- title: One-at-a-time Mode Overview | Paperform Help Center | Paperform description: One-at-a-time Mode lets you create forms that display one question at a time, making your forms more conversational and giving users a closely guided experience. url: "https://paperform.co/help/articles/one-at-a-time-mode" type: static generatedAt: "2026-04-04T00:42:03.204Z" --- One-at-a-time Mode Overview ![(iframe)](https://www.youtube.com/embed/Dy0Zoj7wBcU?rel=0) ## Introduction One-at-a-time (previously Guided) Mode lets you create forms and surveys that display one question at a time, making your forms more conversational and giving submitters a more closely guided experience. Many question types will automatically advance to the next page once an answer is selected. ## How it works ### Switching to One-at-a-time Mode To enable One-at-a-time Mode, click on "One-at-a-time" under **Theme & Appearance → Form Experience.** Theme & Appearance is located in the upper left-hand corner of the form editor. *Note: Theme & Appearance will display once a question is added to the form.* ![One-at-a-time Mode can be selected in the Form Experience settings in the Theme editor.](https://img.paperform.co/fetch/f_auto,w_1400/https://d3gw2uv1ch7vdq.cloudfront.net/img/guided-mode.png) ### Pagination When one-at-a-time mode is enabled, pagination works and appears slightly differently from the standard form experience. You can alter the below elements under **Theme & Appearance** **→ UI Elements → Pagination Buttons** ### Back button Toggle **include a back button** to allow users to easily go backward in a form. Users may also use `Shift + Tab` to go back with or without a back button. ### Progress bar Toggle **include progress bar** to enable a modern, unobtrusive progress bar displayed as a thin, colored line at the top of the page. ### Page numbers Toggle **include page numbers** to include the current page and overall number of pages in the form of `x / y` in the upper right-hand corner of the form. ### Submit Button This can be found under **Theme & Appearance** **→ UI Elements → Submit Button** - **Button Text** - Change the text displayed on the Submit Button. This is set to "Submit" by default. - **Shows the total price** - Toggle whether the form's total price is shown on the Submit Button. This is enabled by default. ### Other Content Content such as text, images, and videos that are part of your form but not part of your question fields will be displayed on the same page as the next question that follows it. You can [add page breaks](https://paperform.co/help/articles/page-breaks-and-section-breaks/) if you want to keep this content on a separate page or break it across several pages. ### Example of all pagination options enabled for one-at-a-time mode ![Pagination options in action](https://img.paperform.co/fetch/f_auto,w_1400/https://d3gw2uv1ch7vdq.cloudfront.net/img/pagination_guided.gif) Pagination options in action ## Advancing Questions ### Navigation Submitters can navigate between pages using the pagination buttons. You cannot advance past a question that is marked as required. One-at-a-time Mode has a couple of additional methods of navigating between pages: - Enter/Return to go to the next page. - Tab/Shift + Tab to change between pages. - Scroll/swipe up and down to change between pages. Several field types will auto-advance to the next question when Guided Mode is enabled, while others require specific settings to auto-advance. Fields based on a text input or more complex interactions will not auto-advance. Check out the list below for a breakdown of behavior by field type. ### Auto-advance - **Yes/No** - Yes/No fields auto-advance. - **Country** - Country fields auto-advance. - **Appointment** - Appointment fields auto-advance. - **Scale** - Scale fields auto-advance. - **Rating** - Rating fields auto-advance. - **Signature** - Signature fields auto-advance once confirmed. ### Auto-advance with specific settings - **Date** - Date fields auto-advance when "Type of date input" is set to "Calendar." - **Multiple Choice** - Multiple choice fields auto-advance when "Include an "Other" option to specify another answer" and "Can choose more than one answer" are disabled. Terms and Conditions and Checkbox questions require "Can choose more than one answer" to be toggled on and won't auto-advance. - **Dropdown** - Dropdown fields auto-advance when "Include an "Other" option to specify another answer" and "Can choose more than one answer" are disabled. - **Image Upload** - Image Upload fields auto-advance when "Can upload multiple files" is disabled. - **File Upload** - File Upload fields auto-advance when "Can upload multiple files" is disabled. - **Products** - Product fields auto-advance when "Can buy more than one product" is disabled. - **Subscriptions** - Subscription fields auto-advance when "Can choose more than one subscription" is disabled. - **Calculation** - Calculation fields are hidden from the submitter when "Hide this question" is enabled. ### No auto-advance - **Text** - Text fields do not auto-advance. - **Email** - Email fields do not auto-advance. - **URL** - URL fields do not auto-advance. - **Color Picker** - Color Picker fields do not auto-advance. - **Number** - Number fields do not auto-advance. - **Phone Number** - Phone Number fields do not auto-advance. - **Address** - Address fields do not auto-advance. - **Time** - Time fields do not auto-advance. - **Slider** - Slider fields do not auto-advance. - **Rank** - Rank fields do not auto-advance. - **Price** - Price fields do not auto-advance. - **Matrix** - Matrix fields do not auto-advance. ## Gotchas - [Questions with default answers](https://paperform.co/help/articles/can-i-select-a-default-answer-for-my-form/) do not auto-advance if the submitter selects the default answer. - When the "Include a back button" setting is toggled off, submitters can still return to previous questions on your form by scrolling up or with the Shift + Tab keys. - You cannot display [two questions side by side](https://paperform.co/help/articles/questions-side-by-side/) when One-at-a-time Mode is enabled. - Other content entered directly onto the form (e.g. text, videos, images) display on their own page, even if you place them right after a question and before a break. This is because each question in one-at-a-time mode always displays on its own page with no other content. - Text, images, and videos may all display together on the same page. ## Example Templates ### Consulting Lead Generation Form Template [View template](https://paperform.co/templates/consulting-lead-generation-form/) **All plans** This simple form is designed to collect contact details intuitively and conversationally for lead generation and sales. **How it works:** 1. This form displays one question at a time and takes advantage of auto-advancing in One-at-a-time Mode by using [Multiple Choice questions with images](https://paperform.co/help/articles/can-multiple-choice-options-have-images/). ### Movie Quiz Template [View template](https://paperform.co/templates/movie-quiz/) **All plans** This quiz template tracks scoring, provides answer feedback and uses visibility logic based on the submitter's score. **How it works:** 1. This form has 15 questions, presented one at a time. Using our [Scoring feature](https://paperform.co/help/articles/how-to-setup-scoring/), each correct answer adds 1 point to the total score. 1. The form is split into rounds, after which the correct answers are displayed using Multiple Choice questions with [default answers](https://paperform.co/help/articles/can-i-select-a-default-answer-for-my-form/) and the cumulative score. 1. A different page is displayed based on the score using page visibility logic. ### Driving Lesson Appointment Form Template [View template](https://paperform.co/templates/driving-lesson-appointment-form/) **All plans** This template helps to streamline the process of collecting appointments from clients and taking payments. When the Appointment Field is connected to a Google Calendar, you can automatically block off dates as they're booked. **How it works:** 1. Submitters are presented with one question at a time. 1. This template contains [page visibility logic](https://paperform.co/help/articles/logic-guide/#page-visibility-logic). If the submitter indicates they are a new student, they are prompted to enter their address, license number, transmission preference and agree to the terms and conditions. This page is hidden if they are an existing student. 1. This form also contains an [Appointment Field](https://paperform.co/help/articles/appointments-guide/), which can be connected to Google Calendar to set availability and automatically block off dates as they're booked. 1. Submitters are then presented with a [Price Field](https://paperform.co/help/articles/price-field/), which can be [connected to a payment account](https://paperform.co/help/articles/how-do-i-add-or-manage-my-payment-account-so-i-can-take-payments/) to accept payments directly from your form. ### Related Articles [Can I style the submit button for the "One-at-a-time" form experience? When using Paperform's "One-at-a-time" form experience (previously Guided Mode), the Submit Button options slightly differ from the "Classic" form experience. The available options can be found under Theme & Appearance → UI Elements → Submit Button.](/help/articles/can-i-style-the-submit-button-on-guided-mode/) [Can I have logic applied to my questions while I have one-at-a-time mode turned on? You can apply logic to questions as well as page break logic while having guided mode turned on.](/help/articles/can-i-have-logic-applied-to-my-questions-while-i-have-guided-mode-turned-on/) [Can I change the style of my pagination buttons? You can change the styling of your form's pagination buttons under Theme & Appearance → UI Elements → Pagination Buttons.](/help/articles/can-i-change-the-style-of-my-pagination-buttons/) [Can I add a progress bar to my form? You can add a progress bar in Theme → UI Elements → Pagination Buttons → Pagination Style, and choose Progress Bar.](/help/articles/progress-bar/)