Set it, forget it, and stop worrying about form availability!

Let's say you have a booking form that you only want to be available during business hours, or you're hosting an event with a specific registration period and a limited number of available slots. 

The Form Availability settings in Zoho Forms put you in complete control so you can decide exactly when and how often your form can be accessed without constantly monitoring it. Set automated rules and conditions to manage when a form is open or closed. There's no need for manually enabling or disabling forms; just set it and forget it. Let's look at some real-time scenarios where this feature proves useful.

First come, first served: Event registrations with limited seats 

You're excited to host an exclusive cooking class with a popular celebrity chef, but only 50 lucky foodies can join. The moment registration opens, eager fans rush to sign up. 

Manually tracking registrations and shutting down the form at the right moment is a hassle and creates the risk of accidental overbooking! 

With Zoho Forms’ Submission Limits, you can automatically close the form once all 50 spots are taken, which ensures a fair first-come, first-served system. No last-minute chaos, no manual monitoring. Just a smooth, hassle-free way to reward the fastest food lovers! 

Add a Sold Out! message for late-comers with a teaser for the next class or a link for them to explore other upcoming opportunities.

Flash sale: Limited-time offers 

Your e-commerce business can thrive on urgency-driven campaigns. Special promotions work best when they are exclusive and time-bound. 

The clock is ticking, and your 24-hour flash sale is in full swing! Customers are rushing to grab the best deals before time runs out. But what if someone tries to place an order too early or worse, after the sale has ended? 

With Zoho Forms, your sale starts and stops right on time. No latecomers, no early birds, just perfect timing. Want to keep the hype going? Add a "Too late! But don’t worry, something big is coming soon!" message for those who missed out, teasing your next big deal.

Keep submissions on schedule with recurring monthly windows 

Some forms aren’t meant to be open all the time. Subscription renewals, bill payments, and contest entries often follow a fixed cycle. But remembering to enable and disable your form every month? That’s a headache you don’t need. 

With Zoho Forms, you can set your form to open only within a specific date range each month, for example, from the 1st to the 10th. Once the window closes, late submissions are automatically blocked to prevent off-cycle entries and keep your workflow organized.

Deadlines made easy: Automate assignments & course registrations 

Form availability settings can also help educators collect assignments or process course registrations on schedule. 

Universities and online learning platforms can set strict deadlines for assignments to ensure students submit their work only within the allowed timeframe. Similarly, course enrollment forms can open and close precisely on schedule to ensure all students follow the rules and procedures for registration. 

Restrict multiple submissions to ensure fairness and avoid confusion with a well-structured academic process!

Business hours only: Control form access with time-based availability 

Not all requests should come in at all hours. Clinics, restaurants, and government agencies often need to accept form submissions only during operating hours. But without restrictions, after-hours requests can pile up, leading to delays, miscommunication, and frustrated customers. 

With Zoho Forms, ensure your forms are accessible only during business hours; whether it’s 9 AM to 5 PM for appointments, evening hours for restaurant reservations, or shift-based access for internal teams. Once the set time passes, the form automatically closes to keep submissions aligned with your schedule. 

No more after-hours chaos!

Beyond time-based limits 

Sometimes, you need tight control over who can submit and how often. 

With Zoho Forms' Submission Restrictions, you can ensure fairness, prevent duplicate responses, and maintain data accuracy. 

Conducting an online giveaway? Prevent multiple entries from the same household or office by limiting submissions to one per IP address to ensure every participant gets a fair chance at winning. 

Need to approve internal team requests? Restrict entries to one per logged-in user as a way to keep workflows manageable. 

With Zoho Forms' Form Availability settings, you can streamline data collection, reduce manual work, and improve efficiency.