Subscribe on YouTube

What is Google reCAPTCHA?

Google reCAPTCHA is a program that judges whether a user is a human or a robot. You have probably seen some variation of reCAPTCHA.

CAPTCHAs are used by many websites to prevent abuse from 'bots', or automated programs usually written to generate spam. reCAPTCHA makes it hard for bots to submit your forms.

Formidable Forms offers one-click reCAPTCHA (v2), invisible reCAPTCHA, and score-based reCAPTCHA v3. When setting up reCAPTCHA for your site's forms, you will choose one of these types.

Set up reCAPTCHA

The simplest way to create a reCAPTCHA key is through the reCAPTCHA admin console. If you prefer to use the Google Cloud Console, follow the instructions for the Google Cloud site. To set up reCAPTCHA on your website, follow these steps.

Step 1: Generate reCAPTCHA keys

Select the appropriate type of reCAPTCHA key for your needs and generate the keys.

1. Create a free account for Google reCAPTCHA. Click the Get started button.
   

   

2. Register the site where you want to use reCAPTCHA. To identify your site, add a label, such as a nickname or the website's URL.
   

   

3. Set the reCAPTCHA type to either Score based (v3) or Challenge (v2). Only one type of reCAPTCHA is allowed per site. After you select Challenge (v2), Google shows its v2 options, such as 'I'm not a robot' Checkbox and Invisible reCAPTCHA badge.
   • Score based (v3): Uses reCAPTCHA v3 to verify requests with a score. Learn more about the reCAPTCHA threshold.
   • Challenge (v2) - 'I'm not a robot' Checkbox: Uses reCAPTCHA v2 to validate requests with the "I'm not a robot" checkbox.
   • Challenge (v2) - Invisible reCAPTCHA badge: Uses reCAPTCHA v2 to validate requests in the background with the Invisible reCAPTCHA badge.
   See reCAPTCHA site types for more details.
4. Enter the domain where you intend to use the reCAPTCHA. This includes both the main domain and any subdomains.
5. In the Google Cloud Platform section, the required Project Name is already filled in. Leave it as is or pick another project.
6. Click the Submit button to save your changes.
7. After setting it up, you will be redirected to the page where you can copy the site key and secret key for the site.
   

   

Step 2: Connect reCAPTCHA with your site

Add the generated reCAPTCHA keys into your Formidable settings to proceed with the integration.

1. Go to Formidable → Global Settings and click the Captcha/Spam tab.
   

   

2. Under Select captcha type, click reCAPTCHA.
3. In the reCAPTCHA settings section, paste your reCAPTCHA site key into the Site key box and your secret key into the Secret key box. If the section is collapsed because keys are already saved, click reCAPTCHA settings to open it.
4. Select the reCAPTCHA type. It must match the type that you selected when you generated the keys.
   • Checkbox (V2): for Challenge (v2) - 'I'm not a robot' Checkbox keys.
   • Invisible: for Challenge (v2) - Invisible reCAPTCHA badge keys.
   • v3: for Score based (v3) keys.
5. Set the default language for your reCAPTCHA in the reCAPTCHA language dropdown. It's set to Browser Default by default, so the reCAPTCHA appears in each visitor's browser language.
6. If you use multiple reCAPTCHA fields on one page, keep the Allow multiple reCAPTCHAs to be used on a single page option checked. It's checked by default.
7. Click Update to save your changes.
8. Add the Captcha field to each form you want to protect. The field shows the reCAPTCHA you set up. Follow the guide on adding CAPTCHA to WordPress forms.
   

   

   If the form has multiple pages, place the reCAPTCHA on the last page.

The reCAPTCHA settings section stays open until both keys are saved. After that, it's collapsed when you open the page. Click reCAPTCHA settings to view or change your keys.

reCAPTCHA v3

You can also protect your forms with Google reCAPTCHA v3. Instead of using the "I'm not a robot" checkbox or the invisible reCAPTCHA badge, reCAPTCHA v3 verifies requests with a score.

When you set the reCAPTCHA type to v3, a reCAPTCHA threshold field appears. Use it to set the lowest score a submission needs to pass.

• A score of 0.5 is the current default value. A score of 0 is likely to be a bot, and a score of 1 is likely not a bot.
• Setting a higher threshold will block more spam, but it may also block more real people. Setting a lower threshold will allow more bots and have fewer false positives. It will also stop fewer real users.
• The score value for each entry will be displayed in the entry details.
  

  

How to disable reCAPTCHA

If your form includes a reCAPTCHA and you want to turn it off, then delete the Captcha field from the form builder page. Delete the Captcha field on any form that includes a reCAPTCHA that you want to disable. You can also visit the Formidable → Global Settings → Captcha/Spam page and remove the reCAPTCHA keys.

Troubleshooting

Invisible reCAPTCHA is not invisible

If you are using Invisible reCAPTCHA and Google flags you as suspicious, it may display an image challenge after the submit button is clicked. This most likely happens when you submit your form multiple times from the same IP address. This is expected behavior for Invisible reCAPTCHA to ensure you are a human, and not a robot.

ReCAPTCHA was not entered correctly

When the form is submitted, you may see the message "The CAPTCHA was not entered correctly".

1. Your site keys may not be correct. First, reenter the reCAPTCHA site keys and make sure there are no tabs or spaces in them.
2. If your site uses SSL on some pages but not others, you may be getting a cross-site scripting error blocking the script. Try forcing the form pages to use SSL.
3. If you have another plugin loading a reCAPTCHA on the same page, they are likely conflicting. Disable other reCAPTCHA plugins.

The CAPTCHA on this form is not set up correctly. Please contact the site administrator.

This message means Google reported a problem with your reCAPTCHA settings rather than with the visitor's answer, such as a missing or invalid secret key. Reenter the reCAPTCHA site key and secret key, and make sure both keys come from the same site in your reCAPTCHA admin console.

ReCAPTCHA couldn't find user-provided function

This error can appear when another WordPress plugin loads the reCAPTCHA in a different way and includes the script on every page. We've specifically seen this with the 'Pie Register' plugin. Learn how to find a conflict in WordPress to prevent the reCAPTCHA from failing.

Google ReCAPTCHA in localhost

If you're working on a local site at localhost, the reCAPTCHA may show the message "Localhost is not in the list of supported domains for this site key." Google doesn't support localhost domains by default. To use reCAPTCHA on your local site, add localhost to the domains for your site key in the reCAPTCHA admin console. Google recommends a separate site key for development.

Cannot contact reCAPTCHA

When a page with a reCAPTCHA is loaded, you may see the error "Cannot contact reCAPTCHA. Check your connection and try again." One reason we have seen for this error is that the reCAPTCHA key is set to v2 but your forms are using invisible reCAPTCHA. Learn how to switch your keys to Invisible reCAPTCHA.

Checkbox reCAPTCHA is not showing

The reCAPTCHA relies on JavaScript to appear and validate. If nothing appears, this is a common sign of a JavaScript error on the page. You may also have another reCAPTCHA plugin installed that isn't playing nicely, like Google Captcha (reCAPTCHA) by BestWebSoft.

reCAPTCHA not working in Chrome

We have seen the reCAPTCHA fail in a certain browser. The cases we have seen ended up not being a browser issue, but related to page caching for logged out users. If the reCAPTCHA is working for you in one browser and not another, start by disabling any caching on your site.

Invalid domain for Site Key

If your reCAPTCHA shows the error ERROR for site owner: Invalid domain for site key, your site key is no longer valid.

Also, your website URL must match exactly what is included in the site key settings. Subdomains don't need to be added separately. Changes to the domains list may take up to 30 minutes to take effect.

Register a new key to resolve this issue. If you cannot resolve your issue, feel free to open a help desk ticket for further assistance.

Invalid key type

If your reCAPTCHA shows the ERROR for site owner: Invalid key type message, you are using an incorrect reCAPTCHA key type. For example, v3 keys are not compatible with v2 reCAPTCHA, and v2 keys are not compatible with Invisible reCAPTCHA. Key types are not interchangeable.

Make sure that your generated key type matches the reCAPTCHA type you have selected in Formidable → Global Settings → Captcha/Spam. If you cannot resolve your issue, feel free to open a help desk ticket for further assistance.

Invalid site key

If your reCAPTCHA shows the ERROR for site owner: Invalid site key message, your reCAPTCHA site key is incorrect or no longer valid.

Register a new key to resolve this issue. If you cannot resolve your issue, feel free to open a help desk ticket for further assistance.

reCAPTCHA badge showing

To comply with the Google terms, include the reCAPTCHA badge on the page. To hide this, you can add the custom CSS below on your Formidable → Global Settings → Custom CSS page. Learn more about the Custom CSS settings.

.frm_form_field .grecaptcha-badge {
  visibility: hidden;
}

Google reCAPTCHA verification failed

When the login form is submitted, you may see this error message. If you have another reCAPTCHA plugin, such as Simple Google reCAPTCHA or reCAPTCHA Lite, they are likely conflicting.

The captcha is missing from this form

This message appears when a form is submitted without a reCAPTCHA response. If the "I'm not a robot" checkbox is visible, check it and submit the form again. If no reCAPTCHA appears on the form, there is a JavaScript error on your page, or your theme is missing the wp_footer hook.

Related developer hooks

• Change the reCAPTCHA language with the frm_recaptcha_lang hook.
• Change the message shown when a captcha fails with the frm_captcha_error_message hook.
• Run your own code when a captcha fails with the frm_captcha_validation_failed hook.