How to Easily Add reCAPTCHA v3 to Your WordPress Form

I’ve tried ALL the solutions for reducing and eliminating spam form entries. From security plugins with anti-spam features to reCAPTCHA, nothing seemed to work.

Then came reCAPTCHA v3. This invisible version of the tool never interrupts your users. When submitting a form, they won’t need to deal with a visual puzzle or confirmation question.

Our WordPress form builder allows you to install reCAPTCHA v3 on your WordPress form in three easy steps. Let’s get started!

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reCAPTCHA v3: How Does It Work?

Google reCAPTCHA v3 works behind the scenes by returning a score after every WordPress form submission. The scores are sent to the v3 Admin Console, where they can then be used to determine whether or not you need additional authentication for your site.

When a visitor makes a request, this tool scores it on a scale between 1 and 0. Scores closer to 1 reflect likely human activity, while scores closer to 0 reflect likely bot activity.

You can improve this tool’s efficiency and effectiveness by defining specific actions that help the reCAPTCHA understand what you consider typical behavior for a site user.

This version of the tool offers significant advantages, including:

• Invisibility to website visitors: Because this tool works in the background and doesn’t require interaction with visitors, it improves the user experience.
• Improved effectiveness: This version consistently monitors user activity to determine whether visitors are humans or bots.

Now that you understand how the tool works and why it’s beneficial, let’s discuss how to add it to your website.

How to Add reCAPTCHA to WordPress

For your WordPress contact form, a captcha can help reduce spam and improve website safety. Here’s how to add a captcha to a WordPress contact form.

Step 1. Retrieve the Google reCAPTCHA v3 Key and Secret

Navigate to the reCAPTCHA Google page and add your site URL by following these instructions:

1. Register a new site.
2. Add a Label. Ideally, this should be the name of your site.
3. From the reCAPTCHA Type drop-down, choose reCAPTCHA V3.
4. Add your Domain. This step will not work if your site is a development site, so make sure the website is live and public.
5. Access the reCAPTCHA terms of service.
6. Submit.
7. Copy the provided keys (site and secret) to your clipboard. Later, you will paste these credentials into Ninja Forms reCAPTCHA Settings.

Step 2. Add the Key and Secret to Your Ninja Forms Settings

Navigate to Ninja Forms > Settings > Advanced Settings and look for the section titled reCAPTCHA Settings. This is where you will paste in the key and secret you copied to your clipboard in step one.

Add the reCAPTCHA v3 Site Key and Secret Key credentials to their corresponding fields directly below the reCAPTCHA Language field.

Step 3. Enable the V3 reCAPTCHA Form Action

View your WordPress form by navigating to Ninja Forms > Dashboard and selecting your form. Open the Email and Actions tab in the form menu.

This is where you will add the Google v3 reCAPTCHA action to your WordPress form. To add the action, click on the plus sign in the lower right-hand side of the screen to open the action menu. Select the ReCAPTCHA v3 action and publish.

Advanced – Score Threshold

Under the Advanced drop-down within the reCAPTCHA v3 action is a score threshold. By default, this is set to Google’s standard of 0.5. To determine the score most appropriate for your form, reference the v3 Admin Console.

If It’s Invisible, How Do I Know It’s Working?

View your form on the front end and look for the Google reCAPTCHA v3 icon at the bottom-right of your page. This icon signifies that the tool is set up and ready to go.

If you don’t see this icon, ensure the reCAPTCHA v3 action has been added and that your credentials match the v3 credentials you created in step one.

Google has excellent resources to assist you, like its Google reCAPTCHA v3 Documentation and troubleshooting guides. Otherwise, our customer support team would be happy to help you if you are still unable to get up and running.

Adding Google reCAPTCHA v3 Wasn’t Hard at All!

If you’ve been looking for a contact form with a captcha for your WordPress website, rely on Ninja Forms and Google reCAPTCHA v3. Now that you know how to add it to your WordPress form, give it a try!

About Ninja Forms WordPress Form Builder

At Ninja Forms, you can access our core plugin for free. It comes with many fantastic features, including spam protection, calculations, and limitless submissions.

We realize that free features may not be sufficient, which is why we offer more than 40 additional integrations. Ninja Forms is uniquely modular among our competitors, allowing you to invest in individual add-ons for 1, 5, or 20 sites. If you need more add-ons, consider taking advantage of the Ninja membership plans to gain more integration discounts.

Are you ready to expand your horizons? Read our FAQs to find the answers to all your burning questions, or download our free plugin today.