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Want to add a check box or tick box to a list or form in Microsoft Word? It’s easy to do, and you can even make it checkable so you can click the box with your mouse. We’ll show you an easy way to add a clickable checkbox using Developer Mode in Microsoft Word.
Steps
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1
Open a new file in Microsoft Word. Do so by opening the app shaped like a blue W. Then click on File in the menu bar at the top of the screen, and click on New Blank Document.
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Click on File in the menu bar and then Options in the menu.
- On Mac, click on Word in the menu bar and then Preferences… in the menu.
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3
Click on Customize Ribbon and then Main Tabs in the «Customize the Ribbon:» drop-down menu.»[1]
- On Mac, click on Ribbon & Toolbar in the «Authoring and Proofing Tools» section of the dialog box, then click on the Ribbon tab at the top of the dialog box.
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Check «Developer» in the «Main Tabs» pane.
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Click on Ok.
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Click on Developer. It’s a tab in the upper-right part of the window.
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Position the cursor where you’d like to insert the check box.
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Click on Check Box. It’s in the menu bar at the top of the window.
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Add additional check boxes and text as needed.
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Lock the form. To do so, select the entire list, to be found in the Controls section on the Developer tab, then click on Group and Group.
- On Mac, click Protect Form in the Developer tab toolbar.
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Add New Question
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Question
What should I do if the check box is grayed out in my ribbon?
It is grayed out for me too. However, if you click on the one icon that isn’t — Legacy Tools — then you will find the exact same checkbox, which you should be able to select.
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Question
How can I enlarge the size of a text box without enlarging the text?
In Word, just dragging the corner of the text box should be sufficient. If the text changes size accidentally, you can always highlight it and change it back to the desired size.
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Question
How do you make a drop box in word?
Download LibreOffice. Follow the manual on how to add a list or list/add or list/multiselect box (or just look under «insert» in the menu). You can add a data source for the dropdown menu items from a database, a spreadsheet or within the file structure itself.
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About This Article
Article SummaryX
1. Open a document.
2. Click File.
3. Select Customize Ribbon and then click Main Tabs.
4. Check the «Developer» box.
5. Click Save.
6. Click Developer.
7. Click where you want to insert the check box.
8. Click Check Box.
9. Add additional boxes and text.
10. Lock the form.
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Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 1,240,190 times.
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Show the Developer tab
If the developer tab isn’t already visible, see Show the Developer tab.
Make your list
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Type the list.
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Go to Developer and select the Check Box Content Control at the beginning of the first line.
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To change the default X to something else, see Make changes to checkboxes.
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Copy and paste the check box control at the beginning of each line.
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Select a checkbox to put an X (or other character) in the check box.
Add hanging indentation
If some list items are more than one line long, use hanging indents to align them.
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Select the list. Bullets or numbers won’t look selected.
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Go to Home and select the Paragraph dialog box launcher
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Under Indentation, in the Left box, type 0.25.
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Under Special, choose Hanging.
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For By, Word sets a default value of 0.5 inches. Change this if you want your additional lines indented differently.
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Select OK when finished.
.Lock the text and controls to prevent changes
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Select the list and checkboxes.
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Go to Developer >Group > Group.
To unlock the list, select the list and choose Group > Ungroup.
Create a print only list
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Go to Home and select the down arrow next to the Bullets button.
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In the drop down menu, select Define New Bullet.
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Select Symbol and find a box character. If you don’t initially see one, change Font to Wingdings or Segoe UI Symbol.
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Select OK twice, and create your list.
Make a checklist you can check off in Word
To create a list that you can check off in Word, add content controls for checkboxes to your document.
Show the Developer tab
For more info if the developer tab isn’t already visible in Word, see Show the Developer tab.
Make your list
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Create your list.
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Place you cursor at the start of the first line.
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Go to the Developer tab, and then click Check Box.
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If you want a space after the check box, press Tab or Spacebar.
Use a Tab character if you want to format the list item with hanging indentation, like Word applies to bulleted lists.
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Select and copy (⌘ + C) the check box and any tabs or spaces.
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Place the cursor at the start of the each list item, and paste (⌘ + V ) the copied check box and characters.
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Paste the checkbox at the start of each line in your list.
Add hanging indentation
If some of the list items are longer than one line, use hanging indentation to align them.
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Select the list.
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Go to Format and select Paragraph.
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Under Indentation, type 0.25 in the Left box.
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In the Special list, choose Hanging.
For By, Word sets a default value of 0.5 inches. Change this if you want your additional lines indented differently.
Make a print only check list
You can replace the bullets or numbers in a list with another symbol, such as a box can be checked on a printed version of your document.
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Select the entire list.
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Select Home and select the arrow next to Bullets.
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Select Define New Bullet.
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Select Bullet, and choose a symbol from the table of symbols.
For more choices, in the Font box choose a symbol font, such as Wingdings.
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Select a symbol to use, such as an open box (
) or a three-dimensional box (). -
Select OK, and then select OK again.
) or a three-dimensional box (
).Word for the web supports only the on-paper form of checklist.
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Write your list, and then select it.
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On the Home tab, choose the down-arrow next to the Bullets list to open the bullet library, and then choose the checkbox symbol.
Tick symbol (🗸) also known as a check mark is a symbol for “Yes”. Sometimes tick in a box (☑) is preferred over tick symbol to denote yes or completion. In this blog we have covered, four different ways to insert tick and tick in box symbol in Microsoft Word.
Place your cursor where you want to insert the symbol and use any of the following 4 methods. Method 4 is easiest and up to 7 times faster.
Method 1 – Insert > Symbols
- Navigating Insert Tab > Symbols and select More Symbols
2. Select Symbol Tab > Wingdings Font, and double click on desired symbol i.e. 🗸 or ☑.
3. Select Close
Method 2 – Alt Code (Requires dedicated Number pad keys)
Ms Word Alt code for Tick (or Check) Mark and Tick in Box are:
| Tick Symbol or Check Mark (🗸) | Tick in Box (☑) |
|---|---|
| 128504 | 128505 |
To insert symbol, type corresponding Alt Code using Number pad (not using numerics key using above letters) while holding down Alt key.
Method 3 – Autocorrect (Fastest method for Tick Symbol Word)
- Create Autocorrect entry
- Locate Tick Symbol or Tick in Box symbol (as shown in Method 1) by navigating to Insert > Symbols > More Symbols and select symbol.
- Click Autocorrect Button to open new AutoCorrect Dialogue box.
- Type desired shortcut text (say tick or checkbox) in Replace.
- Click Add.
- Close Autocorrect and Symbol Window.
2. Type autocorrect text created in above step and press space (for e.g. tick) to convert into corresponding symbol.
Method 4 – Alt X
Alt X code for Tick (or Check) Mark & Tick in Box are
| Tick Symbol or Check Mark (🗸) | Tick in Box (☑) |
|---|---|
| 1F5F8 | 1F5F9 |
To insert thick (or check) mark, type 1F5F8 and press Alt + X immediately following it. Similarly, for inserting tick in box, type 1F5F8 and press Alt + X.
Summary
There are four different methods to insert tick symbol in Ms Word. Of all, Alt X and Alt Code method requires remembering 4-5 digit code. While, the Insert Symbol and Autocorrect method are straightforward and relatively easy to remember. Of all these, the smartest way to insert tick symbol or tick in box is Autocorrect method as it is fastest and easy to remember.
Related Posts
To make the content of your document more intuitive and lively, adding symbols like tick, cross, check box, etc. is an effective method. But what’s the fastest way to insert them? Sure you can copy and paste from Internet If it’s a one-time thing. Otherwise you’d probably better to enter them in Word directly.
1. Insert Symbol
Like the way to add other special symbols in Word, you can click Symbol and choose More Symbols… in Insert tab.
Change the Font in Symbols tab to Wingdings 2.
Then you can find these symbols in the list below. Just click any of them (as you like) and hit Insert to add it.
2. Shortcuts
This is the most simple way, which only requires you to change the font of Word and using keyboard shortcuts.
First, select Wingdings 2 in the drop-down list of font.
Then you can press Shift and several different letters to insert different symbols. Here I collected symbols with the corresponding shortcuts:
Addition to tick mark, cross mark and check box, you can also insert some other symbols with shortcuts in the font of Wingdings 2. Have a try when you have time!
Copyright Statement: Regarding all of the posts by this website, any copy or use shall get the written permission or authorization from Myofficetricks.
First, you need to customize Word’s ribbon and enable the “Developer” tab to show the option to add check boxes. Then, select “Developer” and click the “Check Box Content Control” button to insert a check box into your document. You can also transform Word’s bullets into checkboxes.
When you create surveys or forms with Microsoft Word, check boxes make the options easier to read and answer. We’re covering two good options for doing just that. The first is ideal for documents that you want people to fill out digitally within the Word document itself. The second option is easier if you’re planning to print documents like to-do lists.
Option 1: Use Word’s Developer Tools to Add the Check Box Option for Forms
In order to create fillable forms that include checkboxes, you first need to enable the “Developer” tab on the Ribbon. With a Word document open, click the “File” drop-down menu and then choose the “Options” command. In the “Word Options” window, switch to the “Customize Ribbon” tab. On the right-hand “Customize the Ribbon” list, select “Main Tabs” on the dropdown menu.
On the list of available main tabs, select the “Developer” check box, and then click the “OK” button
Notice that the “Developer” tab is added to your Ribbon. Just position your cursor in the document where you want a check box, switch to the “Developer” tab, and then click the “Check Box Content Control” button.
You should see a check box appear wherever you placed your cursor. Here, we’ve gone ahead and placed a check box next to each answer and, as you can see, those check boxes are interactive. Click a box to mark it with an “X” (as we’ve done for answers 2, 3, and 4) or select the whole form box (as we’ve done for answer 4) to move the check box around, format it, and so on.
RELATED: How to Create a Fillable Form With Microsoft Word
Option 2: Change Bullets to Check Boxes for Printed Documents
If you’re creating a document to print out—like a to-do list or printed survey—and just want check boxes on it, you don’t have to mess around with adding Ribbon tabs and using forms. Instead, you can create a simple bullet list and then change the bullets from the default symbol to check boxes.
In your Word document, on the “Home” tab, click the small arrow to the right of the “Bullet List” button. On the dropdown menu, select the “Define new bullet” command.
In the “Define New Bullet” window, click the “Symbol” button.
In the “Symbol” window, click the “Font” dropdown and choose the “Wingdings 2” option.
You can scroll through the symbols to find the empty square symbol that looks like a check box, or you just type the number “163” into the “Character Code” box to automatically select it. Of course, if you see a symbol you like better—like the open circle (symbol 153)—feel free to choose that instead.
When you’ve selected your symbol, click the “OK” button to close the “Symbol” window, and then click the “OK” button to close the “Define New Bullet” window, too.
Back in your Word document, you can now type your bullet list. The check boxes appear instead of the regular bullet symbol.
And the next time you need the check box symbol, you don’t have to navigate through that whole set of windows. Just click that small arrow to the right of the “Bullet List” button again, and you’ll see the checkbox listed under the “Recently Used Bullets” section.
Again, this method is really only useful for documents you want to print out. The check box symbols are not interactive, so you can’t check them off inside a Word document.
If you’re also creating spreadsheets and presentations, you may want to learn how to insert checkboxes in Excel and add checkboxes to PowerPoint too.
RELATED: How to Add a Check Mark or Tick Mark in Word
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