Typing Check Marks into Excel

@Becky

I agree with you and @Don Small that it would be better if the tip was updated to show also the newest features of Excel. However the approach proposed still works also in MS365. On the other hand, I don't think that creating a separate newsletter for just MS365 and including only newest features of Excel is warranted. Sometimes users need to share documents with other users who do not have the newest version of the program, and it may become useful to know not only the newest tricks but also ones that work for other people.

In the header, as you noticed, Allen clearly states to which versions of Office the tip applies. Based on that you may decide whether to read the tip or not. If not, I suggest that you at least check the comments. In this tip an user gave an update to point the newer feature of Excel, so I don't think reading this tip in whole was a waste of time.

@Don Small:
Thank you for this very useful suggestion. For several years now, I have been using checkboxes in Google Sheets, but didn't think Excel could do this.

I have a question though: Is there a special formatting for the cells with checkboxes?
The cells with checkboxes contain a value of TRUE or FALSE (the logical values, not the text). However, I could not find any specific formatting for those cells. However there must be something that tells Excel to display the checkbox rather than "TRUE" o "FALSE". It is not the font, which in my case remains Calibri, but can be changed to any other font and still retain the checkbox. Also. you can apply checkboxes to a range of cells already containing values or formulas; if any of them return TRUE or FALSE they will be converted to checkboxes, otherwise they will display their content as usual.

The thing I am missing is a way to remove checkboxes (return to TRUE or FALSE or any other content displayed in the cell) without removing the cell content, or at least I couldn't find one.

I have noticed recently that many of the tips are being recycled and are only applicable to older (sometimes much older) version -- for example this tip is only applicable to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016.

Is there an option to subscribe to only tips that apply to the most recent versions?

Agreeing with Don Small...

We used this method a decade ago for some project management forms.
It worked, but it was kludgy and not very intuitive.
Actual checkboxes are so much better.

I find this tip out of date by not at least making mention of Insert Checkbox, a feature added to Microsoft 365 in July 2024 to address the labor-intensive method described in this article.

To insert Checkboxes:
Select the range where you want checkboxes.
Select Insert > Checkbox.

To check or uncheck a Checkbox:
Click on the checkbox.
Select one or more checkboxes and press Space.

To remove Checkboxes:
Press the Delete key.
If any of the checkboxes were checked, Delete will uncheck them. Press Delete again to remove them.

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/excelblog/introducing-checkboxes-in-excel/4173561

@John Mann
See https://excelribbon.tips.net/T008392_Using_Check_Boxes.html

I have used AutoCorrect for this purpose. I set up some improbable letter sequence to be replaced by the check mark. This has the advantage of being universal - I can do it anywhere, including other MS Office products. I used the letter sequence zzz to be replace by a check mark.

What would be rather nice would be to have a range of cells (probably a column) where all I have to do is click in the cell to toggle a check mark on or off.

I always format the cells as 'webdings' and then type 'a' (for accept) or 'r' (for reject). This gives a tick or a cross and is so easy.

I tend to use the square root text symbol found in many font libraries to add a check mark. In the Character Map select Advance View and then select Unique Subrange in Group by. Go to Mathematical Operations in list dialog that opened. √

The most common way I use this character is with a macro and/or command button.

ActiveCell.FormulaR1C1 = ActiveCell.Value & " " & ChrW(8730)

I agree with Kiwerry on the use of Insert Symbol. Unluckily, in Excel as opposed to Word, you cannot assign a shortcut key to a symbol.

It is one thing to put a check mark in a single cell, but using this way to put check marks beside all completed items can get tedious, unless the underlying character can be easily typed in.
To make it easier you can set a validation rule for the whole column of text based on a list allowing just one item - the selected check mark. Check the options for in cell dropdown list and Ignore Blanks. You still need to format the column using the selected font.
When you click on the down arrow when the cell is selected, you can only select the check-mark character. In the dropdown list it will show as the underlying character, so if it is a P or an a, this can easily be typed in, but if you selected a more obscure character like ü, the data validation may be helpful.

Possibly I'm missing something, but why not just use the Symbols available in Excel (Insert Tab, "Symbols", "Symbol"). It opens a table that offers very similar functionality to the character map mentioned above. I have found it so useful that it is in my QAT toolbar now.

I have also found that it not necessary to set the font of a cell; you can insert a Wingdings symbol into a text containing any other font within a cell, just as you can select a character in a cell and change their font and other attributes independently of the other characters in the cell, for example: {fig}

I find this easier:Google "check mark"Select a suitable text-based result (not images) such as the wikipedia entrySelect the check-mark from the text and copy itPaste it in your Excel file