Insert a Check Box in Word

Are you making a survey or checklist? Do you want to make your to-do list clearer? Check boxes allow you to easily see which tasks have been completed and make surveys easier to fill out. In word, you can add blank check boxes for documents you're printing and handing out, or you can make clickable check boxes that you can quickly check as you finish tasks. To learn how to make both, regardless of what version of Word you are using, see Step 1 below.

Steps

Printable Checklist

1. Type out your list. You can type out your list before adding check boxes to it. These check boxes cannot be clicked to add a check; instead they are for printed documents that will be checked by hand. If you need clickable check boxes, see the next sections.
   • Make sure each item on your list is on its own line.
2. Select the entire list. Once you are finished typing your list, select it all to apply the check boxes to each item. If you are formatting a list within a larger document, just select the list.
3. Open the Bullets menu. In the Home tab, click the little down arrow icon next to the Bullets button in the Paragraph group. Select "Define New Bullets" from the bottom of the menu.
   • In Word 2003, select your list, click the Format menu and select "Bullets and Numbering".
4. Select your check box. In the Define New Bullets window, click the Symbol... button and then select Wingdings from the Font drop-down menu. The check box should appear on the first line of available symbols.
   • In Word 2003, click the Bulleted tab, and then click the Customize... button. In the new window that appears, click the Character... button, select Wingdings from the Font drop-down menu, and then select the check box.

Clickable Check Box

1. Turn on the Developer tab. In order to create clickable check boxes in your document, you will need to enable the Developer tab, which is hidden by default. To do so, right-click in a blank spot on any open tab and select "Customize the Ribbon".
   • A new window will open. In the column on the right side, check the "Developer" box and then click OK. The Developer tab will now be available at the end of the tab row.
2. Insert a check box. In the Controls group of the Developer tab, you will see a small check box icon. Click it to insert a check box at your cursor's location.
   • In Word 2007, you will need to click the Legacy Tools icon in the Controls group, and then select the check box from the menu that appears.
3. Check and uncheck the box. Now that the box has been inserted, you can click it once to toggle whether or not it's checked. You cannot add multiple check boxes at once like you would a bulleted list, and check boxes may not function when you open the document in an older version of Word.

Clickable Check Box (Word 2003)

1. Open the Forms toolbar. Click the View menu, highlight Toolbars, and then click the Forms option. This will make the Forms toolbar appear, along with the other toolbars you have enabled, at the top of the document.
2. Insert a check box. Place your cursor where you want your check box to appear in the document. Click the Check Box Form Field icon in the Forms toolbar. A check box will be inserted at your cursor's location.
3. Lock the form. In order to be able to check the boxes, you will need to lock the form. This will prevent you from editing the document, so be sure to do this after you have finished writing, editing, and formatting the document.
   • To lock the form, click the Protect Form icon in the Forms toolbar. The button has a padlock icon.
   • If you need to edit the document, click the icon again to unlock it.
4. Check your boxes. With the form locked, you can click the boxes to check or uncheck them. Your check boxes will likely not function if you open the document in another version of Word.

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Sources and Citations

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