How to Insert a Clickable Checkbox in Word (& Non-Clickable)

In Microsoft Word, a checkbox (Also known as a selection box, tick box, or check mark – ☑) is a small interactive box that allows users to select or deselect a value from a small set of options.

To insert a checkbox (☑) in Word, you have two options:

• A non-clickable checkbox (not interactive)
• A clickable checkbox (Interactive)

The clickable or functional checkbox allows the user to be able to check and uncheck the checkbox inside the Word document. And the non-clickable checkbox is just a visual symbol that doesn’t allow users to check and uncheck the checkbox.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to add these two types of check boxes into your Word document.

Without further ado, let’s get started.

How to insert a non-clickable checkbox in Word

Inserting a tick box which is not clickable makes sense if it is for a printed document. It can be an empty checkbox symbol or a checked one (i.e. with the correct tick).

There are several ways you can insert a non-clickable checkbox in Word. But I’ll show you these two easy and fast options you can use to perform this task.

Option 1: Using the Bulleted List Approach

This option is for you if you have a list of options where users will tick the applicable options when the document is printed.

Obey the steps below to add a checkbox to your list in Microsoft Word:

Note that if you are not dealing with a list of options as in this example, this approach will not work for you. Instead, you should jump to the next section where you can perform easily make an empty or ticked checkbox using the insert symbol dialog.

• Type your list of options. Make sure each item begins a new line.

• Highlight or select all the list options, go to the Home tab and select the down arrow next to the Bullets option.

• If the check mark symbol is already under the Bullet Library or Recently Used Bullets group, just click on it to insert into your Word document.
• However, if you can’t find this check mark symbol from the immediate drop-down menu, Select Define New Bullet at the bottom of the drop-down menu.

• From the Define New Bullet dialog box, click on Symbols.

• The Symbol dialog box appears. Select Webdings 2 from the Font drop-down to display some of the advanced Symbols in Word.
• Click to select the checkmark you want to insert. In this case, select the empty checkbox symbol since the user of the document will be selecting from the list of options.

• Click OK for the Symbols dialog box.
• Click OK for the Define New Bullets dialog box.

After obeying all the above steps, you’ll notice that a checkbox box is added to each one of the items.

In the above illustration, the checkboxes are empty or they are not checked (i.e. no tick symbol inside the checkboxes). If you want to add checkboxes that are not empty (or checked), in the Symbols dialog box, select the check box with the tick symbol in it.

Now see the check boxes with tick symbols:

If you want some of the boxes checked and others empty, you should consider adding a clickable checkbox instead. This way, you can manually check some checkboxes leaving the others empty. Though, how to make a clickable checkbox in Word is addressed later in this article. So make sure you read up to the end to learn more.

Option 2: Using Insert Symbol to add Check Mark or Checkbox in Word

Aside from using the bulleted list to add checkboxes in Word, you can also use the insert Symbol approach.

If you are not dealing with a list of options, the above method will not work for you. Instead, you should use this method as it allows you to create the checkbox anywhere within your Word document.

Obey the steps below to create a checkbox anywhere in your Word document:

• Place the insertion pointer at where you want to create the checkbox.
• Go to Insert→Symbols→Symbol→More Symbols.

• The Symbol dialog box appears. Select Webdings 2 from the Font dropdown list to display some of the Advanced Symbols in Word.

• Select the Checkbox symbol.
• Click the OK button to insert the symbol into your document.

Once you enter the checkbox symbol into your document, you can copy and paste it to other places in your document, you don’t have to follow the above steps to insert it again.

The above two approaches will guide you to insert a non-clickable checkbox (whether empty or checked) into your Word document.

However, you can also add a clickable or functional checkbox in Word. The rest of the tutorials will teach you how to do it.

How to add a clickable checkbox in Word

With the clickable checkbox, users of your document can click to check and uncheck the checkboxes.

To add this type of checkbox into your Word document, you’ll need the developer tab visible on the ribbon. This tab contains the controls that we need to insert the checkbox in Word.

By default, this tab is not visible. So, first of all, check on your Word ribbon to see if you can see any tab labeled Developer.

If you have this tab active, that’s fine. You can skip this section.

However, without this tab active on your ribbon, just follow the steps below to add it.

Here’s a step by step guide on how to add the Developer Tab in Word.

Adding the developer to Word Ribbon

 Obey the steps below to display the developer tab on your ribbon.

• Right-click on one of the already existing tabs on the Word ribbon.
• Select “Customize the Ribbon”.

• In the Word Options dialog box, click to check or tick the Developer checkbox. If this is ticked already, it means the Developer tab will become visible.

• Click the OK button.

You should now see the Developer tab on your Word ribbon.

Now, let’s look at how we can insert a checkbox in Word using the Controls in the Developer tab.

Creating the Checkbox (Clickable)

Now that you have the developer tab visible on your ribbon, follow the steps below to add a checkbox into your Word document:

• Click to place the insertion pointer at where you want to add the checkbox.

• Click on the Developer Tab.

• In the Controls category, click Checkbox.

The checkbox button will be added exactly where you placed your insertion pointer.

• Follow the same steps to add the checkbox to the rest of the items. Or, copy and paste the checkbox at the beginning of each line.

By default, clicking on this checkbox will mark an “X” symbol in the box. But this is not what we want. We want to see a tick mark inside the tick box when it is clicked. You can change it to include any symbol you want (like this: ☑). Continue the steps below to learn how to change the checked symbol.

• Click to select the symbol.
• Go to the Developer tab, in the Controls category, click on Properties.

• In the Content Control Properties dialog, click on the Change button next to the Checked symbol option.

• The Symbol dialog box appears. Select Webdings 2 from the Font dropdown to display some of the Microsoft Word Advanced Symbols.
• Locate the tick symbol and click on it.

• Also, click the OK button for the Content Control Properties dialog.

Now you should have a tick on your checkbox whenever you click on it.

This is how you may create a clickable checkbox/tick box in Microsoft Word documents.

If you have any questions related to how to insert a checkbox in Word, please mention them in the comments below.

Conclusion

Incorporating clickable checkboxes into your Microsoft Word documents can greatly enhance their functionality and efficiency. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you’ve learned how to create interactive Word documents.

Embrace the versatility of checkboxes to streamline your document workflows and enhance user engagement.

Thank you for joining us on this journey to optimize your document creation process. Stay tuned for more helpful tips and tutorials!