CheckBox in Excel (Table of Contents)
CheckBox in Excel
Like the word itself, CheckBox is like a tick box as a response for a question. As per the design, it is a little square box where we can click to select or deselect an option. Similarly, in excel we can create or design Check Boxes for the responses. Usually, Check Boxes are used in the forms wherein a user is asked to select values or tick mark it where the condition is to be true.
Introduction:
CheckBox in Excel is used as a form of control to make data entry easier. Similar to all other form controls Check Box just does not appear in excel. It is hidden in the Developer tab toolbar.
To unlock the developer tab, we need to:
- Go to File tab then click on options.
- Then, in the customize ribbon tab we need to tick mark the developer CheckBox (highlighted in the image below).
Developer tab opens up lots of form controls including our CheckBox. Check Box summarizes the data for us.
In addition, in the developer tab option, go to insert section we can see our CheckBox control. It is a square box with a tick marked on it. Refer to the below screenshot:
How to Insert a Checkbox in Excel?
In order to insert Checkbox in excel follow the below steps. Let us learn the usage of CheckBoxes in Excel through few examples.
CheckBox in Excel Example #1
My friends and I am planning to go for a holiday as I am organizing the outing I need to plan all the details and check whether everything is sorted or not.
There will be a few steps involved. Firstly, I need to make a list of tasks.
Below are my lists of tasks,
Steps to insert the Check Boxes:
Now follow the below steps to insert Check Boxes.
- Go to the developer tab, there is an insert section click on Check Box under form controls. (Refer to the below-mentioned image)
- We want our CheckBox in B2 cell in this example so make sure you click on the specific cell. The CheckBox will not specifically be in the B2 cell, to position it in the right cell float around the CheckBox until we see a four-pointed arrow and drag it to cell B2.
- There is a text written in CheckBox as “Check Box 3”, to remove it right click on the checkbox and click on “Edit Text” and your own text. In this example, I will choose text “DONE”.
- Our First CheckBox is ready.
- Now to add the other CheckBoxes simply drag the CheckBox to other cells.
- Our checklist for our itinerary is ready. Now, have a look below,
Our checklist is ready but not completed as we can only check and uncheck the checkboxes but excel will not be able to read values as we have linked the checkboxes to our cells.
Let us learn to make checkboxes by few more examples, and then we will see how to link them.
CheckBox in Excel Example #2
I want to make a to-do list for myself as I keep forgetting certain things sometimes and cannot keep track of it.
Firstly, I need to create a table for my To-do list as below.
Now we follow the steps to insert checkboxes in the data,
- In the developer tab in the insert, section click on Check Box under form controls.
- We want our CheckBox in B2 cell in this example so make sure you click on the specific cell. The CheckBox will not specifically be in the B2 cell, to position it in the right cell float around the CheckBox until we see a four-pointed arrow and drag it to the cell B2.
- We Edit the text written in CheckBox as “Check Box 1” and put our own text. Here I will use the text “Completed”.
- Now as the first checkbox is ready we drag it to the other cells.
- Our To Do list is ready.
CheckBox in Excel Example #3
Tomorrow is my birthday and my friends are asking for a party. I need to make sure everything goes well and nothing will be left out.
The data table I have made for the above task is as below,
Now we start adding checkboxes to our tasks,
- In the developer tab in the insert, section click on Check Box under form controls.
- We want our CheckBox in B2 cell in this example so make sure you click on the specific cell. The CheckBox will not specifically be in the B2 cell, to position it in the right cell float around the CheckBox until we see a four-pointed arrow and drag it to the cell B2.
- We again need to edit the text pre-written in the checkbox as “checkbox 1”. In the current scenario, I will again use the text “DONE”.
- As the first CheckBox is ready, we will drag it to the other cells.
- My party planner is ready,
Explanation of CheckBoxes:
From the above examples, it is clear that CheckBoxes are small boxes, which is a user interactive in order to indicate a choice. It can be either ‘Yes’ or ‘No’
In this, either a user has completed the task or not or simply answer a question to a yes or no.
In addition, when a checkbox is marked as “TICK”/checked it means it is an affirmative choice and if it is unchecked, it means it is a negative choice.
How to Use CheckBox in Excel?
We have learned how to make checkboxes and what their uses are.
Now, let us now learn how to use checkboxes in our examples.
CheckBox in Excel Example #4
From example 1, where we made the below-mentioned table,
As already discussed in order to excel to evaluate the responses we need to assign checkbox to a certain cell. Below are the steps:
- Right click on a checkbox and click on “Format Control”.
- A dialog box pops up, in the dialog box, click on cell link and then select an empty cell to link the checkbox.
- Repeat the above step to all the CheckBoxes.
- In order to identify the linked cells of the CheckBoxes easily, link it to the adjacent cell. In the current scenario, I have linked the first CheckBox to cell C2.
- Now click on any checkbox and we can see that if it is checked a value then “TRUE” appears in the corresponding cell and if it is unchecked, a value “False” appears in the cell.
In the above Image, the task of booking a hotel is not completed yet whereas the rest of the tasks are completed.
CheckBox in Excel Example #5
From Example 2 the table was as follows,
Now to assign the checkboxes to specific cells we follow the steps,
- Right click on a checkbox and click on “Format Control”.
- A format control dialog box pops up, in the dialog box click on cell link and then select an empty cell to link the checkbox.
- Repeat the same task for all the checkboxes and do not forget to select the adjacent cell to avoid confusion.
- When we click on any checkbox, it gives us a “TRUE” value and it is unchecked it gives us a “FALSE” value.
In the above image, we can see that I have again forgotten to feed the cat.
CheckBox in Excel Example #6
From example 3 the table was,
Let us assign checkboxes to this table,
- Right click on a checkbox and click on “Format Control”.
- A format control dialog box pops up, in the dialog box click on cell link and then select an empty cell to link the checkbox.
- Repeat the same task for all the checkboxes and do not forget to select the adjacent cell to avoid confusion.
- Now click on any checkbox it gives us a “TRUE” value and it is unchecked it gives us “FALSE” value.
In the above example, I have completed all the tasks of party planning.
Things to Remember About CheckBox in Excel
- CheckBox control can only be activated by unlocking the developer tab option in the customize ribbon section.
- Check Box needs to be aligned to the desired cell.
- Checkbox needs to be assigned to a specific cell for excel to read the values.
- If the checkbox is checked, it returns “TRUE” as the value and if it is unchecked it returns “FALSE” as the value.
- One should assign the checkbox to the adjacent cell in order to avoid any sort of confusion.
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This has been a guide to CheckBox in Excel. Here we discuss its uses and how to create CheckBox in Excel with examples and downloadable excel templates. You may also look at these useful functions in excel –
