How to Add Checkboxes in Word, Apple Pages, and Google Docs

How To Add Checkboxes To A Word Document

Do you want to allow people to quickly choose items that are in your documents? Checkboxes are a great way to do that. You can add a box in the same line next to each options that are in your document, and viewers can make their selection.

All the major word processors like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and Apple Pages, can add checkboxes to list items. Let us see how you can add a checkbox to your document when you use one of these three tools.

1. Add Checkboxes For A Printed Word Document

If you want to print out your document, then, all you need is to just add a checkbox shape in your document. You do not need interactive options since your users are only going to tick the options with their pens.

To add the checkbox shape, you can add a bulleted list that has the checkbox symbol next to the list items on your document. Your document would display it like a proper checkbox when you print it out on paper.

The steps below are how to do that:

1. Open the Word document that you want to add checkbox shapes to.
2. Click on the Home tab that is at the top if you are not already there.
3. Click on the arrow icon that is next to the Bullets option and select Define New Bullet.
4. Select the Symbol from the options that are on your screen.
5. At this point, you shouldbe seeing several symbols that you can use in place of regular bullets. Scroll down this list, look for a checkbox icon, click on it, and hit OK at the bottom.
6. Click on "OK" once again and you should see a checkbox shape in your document.
7. You can now type in your items list and Word would add a checkbox shape that cant be clicked on for each of the items in your list.

2. Add Checkboxes To A Word Document

If you want the viewers of your document to digitally checkmark the boxes in the Word application, you just need to add interactive checkboxes to your document. MS Word offers this as a developer option and you can turn it on it as follows:

1. Open up a Microsoft Word document.
2. Click on the File tab at the top and select Options from the left sidebar.
3. Select "Customize Ribbon" from the left sidebar and select Main Tabs from the Customize the Ribbon menu on the right side.
4. Scroll down through the options list, select "Developer" from the options, and hit OK at the bottom. This will add a new Developer item to your MS Word tabs list.
5. Place the cursor on the position that you want to add a checkbox in your document.
6. Click on the Developer tab at the top and select the Check Box Content Control icon from the Controls section.
7. MS Word would then add an interactive checkbox to your document. You can click on this box and it would be ticked. Clicking on it again would uncheck the box.

You can also use these checkboxes for printed documents as well.

How To Add Checkboxes On Your Apple Pages Document

If you are a Mac user, chances are that you are using Apple Pages for your documents. Apple Pages offers the option to add checkboxes to your documents files, but you cannot add an interactive box just yet.

If you want to use checkboxes on a printed document, follow the steps that are below:

1. Open up new or existing document in Apple Pages.
2. Click on the dropdown menu that is next to Bullets & Lists on the right and select the Bullet option. This would start a new bulleted list in your document.
3. Click on the arrow icon next to Bullets & Lists, select the Image Bullets from the dropdown menu, and then click on the Current Image option.
4. You would see several checkbox images that you can add to your document. Click on the one that you like and it would instantly appear on your document.

You can define the size and thr alignment of your Pages checkboxes from the same List and Bullets section. To do that, click on the Custom Image option when you add a checkbox. This would let you select an image from your Mac to add to your Pages document.

How To Add Checkboxes On Your Google Docs Document

This online word processor allows you to add checkbox shapes to your documents, but again, these checkboxes are only for documents that you print and not the type that you interact with on screen.

If that is all that you are looking for, below is how you can add checkboxes to a Google Docs document:

1. Create a new document or open up your existing document with Google Docs.
2. Click on the option that says Insert at the top and select Special characters. This would let you add a checkbox as a special character in your word document.
3. On the screen that comes up next, put your cursor in the search box and type check. Do not type the full word which is checkbox as it does not seem to fetch any results.
4. On the left side of the screen, you would see various checkbox styles to add to your document. Click on the checkbox you like and it would immediately appear on your document. You can also preview your checkbox before you close the special characters menu.
5. If your checkboxes are either too small or too big, you can resize them to your desired size. To do it, select your checkboxes, click on the Font size option, and select a new size for your checkboxes. You can now click on File and select Print to print your document with your checkboxes. If you would  rather save it as a PDF file, you can do so by clicking on the File menu, next, select Download, and choosing PDF Document.

Related Courses And Certification

Microsoft Word Course and Certification

Basic Computer Skills - Course and Certification

Microsoft Office Course and Certification