How to Insert a Checkbox in Microsoft Word

If you are creating a daily task list, an employee onboarding form, or a massive legal questionnaire in Microsoft Word, you need your readers to be able to physically interact with the document. A static bullet point list is useless for a digital form; you need actual, clickable checkboxes that turn on and off when someone clicks them with a mouse.

Unfortunately, Microsoft intentionally hides the checkbox button from the standard interface because they assume only advanced software developers need to build interactive forms. To insert a working checkbox, you must first unlock the hidden “Developer” tab.

Step 1: Unhide the Developer Tab

Before you can add any interactive elements, you must force Word to display the engineering tools.

1. Open your document in Microsoft Word.
2. Look at the absolute top left corner of the screen and click on the File tab.
3. Look at the very bottom of the blue sidebar on the left and click Options.
4. A massive “Word Options” dialog box will open.
5. In the left-hand navigation menu of this box, click on Customize Ribbon.
6. Look at the right side of the box, under the column titled “Main Tabs.”
7. Scroll down this list until you find the word Developer.
8. Check the box next to Developer.
9. Click OK.

If you look at your main ribbon now, you will see a brand new tab labeled “Developer” sitting between the View and Help tabs.

Step 2: Insert the Clickable Checkbox

Now that the engineering tools are unlocked, inserting the box is incredibly simple.

1. Click your mouse cursor exactly where you want the checkbox to appear on your page (for example, directly to the left of the text “Read the employee handbook”).
2. Click the new Developer tab at the top of the screen.
3. Look in the Controls section (usually right in the middle of the ribbon).
4. Click the icon that looks like a square box with a green checkmark inside it. (If you hover your mouse over it, it will say “Check Box Content Control”).

A small, empty grey box will instantly appear in your document. If you click on that box with your mouse, a large black ‘X’ will perfectly fill the center of the box. If you click it again, the ‘X’ will disappear. You have successfully created an interactive digital form.

Step 3: How to Insert a “Dumb” (Non-Clickable) Checkbox

If you are not sending this document via email, but rather printing it on a physical piece of paper for someone to fill out with a real ink pen, you do not need the complex Developer tools. You just need a visual square.

1. Click the Home tab.
2. Look for the standard Bullets drop-down menu (in the Paragraph section) and click the small arrow next to it.
3. Click Define New Bullet… at the bottom of the menu.
4. Click the Symbol… button.
5. A chaotic box of symbols will appear. Look at the “Font:” drop-down menu at the top and change it to Wingdings (you will have to scroll down significantly).
6. Scan the Wingdings grid. At the very bottom, you will see several empty square boxes. Click one of them.
7. Click OK twice.

Word will now insert a perfectly square, non-clickable box at the start of your bulleted list, ready to be printed and checked off with a pen.