Make a checklist in Word

If the developer tab isn't already visible, see Show the Developer tab.

Make your list

Checkbox control in the Controls group on the developer ribbon.

  1. Type the list.
  2. Go to Developer and select the Check Box Content Control at the beginning of the first line.

Add hanging indentation

If some list items are more than one line long, use hanging indents to align them.

Dialog box launcher

  1. Select the list. Bullets or numbers won’t look selected.
  2. Go to Home and select the Paragraph dialog box launcher

Lock the text and controls to prevent changes

  1. Select the list and checkboxes.
  2. Go to Developer >Group >Group. To unlock the list, select the list and choose Group >Ungroup.

Create a print only list

The bullets down arrow highlighted in the Paragraph group.

  1. Go to Home and select the down arrow next to the Bullets button.

Example of a bulleted list with boxes.

Make a checklist you can check off in Word

To create a list that you can check off in Word, add content controls for checkboxes to your document.

Show the Developer tab

For more info if the developer tab isn't already visible in Word, see Show the Developer tab.

Make your list

Click Check Box to insert a check box that you can mark in Word.

  1. Create your list.
  2. Place you cursor at the start of the first line.
  3. Go to the Developer tab, and then click Check Box.

Add hanging indentation

If some of the list items are longer than one line, use hanging indentation to align them.

For hanging indentation of a list, set indentation for Left, and set Special to Hanging.

  1. Select the list.
  2. Go to Format and select Paragraph.
  3. Under Indentation, type 0.25 in the Left box.
  4. In the Special list, choose Hanging.

Make a print only check list

You can replace the bullets or numbers in a list with another symbol, such as a box can be checked on a printed version of your document.

Click the arrow next to the bullets icon to select or add bullets.

  1. Select the entire list.
  2. Select Home and select the arrow next to Bullets.

Click Define New Bullet if Bullet Library does not <a href=have the symbol that you want." />

Select Define New Bullet.

A plain open box in the Wingdings font.

  • Select Bullet, and choose a symbol from the table of symbols. For more choices, in the Font box choose a symbol font, such as Wingdings.
  • Select a symbol to use, such as an open box (

    A shadowed open box in the Wingdings font.

    ) or a three-dimensional box (

    Add an interactive checklist

    Checklist is a feature that allows you to insert an interactive list in Word for Web. You can check and uncheck the checklist and keep track of the tasks that you are performing.

    Insert a checklist

    Method 1: From the ribbon

    To insert a checklist from the ribbon:

    Insert Checklist Word

    1. Go to the Home tab.
    2. Navigate to the Paragraph group.
    3. Click Checklist.

    Method 2: Using shortcut

    Alternatively, to insert the checklist, press (Ctrl + ,) shortcut keys.

    Toggling a checklist

    Method 1: Using a mouse

    Select the empty or ticked checkbox on the left of the text in a checklist.

    Toggle a checklist

    Method 2: Using shortcut

    Alternatively, press Ctrl + Alt + Enter on the checklist item to check or uncheck it.