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After looking at the search data on my site, there one phrase in the top 10 that kept coming up was "checklist". So, by popular demand, we've created a few different printable checklists along with some checklist templates that you can edit in Excel.
Creatings Checklists in Excel
The main question people have when creating a checklist in Excel is what method to use to create the check box. I've listed the most common methods below, along with an explanation of the uses and pros/cons.
- Cell Borders - This is perhaps that simplest and fastest way to create a checklist from scratch. Just size the column containing the check boxes so that they appear square. It is easy to customize by copying and pasting items, inserting new items, etc. I use this approach in the wedding and camping checklists.
- Special Box Character - This is my second favorite approach, which I used for the wedding checklist. The only hard part is remembering how to find the special open 'box' character. The character I like to use is the White Square (□). I usually just open up the Windows Character Map application to browse through the special symbols until I find it, then copy and paste. If you're going retro, you could also use parenthesis as the placeholder for the check mark like this: ( )
- Parentheses ( ) or Brackets [ ] - This is a very common simple approach for including a checkbox within a text-based file. You'll see this approach used a lot in legal documents and other types of forms. If that's the look you're going for with your checklist, then by all means, go for it.
- Autoshapes (Drawing Objects) - I don't recommend this approach unless you are going for something fancy, like using fluffy clouds in your check list. Moving a bunch of autoshapes around in the spreadsheet can get messy and annoying.
- Checkbox Form Object - Use the checkbox form field only if you are wanting to add interactivity to your checklist. The checkbox form field, found in the Forms toolbar, can link to a cell in the spreadsheet without requiring any Visual Basic programming. The linked cell will be a boolean value TRUE or FALSE. Like the drawing objects, working with a large number of checkboxes can get messy.
Sharing Our Checklists
Our checklists and checklist templates are licensed for personal use only. However, to avoid a bunch of emails, I will also say that I am okay with you doing almost anything with these checklists except posting the checklist (or anything you have created using the checklist template) on the internet or selling it. That includes permission to print and distribute as many paper copies of your checklist as you need. Don't remove the copyright or hyperlinks that I've included in the spreadsheet, though. If you feel the urge to do that, please create your own checklist from scratch, instead.
Thank you.
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