Here’s how you can insert a checkbox in Excel
The feature is available on the Beta Channel, for now.
- This was one of the top requested features for Excel.
- Other similar apps, such as Google Sheets, already have it.
- It will be available to the general public soon.
You have asked and the Microsoft gods answered: you can finally insert checkboxes in Excel, now, according to the Redmond-based tech giant’s latest blog in the Microsoft 365 Insider.
Microsoft says users will be able to visualize and set TRUE and FALSE values in a cell using checkboxes. The feature was long requested by Excel users everywhere, and it’s something other sheet data apps, such as Google Sheets, already have.
And if October is already a big month for Microsoft 365, with the new Teams coming, along with a lot of new changes to OneDrive, then the other apps, such as Excel, needed some love too.
So, Microsoft added a new ribbon group called Cell Controls. This new pane will introduce checkboxes to Excel. However, this is the first feature of many, as Microsoft promises there will be more.
How to insert a checkbox in Excel
- Open your Excel.
- Create a workbook, or open an existing one.
- Go to the Insert tab, and select Checkbox in the Cell Controls group.
- Now put the checkbox wherever you want, and that’s it.
In the image above, you can see the checkboxes in the selected cells. The blank cells are automatically set to FALSE.
Microsoft says that checkbox formatting only works with Boolean values and blank cells. Any other values, such as number and text, are ignored. And, if the active cell has a checkbox, you can toggle the values of all selected checkboxes by pressing the space bar.
However, for now, users won’t be able to directly remove checkbox formatting in a cell. Instead, you’ll need to select Home > Clear > Clear Formats.
For now, this feature is available to Beta Channel users running Version 2310 (Build 196924.2000) or later, but it will come to the Excel Stable Channel in the following weeks.
Are you excited about inserting checkboxes in Excel? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
