With Microsoft Office applications, you can create a simple To Do list or make a checklist in Microsoft Word and check off items electronically. The underlying trick for doing so is very simple and takes not more than few minutes. The result looks something like the illustration below.

Having said that, if you just need a checklist that you print, you can make a list where each item has a box that you check off on paper.

You can use boxes that you can check off in Word. For doing so, you first have to insert the check box form field into your document. Here’s how you do it!

Open a Word document, go to the “Insert” tab and choose “Symbol”.

Next, from the symbol drop down list choose “More symbols”.

Then, the “Symbol” window shows up. Here you can select the check box and click on the “Insert” button. This ends part 1. We are saying so because in this part you cannot check the box. You need to do a bit of more manual work. That completes the second part.

Activate the Developer Tab

Developer tab in the Ribbon menu of Word supplies the option for checking the box in Word. Use the following procedure for it.

Assuming you have the Word file opened, right-click anywhere on the Ribbon and choose the “Customize Ribbon” option.

Next, select the “Developer” option within the “Customize the Ribbon” drop-down list and hit “OK”.

You should find the Developer tab added to the ribbon. Click on the “Developer” tab and use a customized bulleted list or a content control to insert checkboxes into a Word document.

Double click against any to-do/don’t-dos, followed by a single left-click to check the box.

Please note, that if you cannot check off an item electronically, it might be formatted for printing only or the document might be locked.