Insert Checkmark (Tick Mark) Symbol in Excel

There are multiple ways for you to insert a checkmark or tick mark in Excel.

In this article, I will show you five ways to insert a checkmark and some practical examples where you can use checkmark symbols in Excel.

Let’s get into it!

Using Copy Paste to Insert Checkmark

You can easily insert a checkmark symbol in Excel using the Copy Paste method.

To do that, follow the below simple steps.

  1. Copy a tickmark from anywhere. You can use Ctrl + C to copy it. If you want to practice now, you can copy this tick mark. ✔ 
  2. Paste the check mark. You can use Ctrl + V to paste it.

Using Shortcuts to Insert Checkmark

You can even use Excel shortcuts to insert tick marks. I’ll show you two Excel shortcuts.

Shortcut 1 – Using Shift + P to Insert Checkmark

In this shortcut, you have to follow the below steps.

  1. Press the Shift key and the letter p keys together. If your Caps Lock key is On, you have to press only the letter p key.
  2. Change the font type of the current cell to “Wingdings 2”.
Change the font to Wingdings 2

Shortcut 2 – Using ALT + 0252 to Insert Checkmark

You can insert special characters and symbols in Excel by using the ALT key and the number pad.

So, you can use that method to insert tick marks also.

To do that, follow the below steps.

  1. While holding down the ALT key, press 0252 from the number pad of your keyboard.
  2. Change the font type of the current cell to “Wingdings”.
Change the font to Wingdings
Also read: How to Add Bullet Points in Excel

Using CHAR Formula to Insert Checkmark

You can even use an Excel function to get a tick mark. This method is best when you want to insert a tick mark based on a condition.

To get a checkmark, you can use the below formula

=CHAR(252)

The syntax of the CHAR function is CHAR(number). So, based on the given number, the CHAR function returns a character. When you enter 252 as the number for the CHAR function, you’ll get the checkmark.

But, when you use this method, remember to change the font type of the cell to Wingdings.

Enter the CHAR formula for checkmark

Using Symbol Dialog Box to Get Checkmark

If you don’t like remembering character codes and font types to insert a checkmark, you can use the symbol dialog box.

You can follow the below steps to access the symbol dialog box.

  1. Go to the Insert tab.
Click the insert tab
  1. Expand “Symbols” and select “Symbol”.
Click on the Symbol icon

You’ll see the Symbol dialog box.

Now, you can search and get the checkmark. If you change the Font to “Segoe UI Symbol” and the subset to “Dingbats”, you can easily find the check mark.

change Font to Segoe UI Symbol and the subset to Dingbats

Then, select the check mark and click “Insert”.

select the check mark

With this method, you can enter other characters inside the same cell in a meaningful way, as it doesn’t change the font type.

Also read: Insert Arrow Symbol (Up, Down, Left, Right) in Excel

Using Character Map to Insert Checkmark Symbol in Excel

Another way to insert a checkmark into your Excel sheet is to use the Character Map.

You can follow the below steps to insert a tickmark using the character map.

  1. Press the Windows key + R or search Run in the Windows Search bar to open the Run App.
Run in the Windows Search bar
  1. Type “charmap” in the Run dialog box and click “OK”.
Type charmap in the Run dialog box
  1. Then, change the Font to “Wingdings” or “Wingdings 2” and select the checkmark.
change font to wingdings

Don’t forget to match the font style of the cell where you’re pasting the checkmark with the font type in the character map.

Now you know five methods to insert a checkmark in Excel.

Examples of Using Checkmark (Tickmark) Symbol in Excel

Let’s now have a look at some examples of inserting a checkmark (tickmark) symbol in Excel.

To Mark Items In a Checklist

Below, I have a checklist where I have the steps in column A.

In column B, I need to put a checkmark to indicate when a step has started and also include the percentage completed.

To Do List for checkmark

Now, let’s say you have begun the first step, “Design the basic template,” and you have completed 75% of the work.

To update the table, you can follow these steps:

  1. Copy a checkmark and paste that on cell B2. You can use Ctrl + C to copy the check mark and Ctrl + V to paste it.
enter checkmark in the cell
  1. Select cell B2 and press F2 to activate the Edit mode of the cell. If you have activated the function keys press Fn + F2. Then, you’ll see the blinking cursor inside the cell.
Get into the edit mode in the cell
  1. Enter a space and type the percentage (so, type “ 75%”).
Enter the percentage value

This is the simplest way for you to insert check marks in Excel. With this method, you can also input other characters within the same cell where the check mark is located.

To Show Conditions Are Met or Not

You can use check mark symbols to indicate whether conditions are met or not.

Below, I have a checklist where I have the steps in column A and the percentage completed in Column B. In column C, I have used the IF function to enter tick marks if the completed percentage is equal to 100%.  

=IF(B2=100%,"✔","")
Formula to get checkmark

For the second argument of the above example, I simply copied and pasted a check mark inside double quotes.

If you don’t like to copy and paste a check mark for your formula or you can’t find a check mark, you can replace the second argument with “CHAR(252)” and rewrite the formula as follows.

=IF(B2=100%,CHAR(252),"")
CHAR function to get checkmark

When you use CHAR(252) to insert a check mark, you have to change the font type of the cell to “Wingdings”.

Change the font to Wingdings

With this method, it’s not possible to input other meaningful characters within the same cell because all characters end up changing to the “Wingdings” font.

For Data Visualization

You can use check mark symbols for data visualization as well.

Below, there’s a table where column A lists the packages, and columns B to E outline what’s included in each package.

Checkmark in a table

In the above table, I have entered check marks as follows.

  1. Enter the capitalized letter P. You can enter “P” in the following ways.
    • Enter Shift + p
    • Activate the Caps Lock key and press “p”.
  1. Change the font type to “Wingdings 2”.
Change the font to Wingdings 2

You’ll notice that the formula bar shows the letter “P,” but in the cell, it appears as a check mark.

This method is good when you want to display only the check mark without additional characters. If you enter other characters in the same cell, they will change into Wingdings 2 characters, showing as meaningless data.

For instance, if you enter an asterisk mark in cell B2, it will be shown as a small square.

Asterisk shown as box

To overcome the above drawback, you can enter the check mark using the below steps.

  1. Go to the Insert tab.
Click the insert tab
  1. Expand “Symbols” and select “Symbol”.
Click on the Symbol icon

You’ll see the Symbol dialog box.

  1. Change the Font to “Segoe UI Symbol” and the subset to “Dingbats”.
change Font to Segoe UI Symbol and the subset to Dingbats
  1. Select the check mark.
select the check mark
  1. Click “Insert” and close the dialog box.
Click on insert

With this method, you can enter other characters inside the same cell in a meaningful way, as it doesn’t change the font type.

Checkmark without changing font

In this article, I covered five ways to insert a checkmark (tick mark) symbol in Excel and some examples where you can use it.

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I am a huge fan of Microsoft Excel and love sharing my knowledge through articles and tutorials. I work as a business analyst and use Microsoft Excel extensively in my daily tasks. My aim is to help you unleash the full potential of Excel and become a data-slaying wizard yourself.

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