How to Make a Checklist in Excel

Learning how to create a checklist in Excel is a game-changer for many people. Making a checklist will help you keep track of many everyday things. For instance, a checklist can help you remember what to bring in your travels or the ingredients available when cooking a recipe.

However, not everyone is well-versed in spreadsheets and may find it tough to create a checklist in Excel. This post will discuss how to make a checklist in Excel, plus some pointers on integrating it with other spreadsheet features.

How to Create a Checklist in Excel

The first step in creating a checklist is coming up with a list of items or activity that needs to be confirmed. Here’s what you should do on the Excel spreadsheet:

How to Use Checkboxes in Excel

Here’s how to make a checkbox in Excel which you can tick to indicate that the entry is completed:

Important tip:When formatting a checkbox on a cell, hold theCtrlkey and pressleft-clickto modify or resize the shape of the checkbox instead of ticking it.

  1. If you want to tally the boxes ticked,link the checkboxto another cell.

  2. Right-click a checkbox and selectFormat Control.

  3. Go to theControltab. Head over to theCell Linkoption, type the Cell name you want to link.

You’ll notice that if you tick the checkbox, the linked cell will displayTRUE.

Unchecking it will produceFALSE.

  1. Repeat steps 1 and 2 to the other cells in the column that must be linked.

  2. To get a summary of how many boxes were ticked, click a cell where you want the results displayed. Then, type =COUNTIF(C4:C10,TRUE). ReplaceC4:C10with the beginning and ending cells of cell range.

  3. If you want to hide the column where the TRUE/FALSE values are displayed, click on the column (example: column C). Next, pressright-clickand selectHideat the bottom of the popup menu.

Modify Your Excel Checklist Using Conditional Formatting

Conditional formatting of your spreadsheetcan help your data stand out and make it visually appealing.

  1. Select the cell you want to modify, then click theHometab. Go to the right side of the toolbar and clickConditional Formatting.

  2. SelectNew Rule. It will show several rule types which you can use to edit the selected cell. For now, chooseUse a formula to determine which cells to format.

  3. In the text box below,Edit the Rule Description type =$C4. Next, selectFormatand then selectFill. Go toColorand change the font color of the cell (example: Green). SelectOK.

Note:Don’t forget to modify the cell name. What we used here (C4) is just an example.

  1. Notice that when you tick the linked checkbox next to the cell, the text will turn green.

  2. Repeat steps 1-4 for the rest of the entries.

Important Tip:PressCtrl + Shift keyand drag the cell to where you want to duplicate the checkbox to produce the same result of copy-pasting. This method will also keep the checkboxes aligned.

How to Make an Interactive Excel Checklist

If you want to track your progress on your recipe to-do checklist, integrate the checklist into a percent of tasks completion. Here’s how you do it:

What’s in Your Checklist?

Creating a checklist inMicrosoft Excelcan be fun and help you be excited about the activity or items you want to track. Whether you aremaking a grocery listor creating an inventory for your store, a checklist is one of the best ways to avoid missing any item. Next,create a dropdown list in Exceland make it easier to enter frequently used data in a spreadsheet.

Emma Collins is a freelance writer based in Croatia. She’s been writing articles on Windows, Android, Mac, iOS, social media, gaming, and more as a tech writer for over four years. Before starting as a writer, Emma used to be an English Language Teacher and cultural ambassador in Hokkaido, Japan. Currently, Emma and her husband run a digital marketing agency while doing freelance writing on the side.Read Emma’s Full Bio

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