How to add checkmarks to text in Google Sheets

You can watch a video tutorial here.

In Google Sheets, you can add checkmarks to the text within a cell. You may have a list of tasks that you want to mark as completed by ticking them off. Manually inserting a checkmark in each cell is time-consuming. In Google Sheets, this can be done by formatting the text so that a checkmark is inserted before the text in each cell.  As the checkmark is not readily available in Google Sheets it has to be copied from Google Docs.

Step 1 – Go to the Special characters option in Google Docs

– In Google Docs, create a blank document
– Go to Insert > Special characters

Step 2 – Insert the image

– Search for the checkmark images by typing ‘check’ in the Search box
– Select any one of the images that are displayed
– The image is inserted in the Google document

Step 3 – Copy the image

– Select the image that has been inserted into Google Docs
– Copy the image by right-clicking and selecting Copy  or press Ctrl+C

Step 4 – Select the list in Google Sheets

– Navigate back to the Google Sheet
– Select the range of cells where the checkmarks are to be inserted

Step 5 – Open the Custom number formats box

– Go to Format > Number > Custom number format

Step 6 – Create the custom number format

– Place the cursor in the Custom number format box and press Ctrl+V to paste the image of the checkmark
– Type ‘@’
– Click Apply

Step 7 – Check the result

– The list has been formatted with checkmarks at the start of the text in each cell