How to check a box with the keyboard.

Checking a box usually refers to selecting or marking a checkbox. Checking a box is a quick and simple way to enter data, particularly for yes/no questions. Checkboxes can be used in data analysis to filter or sort data based on whether a box is checked or not. This can help to identify trends or patterns in the data more easily. It also enhances the presentation of data.

In this tutorial, we will discuss two cases:

• Case 1 – Checking a box in Excel. 
• Case 2 – Checking a box in google sheets.

Case – 1 Checking a box in Excel.

Although checkboxes can be added through the Developer tab as well. However, we’ll show you how to first add a check box and then tick the check box using the keyboard commands only. The dataset shown above represents the tasks and the due dates to perform those tasks, we’ll add checkboxes in the Status column and then show you how to check the box from the keyboard. 

Step 1 – Change the font

• Go to the Status column and select all cells of that column.
• Change the font to “WINGDINGS” and press enter.
• This font will be used to produce the empty and filled checkboxes using ALT codes.

Step 2 – Add an empty check box.

• Now go to the first cell of the Status column and double click the cell to enter the editing mode.
• If you are using a keyboard that does not have a dedicated numpad e.g., the laptop keyboard without the numpad, then press alt + fn + 111. This will enter an empty checkbox in the first cell.
• To enter the checkboxes in all the cells, use the fill handle and drag it down to fill the same empty checkboxes in the whole column.

Alternative to Step – 2:

• If you are using a keyboard that has a Numpad, then you can add a checkbox in Excel by pressing only the alt + 111 keys as shown in the image.

Step 3 – Check the boxes.

• You can mark the tick to the boxes by entering the ALT code,  ALT + 0254 through the dedicated numpad, or if you have a keyboard that doesn’t have a numpad then enter the ALT code by using ALT + Fn + 0254 keys as shown in the image.

Case 2 – Checking a box in Google Sheets.

Consider the dataset shown above to learn how to check a box in Google Sheets. This is similar to the previous dataset but is now in Google Sheets.

Step 1 – Checking the box.

• Select the cell with the checkbox. 
• Now press Spacebar and the checkbox will be tick marked. 
• If you want to tick all the checkboxes of that column, then select all cells and press the spacebar again. It will put a tick in all the check boxes simultaneously as shown above.