How do I setup a cell in Excel as a checkbox w/o a form/activex c.

A

Arno Rite

I want a cell to be formatted as a checkbox. I don't want to use form or
activex controls. Is this doable?
 
N

Norman Jones

Hi Arno,

Perhaps, size the cell appropriately, add a box border and set the cell's
font to martlett. Then entering a lower case letter a or b will show a tick
symbol. For a negative symbol, try using a lower case r.
 
D

Dave Peterson

One more option:

Maybe just give the cell a custom format.

Format the cells by:
selecting them
format|cells|number tab|custom category
In the "type:" box, put this:

alt-0252;alt-0252;alt-0252;alt-0252

But hit and hold the alt key while you're typing the 0252 from the numeric
keypad.

It should look something like this when you're done.
ü;ü;ü;ü
(umlaut over the lower case u separated by semicolons)

And format that range of cells as Wingdings.

Now, no matter what you type (spacebar, x, anyoldtextatall), you'll see a check
mark.

Hit the delete key on the keyboard to clear the cell.

If you have to use that "checkmark" in later formulas:

=if(a1="","no checkmark","Yes checkmark")

You can just see if the cell is empty.
 
A

Arno Rite

Excellent solution, Dave! This works great! Thanks a million for this!

Now if the developers at Microsoft would make simple and common tasks like
this straightforward to begin with, we could actually do more work and less
figuring out how to make things work they way they're supposed to!
 
A

Arno Rite

Not sure what AFAIK means (All Fools Are Into Kites). Like I told my son,
give me an acronym and I'll murder it for you. :)

Anyway, tjtjjtjt, you may want to see Dave Peterson's response. He's got
this figured out!
 
R

Roger T.

Dave,

When I try to enter the alt-2052; nothing appears in the text box. Any
guesses ast to what I might be doing wrong? I've tried pasting in ü;ü;ü;ü
from at text file, and from the Windows character map, but those don't seem
to have the desired effect.
 
R

Roger T.

Thanks Dave. That works. Turns out I had two problems:

1. The alt key on my laptop is not configured like that of most "regular"
keyboards. When I press the alt key, no text is written to the screen. I
attached an external one to work around this problem.

2. I didn't understand that the checkmark only shows up AFTER the user
presses the enter key.

So now I have another question: How do I sum (count) the number of boxes
checked in a column?
 
D

Dave Peterson

I see the u-umlaut in the formulabar as soon as I let go of the alt key. The
checkmark appears in the cell, then, too.

if there's nothing else in that range:
=counta(a1:a10)

If there might be someother stuff in that range:
=countif(a1:a10,char(252))
Thanks Dave. That works. Turns out I had two problems:

1. The alt key on my laptop is not configured like that of most "regular"
keyboards. When I press the alt key, no text is written to the screen. I
attached an external one to work around this problem.

2. I didn't understand that the checkmark only shows up AFTER the user
presses the enter key.

So now I have another question: How do I sum (count) the number of boxes
checked in a column?
Click to expand...
 
R

Roger T.

Excellent! Thanks for your help!


Dave Peterson said:
I see the u-umlaut in the formulabar as soon as I let go of the alt key. The
checkmark appears in the cell, then, too.

if there's nothing else in that range:
=counta(a1:a10)

If there might be someother stuff in that range:
=countif(a1:a10,char(252))
Click to expand...
 
P

Paperback Writer

My keyboard wouldn't work. I had to copy paste the umlaut u's.

ü;ü;ü;ü

Otherwise, that wouldn't work with my keyboard.

Still, this is a great tip!
 
G

Gord Dibben

You sure you used the NumPad and not the number keys above qwertyuiop?

Or are you using a laptop?


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP
 
P

Paperback Writer

I am using a Dell USB keyboard on a desktop computer. I did use the numeric
keypad. It wouldn't work.
 
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