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Microsoft Word 2007: Make A Checklist in Word: Step 1: Create A Table in A New Blank Document That Is Saved As A

1) To create a checklist in Word that can be checked electronically, insert check box form fields into a table with the check boxes in one column and text in the other. Lock the form to allow checking boxes by clicking. 2) Alternatively, create a bulleted list with box symbols as bullets to print a checklist that can be checked by hand. 3) Whether using a table or bulleted list, insert symbols from a symbol font as the check boxes and type text next to each box. Format or lock as needed based on electronic vs print checklist.

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79 views5 pages

Microsoft Word 2007: Make A Checklist in Word: Step 1: Create A Table in A New Blank Document That Is Saved As A

1) To create a checklist in Word that can be checked electronically, insert check box form fields into a table with the check boxes in one column and text in the other. Lock the form to allow checking boxes by clicking. 2) Alternatively, create a bulleted list with box symbols as bullets to print a checklist that can be checked by hand. 3) Whether using a table or bulleted list, insert symbols from a symbol font as the check boxes and type text next to each box. Format or lock as needed based on electronic vs print checklist.

Uploaded by

puputadit
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Microsoft Word 2007: Make a Checklist in Word

If you just need a checklist that you can print, you can make a list where each item has a check
box that you can check off on paper. You can also create a list of check boxes and check off
items electronically by opening the document in Word. Details for both included below.

Make a checklist that you can check off in Word


To use check boxes that you can check off in Word, you insert the check box form field into your
document. This looks best if you use a table to align the check boxes with the text, so your first
step is to create a table. After you create the table, you can insert the check boxes in one column
and the text in the other column, and then you can refine the layout. To check off the items, you
lock the form.
The final results would look like the following illustration.

Step 1: Create a table in a new blank document that is saved as a docx


1. On the Insert tab, in the Tables group, click on Insert Table.

2. In the Number of columns box, enter 2.


3. In the Number of rows box, enter the number of rows that you want. You need one row for
each item in your list.
Don't worry about the size of the columns or the border lines in the table. You will fix those
later.

Step 2: Insert the check boxes and text


To add the boxes that you will be able to check, you need to use the Developer tab.
1
To Show the Developer tab if not already on your program, otherwise skip down the Add the
check boxes.

1. Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Word Options.
2. Click Popular. Select the Show Developer tab in the Ribbon check box.
Note: The Ribbon is a component of the Microsoft Office 2007 user interface.

Add the check boxes


1. Click the top left cell in the table that you inserted to put your first check box.

2. On the Developer tab, in the Controls group, click Legacy Tools .

3. Under Legacy Forms, click Check Box Form Field . Add one to each row.
Note: If the check box has a gray background, click Legacy Tools in the Controls group, and
then click Form Field Shading to remove the gray shading. This will change the shading for
all the check boxes at one time.
4. You can also click the next cell where you want to insert a check box, and then press
CTRL+Y to insert another check box.
5. After you insert a check box for each item that you want, click the top right cell and type the
text for the first item in the 2nd column. Repeat this step for each item in the list.

Step 3: Refine the layout


Although you are using the table to lay out the list, you probably want to adjust the spacing so
that the column that contains the check boxes isn't too wide, and the text is lined up close to the
check boxes. You probably don't want the border lines that Word usually includes with the table.
To make these adjustments, do the following:
1. Right-click the table, point to AutoFit, and then click AutoFit to Contents.
2. Right-click the table, click Table Properties, and then click the Table tab.
3. Click the Options button, and in the Left and Right boxes, enter a number that will provide a
little bit of space between the check box and the text, such as .05 inches, and then click OK.
4. On the Table Tools, click the Design tab, click on the drop down arrow under Borders and
then choose Borders and Shading.
5. A dialog box opens, on the Borders tab, under Settings, click None, and then click OK.

2
Note: After you remove the border lines, you may still see gray lines. These are the table
gridlines, and they do not show when the document is printed. To hide the table gridlines on the
screen, click the Layout tab under Table Tools, and in the Table group, click View Gridlines.

Step 4: Lock the form


To check off the items by clicking in the check boxes, you need to lock the form. However,
when the form is locked, you will not be able to make changes to the text or layout, so be sure to
do this step last.
Note: If you want to check the spelling in your list, you must run spell check on the document
before you lock the form.
When you want to edit the document, you can easily unlock the form. Just remember to lock it
again so that you will be able to click the check boxes.

Lock the form


1. Make sure that you are not in design mode by clicking Design Mode in the Controls group
on the Developer tab.

2. On the Developer tab, in the Protect group, click Protect Document, and then click
Restrict Formatting and Editing.
3. In the Restrict Formatting & Editing task pane, under Editing restrictions, select the Allow
only this type of editing in the document check box.
4. In the list of editing restrictions, select Filling in forms.
5. Under Start enforcement, click Yes, Start Enforcing Protection.

6. If you were to create a real form for distribution that you didn’t want to be edited or changed
in any way, you would want to have it password protected. But if you forget the password,
you won’t be able to edit the original document & you would have to start over to create it
again.

7. Save and close the file

3
Unlock the form
1. On the Developer tab, in the Protect group, click Protect Document, and then click
Restrict Formatting and Editing.
2. In the Protect Document task pane, click the Stop Protection button at the bottom.
Note: If you used a password to add protection to the document, you need to type the password
before you can stop the protection. A dialog box will appear to type in your password.

Make a checklist to print


If you just want to create a checklist with check boxes that you will check off on paper, you can
create a list that uses a box symbol as a bullet. You can choose from a variety of box characters.
The way that you create the list depends on whether your document already contains bulleted
lists with different kinds of bullets.

 If your document does not already contain several different kinds of bullets, you can make a
bulleted list by using a custom bullet format.

 If your document already contains several bullet formats, you can prevent altering the
existing bullets by placing the new list in a table.

Create a bulleted list with custom bullets


1. Type your list of items.
2. Select the list.
3. On the Home tab, in the Paragraph group, click the arrow next to Bullets.

4. Click Define New Bullet.

4
5. Click Symbol.
6. In the Font box, click a symbol font that is installed on your computer, such as Wingdings.
7. Scroll through the list of available symbols, and then double-click the box symbol that you
want to use, such as an open box or a three-dimensional box.

Insert the check boxes and text


1. Click the top left cell.
2. On the Insert tab, in the Symbols group, click Symbol, and then click More Symbols.

3. Click the Symbols tab.


4. In the Font box, click a symbol font that is installed on your computer, such as Wingdings.
5. Scroll through the list of available symbols, and then double-click the box symbol that you
want to use, such as an open box or a three-dimensional box. Click Close.
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