Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2021 June 19

= June 19 =

How do you get a check mark symbol to appear in an Excel file / spreadsheet?
How do you get a check mark to appear in an Excel file / spreadsheet? What exactly do I have to type in, into the empty cell? I tried using "insert symbols" ... (from Microsoft WORD) ... but they only have a "radical symbol" (and not a "check mark" symbol), as far as I can tell. If it matters, I prefer the fifth one down on this list:

The "Symbol, Other" category of Unicode provides various check marks:



The pre-provided radical symbol in the Microsoft WORD (not Excel) drop-down selection for "Insert Symbols" looks like this symbol here:


 * √ || U+221A ||  or   ||   ||

Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 21:18, 19 June 2021 (UTC)
 * , are you in Windows, Mac OS...? Elizium23 (talk) 00:39, 20 June 2021 (UTC)


 * - Thanks. I use Windows 10 and Microsoft 365 Office.   Thanks.    Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 01:47, 20 June 2021 (UTC)
 * , Microsoft Support: Insert ASCII or Unicode Latin-based symbols and characters Elizium23 (talk) 01:57, 20 June 2021 (UTC)


 * You could also try to copy-and-paste a checkmark into a spreadsheet. It works for me. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 03:04, 20 June 2021 (UTC)


 * Also described explicitly on the Microsoft Support pages.--Phil Holmes (talk) 09:10, 20 June 2021 (UTC)

Thanks, all. I finally did find an "insert symbol" drop-down list in Excel, like they have in Word. There are a million ridiculous symbols to scroll through ... which I am sure are rarely / never used. And you have to select "Wing Dings" as a font to ultimately find the check-mark. I guess that I was assuming ... check-marks being such a common symbol ... that the Excel people would make the check-mark symbol easier to find and to insert. Not knowing any of this -- prior to today -- I have been using the "square root / radical" symbol as the "next best thing" ... for some 20-25 odd years now. Thanks  Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 15:50, 20 June 2021 (UTC)
 * It would be nice if Insert > Symbol was easy to find in Excel (and PowerPoint too), but remember this is the company that gave us ribbons... 93.136.85.186 (talk) 23:29, 20 June 2021 (UTC)


 * Yeah, exactly.  Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 03:17, 21 June 2021 (UTC)
 * "Insert Symbol" has a field for the Unicode value, so once again, you can take your list of Unicode values there, and just insert the number into the "Character Code" field, and voila, no scrolling. Elizium23 (talk) 03:19, 21 June 2021 (UTC)


 * Yes, but one has to know the code first. I guess I am saying that ... amidst the thousands of (extremely) useless symbols in there ... the Excel programmers could have made the very common check-mark symbol much easier to find.   Thanks.   Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 18:15, 21 June 2021 (UTC)
 * You could construct your own Excel file with your favorite symbols embedded in, which you can copy-and-paste anytime you need one. A little tedious, perhaps, but more likely to be satisfactory than badgering Microsoft! ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 22:15, 21 June 2021 (UTC)


 * Thanks. Generally speaking, I don't really ever need any special symbols.  Or, if / when I do, they are very easy to find.  I am (still) surprised at how much they "hid" such a common symbol as the check-mark.  I mean, who would think to look under "Wing Dings" for that?  It should probably be one of the first 4 or 5 symbols that pops up right away.  And, I can hardly believe that I have been using the "square root" symbol for the past 20-25 years, thinking that there was no check-mark symbol available at all.  As far as badgering Microsoft, I assume that would be a fool's errand.  I can barely get help from them, when I really need it.     Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 03:35, 22 June 2021 (UTC)