Insert a Check Mark or Tick Mark in PowerPoint for Windows

Do you want to insert a check mark, which is also called a tick mark, in your slides? Very often, this symbol indicates a task is done, and you may want to add it as part of your regular text in text placeholders and boxes, shapes, tables, and even charts. Fortunately, it is very easy to complete this task in most versions of PowerPoint for Windows. There may be slight differences, depending upon whether you are using a newer or older version of PowerPoint, but even then, the process is very similar. Using one of these options, you will be able to add a check mark or tick mark in PowerPoint.

We will look at four ways to add a check mark in PowerPoint:

1. Use an Alt key combination
2. Use the Symbol dialog box
3. Use the Character Map
4. Create an AutoCorrect entry

1. Use an Alt key combination

It's no longer easy to add a check mark using an Alt key combination in PowerPoint, because when you press the Alt key, and type numbers, this activates commands on the Quick Access Toolbar. Fortunately, you can still use Notepad with the Alt key trick, as long as you have a separate number pad on your keyboard:

1. Launch Notepad, as shown in Figure 1, below.
2. 
   Figure 1: Place your insertion point in Notepad
2. Now, hold the Alt key while you type 0252 on the number pad of your keyboard to insert an ü (u umlaut) character (see Figure 2, below).
3. 
   Figure 2: Add an ü (u umlaut) character in Notepad
3. Now, copy this character and paste into your PowerPoint slide, as shown in Figure 3, below.
4. 
   Figure 3: Paste the u umlaut character in PowerPoint
4. Select this u umlaut character in PowerPoint, and change the font to Wingdings, as shown in Figure 4, below. You will notice that the u umlaut character changed to a check mark (tick mark) symbol.
5. 
   Figure 4: Change the font to Wingdings

Wingdings, Wingdings 2, and Dingbats

Are you wondering why an alphabetical character changed into a symbol? That's because we chose the Wingdings font, a font that comprises dingbat characters for every keystroke you type!

Wingdings has been part of Microsoft Windows since Windows 3.1. After the success of Wingdings, Microsoft created Wingdings 2 and Wingdings 3 too. Do note though that to add this check mark symbol, you must use Wingdings, and not Wingdings 2 or Wingdings 3.

2. Use the Symbol dialog box

To access the check mark character from the Symbol dialog box, follow these steps:

1. In PowerPoint, click within any text container object to place your insertion point, as shown in Figure 5, below.
2. 
   Figure 5: Place your insertion point
2. Now access the Insert tab of the Ribbon, and click the Symbol button, as shown in Figure 6, below.
3. 
   Figure 6: Click the Symbol button
3. This brings up the Symbol dialog box, that you can see in Figure 7, below.
4. 
   Figure 7: The Symbol dialog box
4. Make sure you change the font to Wingdings in the Font dropdown list, highlighted in green in Figure 7, above. Scroll down the preview area to find the check mark character, shown highlighted in red within Figure 7, above. You then press the Insert key, highlighted in blue to place your check mark in PowerPoint.
Tip: Double-click any character to quickly add it to your insertion point in PowerPoint. You can double-click characters in succession, one after the other, to add multiple characters even faster this way.

3. Use the Character Map

Character Map is not an option within PowerPoint, but a small program that is built-in within Microsoft Windows. To bring up Character Map, you can bring up the Run dialog box from the Windows Start menu, as shown in Figure 8, below.

Figure 8: Bring up Character Map from the Run dialog box

Next type in "charmap" without the quotes, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 8. Now click the OK button.

This will bring up the Character Map program, as can be seen in Figure 9, below.

Figure 9: Character Map

Now follow these steps:

1. Click the Font dropdown list, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 9, above. Choose the Wingdings font.
2. Now, locate the check mark symbol, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 10, below.
3. 
   Figure 10: Advanced view in Character Map
3. Now, click the Select button, highlighted in blue within Figure 10, above.
4. Now the Copy button is available, as seen highlighted in red within Figure 11, below. You can click the Copy button, and navigate to PowerPoint or any other open application, and paste it there.
5. 
   Figure 11: Copy from the Character Map
5. When you paste, you may not see the check mark (tick mark) as expected. You may see the ü umlaut character in PowerPoint. To see the check mark (tick mark), please select the ü umlaut character, and change the font to Wingdings.

Sometimes, you may find that the font size of your pasted check mark character in PowerPoint may be different that the nearby text. In that case, make sure you match the font size of the text pasted.

4. Create an AutoCorrect entry

Finally, you can create an AutoCorrect entry that lets you add a check mark quickly, with a shortcut. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Click the File button to bring up Backstage view. Then click the Options link to bring up the PowerPoint Options dialog box that you see in Figure 12.
2. 
   Figure 12: PowerPoint Options
2. Select the Proofing tab in the sidebar and click the AutoCorrect Options button, as highlighted in red within Figure 10, above.
3. This will bring up the AutoCorrect dialog box, as shown in Figure 13, below. Select the AutoCorrect tab, and type in your shortcut in the Replace box, highlighted in red within Figure 13. We typed _/, that is an underscore followed by a slash.
4. 
   Figure 13: AutoCorrect dialog box
4. In the With box, we typed in an u umlaut. You can use any technique, or just copy this character (ü). Paste this character within the With box, highlighted in blue in Figure 13. Next, click the OK button, highlighted in green.
5. This will bring you back to the PowerPoint Options dialog box. Click the OK button.

Now, whenever you type _/, PowerPoint will replace these characters with an u umlaut. In case you don't want the _/ characters to be replaced with an u umlaut, press Ctrl + Z to undo. To see the check mark (tick mark) rather than the u umlaut, change the font to Winngdings. Also, do note that any AutoCorrect entry you create will work in all Microsoft applications, such as Word, Excel, Outlook, etc.