Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Checkboxes in a Merged Document.

Checkboxes in a Merged Document

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated March 27, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016


2

Saul has to do a merge where the merge document contains a series of checkboxes. He would like the checkboxes to have checkmarks in them based on a Y or N in the data source being merged.

This is relatively easy to do, if you know how to create the merge field that will do the checkboxes. For example, let's say that the field in the data source that will contain the Y or N designation is called "checkbox". You could create a merge field similar to the following:

{ IF { MERGEFIELD checkbox }= "Y" "A" "B" }

To make the field do what you want, you need to replace the A and B characters with, respectively, a checked checkbox and an unchecked checkbox. There are a variety of these that you can use, all accessible by the Insert Symbol dialog box. Just insert the characters in place of A and B in the above, and you should get the desired characters when you perform the actual merge.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (10899) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Checkboxes in a Merged Document.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Searching for Breaks

Word allows you to insert different types of breaks in your text that help control how your document is paginated. If you ...

Discover More

Using Stored Views

After creating different views of your worksheet data, you can display those views by simply selecting which one you want ...

Discover More

Pulling First Letters from Parenthetical Text

When working with text in Excel, you can slice and dice it in many ways. This tip shows how to pull first letters from ...

Discover More

Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Getting Rid of Mail Merge Section Breaks

When you create a group of documents from a merge file, Word normally inserts section breaks between iterations of the ...

Discover More

Conditionally Adding a Period in a Mail Merge

When merging data into a Word document, you may want to add information to the document based on an evaluation of what is ...

Discover More

Proper Comparisons for Dates in Merge Fields

How Word merges a data source with a document is controlled by merge fields. In those fields you may want to compare ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is nine minus 5?

2021-11-01 12:49:47

Mike

Wait it does work as per this articles instructions! Just have to be exact when doing your brackets, by using ctl+F9


2021-11-01 12:38:28

Mike

This does not work, as per your key word "Should." thank you though.


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.