How do I type a tick symbol?

Whether you’re checking off a digital gift list or marking your kid’s homework, a tick symbol is a useful addition to your keyboard armoury. But where on earth is it? Here’s how to type a tick symbol in Windows and macOS.

The short answer is: with great difficulty. For some reason, neither Microsoft nor Apple has made it easy to insert a check mark. The processes below are, therefore, a tad clunky. So, if you’re just after a quick tick or cross symbol, copy and paste the symbols below…

Light tick: ✓ Heavy tick: ✔ Green tick: ✅ Tick in a box: ☑ Light cross: ✕ Heavy cross: ✖  Light italic cross: ✗ Heavy italic cross: ✘

Tick mark in Windows

If you’re after a more permanent solution for Windows, prepare to dust off your keyboard’s number pad – or to click through multiple windows – to produce a check mark.

If you’re working in Microsoft Office and are the proud owner of a number pad, select the Windings font from the dropdown, hold down Alt and type “0252” into the right-hand number pad. Ta-da!

If you’re not blessed with a number pad, select the Insert tab within Word/PowerPoint/Excel, click on the Insert symbol | More Symbols… and then choose the tick symbol. Microsoft has even produced a video showing you how to do it, which is maybe a clue that there should be an easier way…

For all other applications, I recommend the copy and paste method using the symbols above or elsewhere. To save coming back to this article, you may want to copy and paste them into Windows’ Sticky Notes. Sure, it’ll take a couple of seconds, but it’s a lot less messy than fiddling with symbol lists.

Tick mark in macOS

If time is of the essence, there is a clunky solution for Apple devotees: Alt+V. This will produce a square root symbol (√), no matter what program you’re using. And it sort of looks like a tick, right? Right?

If that just won’t cut the mustard, I again recommend simply copying and pasting the symbols further up this article. Yes, it’s a cop-out, but it’s much better than trawling through menus every time – or, even worse, wasting precious minutes creating a text shortcut that will work barely anywhere.

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