In this tutorial, you will learn how to make a checklist in google sheets.
In addition to its many uses for performing calculations and aggregating and visualizing data, Google Sheets is also a powerful tool for organization and task management. One simple yet effective way to use Google Sheets for task management and organization is to create a checklist. Read on to learn how to quickly make a checklist in Google Sheets and start using it right away to help keep organized.
Checklist Setup
Checklists are quick to set up in Google Sheets. Here’s how:
Step 1
In a blank spreadsheet, type headers for TASK, STATUS, and any other information you want to include in the checklist, such as NOTES, or ASSIGNEE
Step 2
Under the TASK header, enter a short name or description for each item in the list. You can always add more later so don’t worry about remembering everything now.
Step 3
The next step is to select all the cells in the column under STATUS. First, select the entire STATUS column by clicking the column letter label at the top of the STATUS column
Step 4
Hold down control on your keyboard and click on the cell containing the STATUS header: Cell B1 in the screenshot below. This will remove the header cell from the selection
Step 5
Open the Insert menu and choose Checkbox
Step 6
Checkboxes will be inserted in all cells in the status column
Adding and Completing Items
Once the checklist is set up, it’s very easy to use and update. Here’s how:
Step 1
To check off an item on the list, simply click on the checkbox beside it to mark that item complete
Step 2
New items can always be added by simply typing them at the end of the list. Or if you want to add items in the middle of the list, newly inserted rows will also contain checkboxes in the status column if if the rows above and below also do
Adding and Completing Items
As you complete more tasks, you may find the number of completed tasks at the top of the checklist starts reducing productivity. Don’t worry if this happens, you can sort the list to move those to the end with these steps:
Step 1
Select a cell or cells in the STATUS column and open the Data menu, then hover over Sort Sheet and choose Sort Sheet by column (A to Z)
Step 2
The sheet will be sorted with completed items at the end. Note that if you have a large number of blank rows in the spreadsheet, the completed tasks will be all the way at the bottom past the blank rows. Simply scroll to the bottom to see them.
Summary
Example Spreadsheet: Make a copy of the example spreadsheet
In this tutorial, I covered how to make a checklist in google sheets. Want more? Check out all the Google Sheets Tutorials.