Check Mark Symbols

Ticks, boxes and crosses are different tools

People search for “check mark” to mean at least three things: a tick that says something is right, a box they can check, and an X that says something is wrong. Unicode keeps these apart, and picking the right one matters more than picking a pretty one.

The ticks are ✓ (CHECK MARK, U+2713) and ✔ (HEAVY CHECK MARK, U+2714). Both are in the Dingbats block. Next to them are ✗ (BALLOT X) and ✘ (HEAVY BALLOT X), which, despite the name, are the usual wrong or no marks. The word “ballot” in these names is historical: in the old printer’s vocabulary, a ballot paper had a box and either a tick or an X in it, and Unicode kept those names even for the standalone marks.

The ballot box family

For a checklist, the empty box ☐ (U+2610, BALLOT BOX) is the foundation. ☑ (BALLOT BOX WITH CHECK) and ☒ (BALLOT BOX WITH X) are its two completed states. Three more boxed forms sit in the Miscellaneous Symbols and Pictographs area: 🗹 (BALLOT BOX WITH BOLD CHECK), 🗵 (BALLOT BOX WITH BOLD X) and 🗷 (BALLOT BOX WITH BOLD SCRIPT X). Their font coverage is much thinner than ☐ ☑ ☒, since they were added later and many fonts lack them. Use them sparingly and test on a second device.

In a plain text to-do list, a line starting with ☐ and then ☑ when done is readable by anyone, searchable, and survives copy-paste into email. Compare that with an emoji ✅, which is a coloured square picture. Emoji looks clearer on a phone, but it becomes a different thing in a printed document and may not match across platforms.

Why the square root sign is not a tick

Many sites list √ among check marks, and in some situations it is used that way because Windows types it with Alt+251. It is, however, SQUARE ROOT (U+221A), a maths operator. A screen reader says “square root”, a search engine indexes it as maths, and a translated document may treat it as a number-related token. For anything beyond a casual message, prefer ✓.

Text and emoji presentation

Several characters here have an emoji look: ✔ (U+2714), ✖ (U+2716), ☑ (U+2611), and the three emoji-only marks ✅, ❌ and ❎. ✅ ❌ and ❎ are emoji by default and have no text form. ✔, ✖ and ☑ are text by default but have an emoji variant, and phones often display that. Add U+FE0E after the character to request text, or U+FE0F to request emoji. Treat those requests as hints, because some apps strip them.

If you need a tick that is guaranteed to stay in your text colour, choose ✓ (U+2713), ✗ (U+2717) or the ballot boxes ☐ and ☒, none of which has an emoji form.

Where to use which

• Pricing and feature tables. ✓ in a muted colour and a dash for “not included” is cleaner than a wall of emoji. Add a text equivalent such as “included” for screen readers, because a symbol alone is easy to miss.
• LinkedIn, bios and resumes. A tick before short achievements works as a bullet. Platforms allow ordinary Unicode in text fields, but rules vary and can change, and some applicant-tracking software strips unusual characters. For resumes, plain bullets are safer; see the bullet points page.
• Forms. A real HTML checkbox beats any symbol. A symbol is for a printed form, a PDF or a document template.
• Chat. ✅ and ❌ are the common pair for done and not done. They carry colour, which is the point.

How to type a check mark

1. Windows, Word. Type 2713 then press Alt and X for ✓. Type 2714 for ✔, 2611 for ☑ and 2612 for ☒.
2. Windows Alt code. Alt+251 types √, which is the square root sign. No Alt code exists for the real ticks.
3. Windows emoji panel. Windows key plus the period key, then search “check” for ✅ and ✔️.
4. Mac. Control, Command and Space opens the Character Viewer; search check or ballot.
5. iPhone and Android. The emoji keyboard has ✅ ✔️ ❌ ❎. For plain ✓, copy from this page or use a text replacement shortcut.
6. HTML. ✓ gives ✓ and ✔ gives ✔.

Accessibility

Screen readers announce the Unicode name, so ✓ is “check mark”, ✔ is “heavy check mark”, ☑ is “ballot box with check”, and ✅ is “check mark button”. Names vary by reader. A tick on its own can be missed or announced in an odd place. If a table cell is just ✓, add a visually hidden word such as “included” so the meaning is available without relying on the symbol. For forms, use real labelled checkboxes. The fancy text accessibility guide covers symbols in more detail.

Font coverage

The Dingbat ticks and crosses and the basic ballot boxes ☐ ☑ ☒ are widely installed. The boxed forms from the pictograph blocks are not, and they may appear as empty boxes in older software. If you see that, our boxes guide lists what to try. For the opposite mark in a religious or typographic sense, see the cross symbols page, which covers a different family.