A list on the back of an envelope works once. A checklist in Word works every time you print it — and because it is grouped into sections, you notice the thing you always forget before you leave the house rather than after.
Group it into sections
Type your title on the first line, select it, and on the Home tab click the Heading 1 style.
Styles apply consistent size and spacing in one click, instead of you adjusting the font by hand.
Type your section names — Documents, Clothes, Medication, Chargers — and give each the Heading 2 style.
Two levels of heading is enough for any checklist and makes the page instantly scannable.
Under each heading, type the items, one per line.
One line per item is what allows a tick box to sit beside each one.
Add real tick boxes
Select all your item lines, then on the Home tab click the small arrow beside the Bullets button and choose Define New Bullet.
The standard round bullet cannot be ticked. You are swapping it for a square outline.
Click Symbol, set the font to Wingdings, pick the empty square (character 168), and click OK twice.
That square prints as a proper tick box, and it stays attached to every item automatically.
Press Enter at the end of any item to get a new one — the box comes with it.
Because it is a bullet rather than a typed character, the list can never drift out of alignment.
Fit it on one page
Press Ctrl+P and look at the preview.
It shows exactly what the printer will do, including any second page you did not want.
If it just overflows, select everything with Ctrl+A and drop the font size by one point.
One point is usually invisible to a reader and often saves a whole sheet of paper.
Save and reuse it
Press Ctrl+S and name it Packing checklist – master.
The word master reminds you which file is the clean one.
Print a copy whenever you need one, rather than editing the file each time.
The paper copy is the disposable one. The file stays untouched and ready.
Check yourself
If you can say yes to each of these, you have finished.
- My checklist has a title and grouped sections.
- Every item has a square box that prints.
- It fits on one page.
- I know which file is the master copy.