Check mark meaning and variants
A check mark (or tick) means yes, correct, done or approved. Unicode has several: ✓ is the light check mark (U+2713), ✔︎ is the heavy check mark, ☑︎ is a ballot box with a check, and ✅︎ is the green emoji, officially "white heavy check mark". For checklists, pair them with the empty box ☐ and the crossed box ☒, or with X marks like ✗ and ❌︎.
The square root sign √ looks like a tick and is easy to type on a Mac, but it is a math symbol and may look odd next to text. ⍻ ("not check mark") comes from the APL programming language. Ticks are not universal either: in Japan and Korea, a circle ○ marks a correct answer and × a wrong one.
Insert a check mark in Word, Excel and Google Docs
In Microsoft Word, type 2713 and press Alt + X for ✓, or 2714 for ✔︎. Two classic font tricks also work: type a capital P and change its font to Wingdings 2, or type ü and change its font to Wingdings. Both show a check mark, but only while that font is applied, so they break if you paste the text elsewhere.
In Excel (2013 and later) and Google Sheets, the formula =UNICHAR(10003) returns ✓ and =UNICHAR(10004) returns ✔︎. Google Sheets also has Insert > Checkbox for a real clickable box. In Google Docs, use Insert > Special characters and search "check", or use the checklist button in the toolbar to make a list you can tick off.
Shortcuts on Mac, Windows and phones
There is no Windows Alt code for ✓, but Win + . opens the emoji panel, where you can search "check" for ✅︎ and ✔️. On a Mac, Option + V types √, not a real check mark, so open the Character Viewer with Control + Command + Space and search "check" instead. On iPhone and Android, search "check" in the emoji keyboard.
In HTML, use ✓ or ✓ for ✓, and in LaTeX use \checkmark from the amssymb package. For X marks of every style, see the X symbols page, and for profile-style ticks, the verified symbols.