Resizing Checkboxes

When working in VBA, one of the things you can create is known as a "user form." These forms provide you with the ability to essentially create your own dialog boxes. You can add many different types of controls to a user form, if desired. For instance, you can add labels, text boxes, drop-down lists, radio buttons, and many other controls. Some of the controls you can resize; others you cannot. One that you cannot resize is a checkbox. While you can modify the font size used for the label next to the checkbox, you cannot resize the checkbox itself.

If you find the checkboxes in your user forms too small for your taste, you can "work around" them by simulating a checkbox. You do this by actually creating a label instead of a checkbox. Then, change the properties of the label so that it has a transparent background, and that the font being used is Wingdings. You should also make sure that the font is set to a large size, such as 20 or 26 points.

Now, double-click on your label, which should open a code window. The event that you are programming is the Click event for the label, which means it will be executed whenever the label is clicked. Use this as your code:

Private Sub Label1_Click()
    If Label1.Caption = Chr(254) Then
        Label1.Caption = Chr(168)
    Else
        Label1.Caption = Chr(254)
    End If
End Sub

In the Wingding font, Chr(254) is box with a checkmark, and Chr(168) is a box with no checkmark. When you execute the user form and click on the label, it switches between an empty box and a checked box. You can also add other code to the Click event that performs other tasks, as necessary.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2282) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Resizing Checkboxes.