How to Use Wingdings in Excel

Wingdings is a dingbat font that enables you to insert a variety of symbols into your Excel documents. Here’s how to use Wingdings in Microsoft Excel:

Inserting Wingdings Symbols:

1. Insert Symbol:
   • Go to the Insert tab on the Ribbon.
   • Click on Symbol in the Text group.
   • In the Symbol dialog box, choose Wingdings from the font dropdown menu.
   • Select the symbol you want to insert and click Insert.
2. Change Font to Wingdings:
   • Type the character that corresponds to the Wingdings symbol you want to use.
   • Highlight the character.
   • Go to the Home tab on the Ribbon.
   • Change the font to Wingdings from the font dropdown menu.

Using the CHAR Function:

You can also use the CHAR function in combination with the Wingdings font to display symbols. However, Wingdings does not map to the standard ASCII or Unicode table, so this method is generally used with fonts that have a known mapping, such as Unicode symbols.

Copy and Paste:

Another quick method is to copy Wingdings symbols from a different source, like a Word document or a web page, and then paste them into Excel. After pasting, you may still need to set the font of the cell to Wingdings:

1. Copy the Wingdings symbol.
2. Paste it into an Excel cell.
3. Highlight the pasted symbol.
4. Change the cell’s font to Wingdings.

Things to Keep in Mind:

• The Wingdings characters will only display correctly on computers that have the Wingdings font installed. This is not typically an issue on Windows PCs where it is installed by default, but it could be a concern if the document is shared across different operating systems.
• When you type using the Wingdings font, normal characters (like letters and numbers) correspond to different symbols. You may need a chart or a reference to find the correct symbols.
• Wingdings symbols can be useful for creating visually intuitive representations in your data. For example, a thumbs-up symbol can represent satisfaction or approval, and can be entered using Wingdings.

Example of Using Wingdings for Checkmarks:

If you want to insert a checkmark or a cross symbol in Excel using Wingdings, you can type the letter “a” for a checkmark, or “r” for a cross, then change the font to Wingdings. Alternatively, you can use the formula:

And set the cell font to Wingdings. Remember that CHAR(252) corresponds to the checkmark in the Wingdings font.

By using these methods, you can add a variety of symbols to your Excel worksheets to improve their appearance or make certain data stand out with visual cues.