Help with Excel option button - checked vs unchecked?

[Peter711]

Hi,

I've inserted an option button in Excel 365, and am having trouble understanding what Unchecked vs Checked means/does in the Control tab under the Format Control dialogue box for the option button. Any help is greatly appreciated!

[#2]

@Peter711 

Checked / unchecked literally indicate the current state of the option / checkbox - so if an option box is white the format control shows unchecked and vice versa; if it has a black circle inside, it will show checked.  It's mostly visual, however you can use the cell link option, where the chosen cell will give a true / false value when the option button is checked / unchecked - this means that you can have formulae which incorporate that result.

Hope this helps.

[#3]

@Charla74  Thanks for the reply. I do have a cell linked that displays a number (in my case, either a 1 or a 2, since I have defined two buttons) depending on which button I have checked. I get this part of it. What I'm unclear about is why there is an option to check either Checked or Unchecked in the Control tab. Based on your explanation, it appears that checking either Checked or Unchecked in the Control tab then then is meaningless. It does do anything, is that right?

[#4]

Hi @Peter711

Sorry, yes, the linked cell would represent option buttons with a corresponding number, whereas check boxes are TRUE / FALSE.

Selecting checked / unchecked from Format Control basically just updates the visual representation of the option buttons once you click ok, therefore not meaningless per se but rather an alternative (less efficient) method. 

[#5]

@Charla74 Thanks again. I'm wondering if there is a way that you can set all the option buttons in a group such that when the workbook is opened, only one specific option button is selected.

[#6]

Yes, that can definitely be done - in the Developer tab > Insert menu, where you add the option buttons, there is another item called ‘group’ - select this and draw an outline then add your option buttons to the group - each group will operate independently with one option button per group selectable.

(Side note: when adding buttons, add the first then press CTRL + D to add others)

[#7]

@Charla74 Thanks for the reply. I had already successfully defined groups with different option buttons associated with each group, so no issues there. My question is for a specific group, can I set which option button is selected when the workbook is opened? In other words, I'd like to set it up such that each time the workbook is opened, the same option button is selected by default. Is this possible?

[#8]

@Peter711 

Hi, sorry it's been a while.  You could definitely record a macro to run on opening the file.  When you record the macro, switch the buttons on / off via the format control rather than by mouse click.