When to use it
- More than one answer can be true at once — features used, channels seen, symptoms felt.
- You want to measure reach or breadth across a set of options.
- You’re building a shortlist respondents will refine in a later question.
- The realistic answer for some people is “several of these.”
When to reach for something else
- Only one answer can be correct — use single-select multiple choice.
- You need respondents to prioritize among choices — use ranking or MaxDiff.
- You want a single number to trend over time — percentages that can exceed 100% are harder to headline.
Sample question
“Which of the following streaming services do you currently pay for? Select all that apply.”
Best practices
- Say “select all that apply” in the prompt so people know multiple picks are allowed.
- Add a mutually exclusive “None of these” that clears the other selections when chosen.
- Cap the practical list length — long checkbox grids invite straight-lining.
- Randomize non-ordinal options to remove top-of-list bias.
- Consider a max-selections limit when you want a forced shortlist.
Data & reporting
Responses store an array of selected option ids. Exports join the chosen labels into one cell (semicolon-separated), with any “Other” write-in appended. Reports count each option independently, so percentages are of respondents and can total more than 100% — read them as “X% selected this.”
Accessibility
Rendered as a labeled group of native checkboxes: each is toggled with Space, reachable by Tab, and announced with its label and checked state. The group’s question text labels the whole set for screen readers.
Compared to SurveyMonkey
Feature-parity for basic multi-select; Surveti adds an optional max-selection limit and a mutually-exclusive “None” toggle without custom scripting.
Frequently asked questions
Why do my checkbox percentages add up to more than 100%?
Because each respondent can pick several options, every option is counted against the number of respondents independently. A total above 100% is expected and correct for multi-select questions.
Can I limit how many boxes someone ticks?
Yes — set a maximum number of selections when you want respondents to narrow down to a shortlist rather than tick everything.
How do I stop people picking “None” and other options together?
Mark “None of these” as mutually exclusive. Selecting it clears any other checked boxes, keeping the data clean.