# Checklist Maker - Tick, Reorder, Save in Your Browser, Share as Text

Page: https://hirantha.me/tools/checklist-maker
Part of: Hirantha Sandaruwan Lakshan free tools (https://hirantha.me/tools)
Updated: 2026-10-15

Make checklists that save in your browser: tick, edit, reorder, see progress, and share as plain text or Markdown. Starter lists included. Nothing is uploaded.

This is a free tool that runs in the browser: open the page to use it. File tools process files on the visitor's own device; files are never uploaded or stored. No account, sign-up, payment or watermark.

Type an item and press Enter. Tick items off, edit them, move them up and down, and watch the progress bar fill. Keep several lists, start from a packing, shopping or exam revision template, and copy a list as plain text or Markdown to send to someone. It saves in this browser and nothing is uploaded.

Enter adds an item. Tick it with the checkbox or the Space key, edit it with Edit, move it with Up and Down, and remove it with Delete. On an item's checkbox, the Delete key removes it and Alt+Up or Alt+Down moves it. After a delete, keyboard focus goes to the item that moved into the gap, else the one before it, else the add box, and an Undo button puts the item back where it was. Clear completed and Uncheck all offer Undo as well. Reordering uses buttons rather than dragging. WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.5.7 (Dragging Movements, level AA) asks that anything done by dragging can also be done by a single pointer without dragging, and buttons work for a keyboard, a screen reader and a touch screen alike.

The bar shows items ticked out of all items. The percentage is rounded down, so 1 of 3 shows 33%, 2 of 3 shows 66%, and it only reads 100% when every item is ticked. An empty list shows 0 of 0. Clear completed removes every ticked item and Uncheck all removes every tick. You can keep up to 50 lists of up to 500 items each, chosen from the list menu.

Three starter templates are plain lists written for this page: a packing list of 16 items, weekly shopping of 16 items, and exam revision of 12 steps. A template makes a new list that you can edit, and never changes your other lists. Export gives you the list in two forms. Plain text puts the list name first, then [ ] for an open item and [x] for a done one. Markdown gives a heading and a GitHub style task list, with - [ ] and - [x], which is the task list syntax of the GitHub Flavored Markdown spec.

Import reads one item per line. At the start of a line it understands - [ ], - [x], * [ ], [ ], [x], [X] (each followed by a space, as in GitHub Flavored Markdown) and a bare -, * or +. Anything else becomes an item as it stands. Blank lines and --- rules are skipped. A first line starting with # becomes the list name, and so does a first line with no marker when every other line has one, which is the shape of the plain text export. Exporting a list and importing it again gives back the same items and ticks, which the tests check over thousands of generated lists.

Your lists are saved in this browser's localStorage under one key, about a third of a second after each change, and the saved data is read before anything is written so a blank page cannot replace your lists. If saved data cannot be read, a copy is kept for you to download. Storage space is limited (MDN gives 5 MiB per origin) and the page tells you if a change could not be saved. The panel at the bottom says exactly what is stored and has a Delete saved data button.

Q: Where is my checklist saved?
A: In your browser's localStorage on this device, under the key hsl:kit:checklist:v1. It is not sent to a server. Clearing site data, or using another browser, device or private window, loses it, so use the export to keep a copy.

Q: Can I drag items to reorder them?
A: No. Items move with the Up and Down buttons, or Alt+Up and Alt+Down on an item's checkbox. Buttons work with a keyboard, a screen reader and a touch screen, and WCAG 2.2 asks that anything done by dragging can also be done without dragging.

Q: How do I share a checklist with someone?
A: Choose Plain text or Markdown under Share or export, then copy it or download it as a file. The other person can paste it into their own checklist with Import, or read it as it is. The list is not shared live.

Q: Which formats can I import?
A: One item per line, with or without - [ ], - [x], * [ ], [ ], [x], [X] or a bare -, * or + at the start. Blank lines and --- rules are skipped. A first line starting with # is used as the list name.

Q: How is the percentage worked out?
A: Ticked items divided by all items, as a whole number rounded down. That way 99 of 100 shows 99% and the bar only shows 100% when every single item is done.

Q: I deleted an item by mistake. Can I get it back?
A: Yes, right away: press Undo, which appears under the list after a delete and puts the item back in its place. Clear completed and Uncheck all have an Undo too. Once you make another change to the list the Undo goes away.

Q: Is my list private?
A: Nothing is sent anywhere, but the list is stored as plain text in this browser, so anyone who uses this browser profile could read it. Avoid putting passwords or other secrets in a list on a shared computer.

Sources: GitHub Flavored Markdown spec: task list items (https://github.github.com/gfm/); W3C WCAG 2.2: Understanding Success Criterion 2.5.7, Dragging Movements (https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG22/Understanding/dragging-movements.html); MDN: Storage quotas and eviction criteria (https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Storage_API/Storage_quotas_and_eviction_criteria); MDN: the storage event (https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Window/storage_event)

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