If you have multiple options appearing in a list, you can preserve space by using checkboxes instead of on/off switches. If you have a single option, avoid using a checkbox and use an on/off switch instead.

Basic checkboxes

import * as React from 'react';
import Checkbox from '@mui/material/Checkbox';

const label = { inputProps: { 'aria-label': 'Checkbox demo' } };

export default function Checkboxes() {
  return (
    <div>
      <Checkbox {...label} defaultChecked />
      <Checkbox {...label} />
      <Checkbox {...label} disabled />
      <Checkbox {...label} disabled checked />
    </div>
  );
}

Label

You can provide a label to the Checkbox thanks to the FormControlLabel component.

Label

Required *

Disabled

import * as React from 'react';
import FormGroup from '@mui/material/FormGroup';
import FormControlLabel from '@mui/material/FormControlLabel';
import Checkbox from '@mui/material/Checkbox';

export default function CheckboxLabels() {
  return (
    <FormGroup>
      <FormControlLabel control={<Checkbox defaultChecked />} label="Label" />
      <FormControlLabel required control={<Checkbox />} label="Required" />
      <FormControlLabel disabled control={<Checkbox />} label="Disabled" />
    </FormGroup>
  );
}

Size

Use the size prop or customize the font size of the svg icons to change the size of the checkboxes.

import * as React from 'react';
import Checkbox from '@mui/material/Checkbox';

const label = { inputProps: { 'aria-label': 'Checkbox demo' } };

export default function SizeCheckboxes() {
  return (
    <div>
      <Checkbox {...label} defaultChecked size="small" />
      <Checkbox {...label} defaultChecked />
      <Checkbox
        {...label}
        defaultChecked
        sx={{ '& .MuiSvgIcon-root': { fontSize: 28 } }}
      />
    </div>
  );
}

Color

import * as React from 'react';
import { pink } from '@mui/material/colors';
import Checkbox from '@mui/material/Checkbox';

const label = { inputProps: { 'aria-label': 'Checkbox demo' } };

export default function ColorCheckboxes() {
  return (
    <div>
      <Checkbox {...label} defaultChecked />
      <Checkbox {...label} defaultChecked color="secondary" />
      <Checkbox {...label} defaultChecked color="success" />
      <Checkbox {...label} defaultChecked color="default" />
      <Checkbox
        {...label}
        defaultChecked
        sx={{
          color: pink[800],
          '&.Mui-checked': {
            color: pink[600],
          },
        }}
      />
    </div>
  );
}

Icon

import * as React from 'react';
import Checkbox from '@mui/material/Checkbox';
import FavoriteBorder from '@mui/icons-material/FavoriteBorder';
import Favorite from '@mui/icons-material/Favorite';
import BookmarkBorderIcon from '@mui/icons-material/BookmarkBorder';
import BookmarkIcon from '@mui/icons-material/Bookmark';

const label = { inputProps: { 'aria-label': 'Checkbox demo' } };

export default function IconCheckboxes() {
  return (
    <div>
      <Checkbox {...label} icon={<FavoriteBorder />} checkedIcon={<Favorite />} />
      <Checkbox
        {...label}
        icon={<BookmarkBorderIcon />}
        checkedIcon={<BookmarkIcon />}
      />
    </div>
  );
}

Controlled

You can control the checkbox with the checked and onChange props:

import * as React from 'react';
import Checkbox from '@mui/material/Checkbox';

export default function ControlledCheckbox() {
  const [checked, setChecked] = React.useState(true);

  const handleChange = (event: React.ChangeEvent<HTMLInputElement>) => {
    setChecked(event.target.checked);
  };

  return (
    <Checkbox
      checked={checked}
      onChange={handleChange}
      inputProps={{ 'aria-label': 'controlled' }}
    />
  );
}

Indeterminate

A checkbox input can only have two states in a form: checked or unchecked. It either submits its value or doesn't. Visually, there are three states a checkbox can be in: checked, unchecked, or indeterminate.

Parent

Child 1Child 2

import * as React from 'react';
import Box from '@mui/material/Box';
import Checkbox from '@mui/material/Checkbox';
import FormControlLabel from '@mui/material/FormControlLabel';

export default function IndeterminateCheckbox() {
  const [checked, setChecked] = React.useState([true, false]);

  const handleChange1 = (event: React.ChangeEvent<HTMLInputElement>) => {
    setChecked([event.target.checked, event.target.checked]);
  };

  const handleChange2 = (event: React.ChangeEvent<HTMLInputElement>) => {
    setChecked([event.target.checked, checked[1]]);
  };

  const handleChange3 = (event: React.ChangeEvent<HTMLInputElement>) => {
    setChecked([checked[0], event.target.checked]);
  };

  const children = (
    <Box sx={{ display: 'flex', flexDirection: 'column', ml: 3 }}>
      <FormControlLabel
        label="Child 1"
        control={<Checkbox checked={checked[0]} onChange={handleChange2} />}
      />
      <FormControlLabel
        label="Child 2"
        control={<Checkbox checked={checked[1]} onChange={handleChange3} />}
      />
    </Box>
  );

  return (
    <div>
      <FormControlLabel
        label="Parent"
        control={
          <Checkbox
            checked={checked[0] && checked[1]}
            indeterminate={checked[0] !== checked[1]}
            onChange={handleChange1}
          />
        }
      />
      {children}
    </div>
  );
}

:::warning When indeterminate is set, the value of the checked prop only impacts the form submitted values. It has no accessibility or UX implications. :::

FormGroup

FormGroup is a helpful wrapper used to group selection control components.

Assign responsibility

Gilad GrayJason KillianAntoine Llorca

Be careful

Pick two *

Gilad GrayJason KillianAntoine Llorca

You can display an error

import * as React from 'react';
import Box from '@mui/material/Box';
import FormLabel from '@mui/material/FormLabel';
import FormControl from '@mui/material/FormControl';
import FormGroup from '@mui/material/FormGroup';
import FormControlLabel from '@mui/material/FormControlLabel';
import FormHelperText from '@mui/material/FormHelperText';
import Checkbox from '@mui/material/Checkbox';

export default function CheckboxesGroup() {
  const [state, setState] = React.useState({
    gilad: true,
    jason: false,
    antoine: false,
  });

  const handleChange = (event: React.ChangeEvent<HTMLInputElement>) => {
    setState({
      ...state,
      [event.target.name]: event.target.checked,
    });
  };

  const { gilad, jason, antoine } = state;
  const error = [gilad, jason, antoine].filter((v) => v).length !== 2;

  return (
    <Box sx={{ display: 'flex' }}>
      <FormControl sx={{ m: 3 }} component="fieldset" variant="standard">
        <FormLabel component="legend">Assign responsibility</FormLabel>
        <FormGroup>
          <FormControlLabel
            control={
              <Checkbox checked={gilad} onChange={handleChange} name="gilad" />
            }
            label="Gilad Gray"
          />
          <FormControlLabel
            control={
              <Checkbox checked={jason} onChange={handleChange} name="jason" />
            }
            label="Jason Killian"
          />
          <FormControlLabel
            control={
              <Checkbox checked={antoine} onChange={handleChange} name="antoine" />
            }
            label="Antoine Llorca"
          />
        </FormGroup>
        <FormHelperText>Be careful</FormHelperText>
      </FormControl>
      <FormControl
        required
        error={error}
        component="fieldset"
        sx={{ m: 3 }}
        variant="standard"
      >
        <FormLabel component="legend">Pick two</FormLabel>
        <FormGroup>
          <FormControlLabel
            control={
              <Checkbox checked={gilad} onChange={handleChange} name="gilad" />
            }
            label="Gilad Gray"
          />
          <FormControlLabel
            control={
              <Checkbox checked={jason} onChange={handleChange} name="jason" />
            }
            label="Jason Killian"
          />
          <FormControlLabel
            control={
              <Checkbox checked={antoine} onChange={handleChange} name="antoine" />
            }
            label="Antoine Llorca"
          />
        </FormGroup>
        <FormHelperText>You can display an error</FormHelperText>
      </FormControl>
    </Box>
  );
}

Label placement

You can change the placement of the label:

Label placement

TopStartBottomEnd

import * as React from 'react';
import Checkbox from '@mui/material/Checkbox';
import FormGroup from '@mui/material/FormGroup';
import FormControlLabel from '@mui/material/FormControlLabel';
import FormControl from '@mui/material/FormControl';
import FormLabel from '@mui/material/FormLabel';

export default function FormControlLabelPosition() {
  return (
    <FormControl component="fieldset">
      <FormLabel component="legend">Label placement</FormLabel>
      <FormGroup aria-label="position" row>
        <FormControlLabel
          value="top"
          control={<Checkbox />}
          label="Top"
          labelPlacement="top"
        />
        <FormControlLabel
          value="start"
          control={<Checkbox />}
          label="Start"
          labelPlacement="start"
        />
        <FormControlLabel
          value="bottom"
          control={<Checkbox />}
          label="Bottom"
          labelPlacement="bottom"
        />
        <FormControlLabel
          value="end"
          control={<Checkbox />}
          label="End"
          labelPlacement="end"
        />
      </FormGroup>
    </FormControl>
  );
}

Customization

Here is an example of customizing the component. You can learn more about this in the overrides documentation page.

import * as React from 'react';
import { styled } from '@mui/material/styles';
import Checkbox, { CheckboxProps } from '@mui/material/Checkbox';

const BpIcon = styled('span')(({ theme }) => ({
  borderRadius: 3,
  width: 16,
  height: 16,
  boxShadow: 'inset 0 0 0 1px rgba(16,22,26,.2), inset 0 -1px 0 rgba(16,22,26,.1)',
  backgroundColor: '#f5f8fa',
  backgroundImage: 'linear-gradient(180deg,hsla(0,0%,100%,.8),hsla(0,0%,100%,0))',
  '.Mui-focusVisible &': {
    outline: '2px auto rgba(19,124,189,.6)',
    outlineOffset: 2,
  },
  'input:hover ~ &': {
    backgroundColor: '#ebf1f5',
    ...theme.applyStyles('dark', {
      backgroundColor: '#30404d',
    }),
  },
  'input:disabled ~ &': {
    boxShadow: 'none',
    background: 'rgba(206,217,224,.5)',
    ...theme.applyStyles('dark', {
      background: 'rgba(57,75,89,.5)',
    }),
  },
  ...theme.applyStyles('dark', {
    boxShadow: '0 0 0 1px rgb(16 22 26 / 40%)',
    backgroundColor: '#394b59',
    backgroundImage: 'linear-gradient(180deg,hsla(0,0%,100%,.05),hsla(0,0%,100%,0))',
  }),
}));

const BpCheckedIcon = styled(BpIcon)({
  backgroundColor: '#137cbd',
  backgroundImage: 'linear-gradient(180deg,hsla(0,0%,100%,.1),hsla(0,0%,100%,0))',
  '&::before': {
    display: 'block',
    width: 16,
    height: 16,
    backgroundImage:
      "url(\"data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 16 16'%3E%3Cpath" +
      " fill-rule='evenodd' clip-rule='evenodd' d='M12 5c-.28 0-.53.11-.71.29L7 9.59l-2.29-2.3a1.003 " +
      "1.003 0 00-1.42 1.42l3 3c.18.18.43.29.71.29s.53-.11.71-.29l5-5A1.003 1.003 0 0012 5z' fill='%23fff'/%3E%3C/svg%3E\")",
    content: '""',
  },
  'input:hover ~ &': {
    backgroundColor: '#106ba3',
  },
});

// Inspired by blueprintjs
function BpCheckbox(props: CheckboxProps) {
  return (
    <Checkbox
      sx={{ '&:hover': { bgcolor: 'transparent' } }}
      disableRipple
      color="default"
      checkedIcon={<BpCheckedIcon />}
      icon={<BpIcon />}
      inputProps={{ 'aria-label': 'Checkbox demo' }}
      {...props}
    />
  );
}

export default function CustomizedCheckbox() {
  return (
    <div>
      <BpCheckbox />
      <BpCheckbox defaultChecked />
      <BpCheckbox disabled />
    </div>
  );
}

🎨 If you are looking for inspiration, you can check MUI Treasury's customization examples.

When to use

Checkboxes vs. Radio Buttons
Checkboxes vs. Switches

Accessibility

(WAI-ARIA: https://www.w3.org/WAI/ARIA/apg/patterns/checkbox/)

All form controls should have labels, and this includes radio buttons, checkboxes, and switches. In most cases, this is done by using the <label> element (FormControlLabel).
When a label can't be used, it's necessary to add an attribute directly to the input component. In this case, you can apply the additional attribute (for example aria-label, aria-labelledby, title) via the inputProps prop.

<Checkbox
  value="checkedA"
  inputProps={{
    'aria-label': 'Checkbox A',
  
/>