Among the many exceptional features of Excel, we have the drop-down list. Indeed, drop-down lists help avoid repetitive entries, tedious searches in an Excel table, and prevent you from making mistakes. If you don’t know how to do it, there’s no need to worry, as creating one is not difficult at all. Here is the procedure to follow to successfully create a drop-down list in Excel.
Creating a drop-down list by manual entry
One method for creating a drop-down list involves manually entering the items that should be present in the list. Here are the steps to follow to achieve this. In your Excel file, you need to select the data range for which you want to assign a drop-down list. Click on the “ Data ” tab in the toolbar and choose the “ Data Validation ” option. In the window that appears, select “ List ” under the “ Allow ” sub-item. In the input window under the “ Source ” sub-item, enter the different items that your drop-down list should contain, separating each successive item with a semicolon. Once all items are entered, you can click OK to finalize the operation.
Further reading : Termination Procedure for a TESE Contract: What You Need to Know
Creating a drop-down list using a data range
This method is recommended when you already have a table containing the list of items to use for your drop-down list. The procedure to follow to successfully create the drop-down list using this method is as follows.
- First, you need to create or prepare the range containing the list items and give it a title.
- The second step will be to select the data range in question, including its title.
- In the next step, you will select the “ Formulas ” tab in the toolbar and choose the “ From Selection ” option, checking the box for “ Top Row ” in the window that appears.
- Then, you will need to select the range on your active sheet where you want to display your drop-down list.
- The fifth step will be to choose “ List ” in the “ Data ” tab of the toolbar.
- In the next step, you will search for and select the name you assigned to your source range. To do this, in the “ Source ” box in the window that appears, press the F3 key. In the list that appears, search for and select the source table name. Once done, the final step of this tutorial will be to click OK.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HrsQBKznzE
Important to know
If you need to modify your drop-down list, you must first change the content of your source data table. Then, in the “ Formulas ” tab, select the “ Defined Names ” option and click on “ Name Manager ”. In the window that appears, select the name of your source table. In the lower part of the window, you will find a field. Enter your new list range in this field or select it directly on the worksheet. And the operation is complete. For convenience, we recommend sorting the items in your drop-down list in alphabetical or ascending/descending order, especially if it is a list with many items.
Read also : Everything You Need to Know About Selena Gomez's Weight and Height in 2024