How to Create a Drop Down List in Excel
Part 1 of 2:
Creating A List
- Open the Excel spreadsheet file you want to edit. You can find and double-click a saved Excel file on your computer, or open Microsoft Excel and create a new worksheet.
- Enter the list of values for your drop-down in a column. Make sure to enter each drop-down entry in a separate, consecutive cell in the same column.
- For example, if you want your drop-down list to include "New York," "Boston," and "Los Angeles," you can type "New York" in cell A1, "Boston" in cell A2, and "Los Angeles" in cell A3.
- Click the empty cell you want to insert your drop-down. You can insert a drop-down list in any empty cell on your spreadsheet.
- Click the Data tab on the toolbar ribbon. You can find this button above the toolbar at the top of your spreadsheet. It will open your data tools.
- Click the Data Validation button on the "Data" toolbar. This button looks like two separate cell icons with a green checkmark and a red stop sign. It will open a new pop-up.
- Click the Allow drop-down in the "Data Validation" pop-up. You can find this menu in the pop-up's "Settings" tab.
- The Data Validation pop-up automatically opens up to the Settings tab.
- Select List in the "Allow" drop-down. This option will allow you to create a list in the selected empty cell.
- Check the
- Check the
- If the drop-down you're creating is a mandatory field, make sure not to check this box here. Otherwise, you can leave it unchecked.
- Click the text box under "Source" in the pop-up. You can select the list of values you want to insert into your drop-down here.
- Select your drop-down's list values on the spreadsheet. Use your mouse to select the list of values you want to insert into your drop-down on the spreadsheet.
- For example, if you have "New York," "Boston," and "Los Angeles" in cells, A1, A2, and A3, make sure to select the cell range from A1 to A3.
- Alternatively, you can manually type your drop-down list values into the "Source" box here. In this case, make sure to separate each entry with a comma.
Part 2 of 2:
Customizing List Properties
- Click the Input Message tab in the "Data Validation" pop-up. It's at the top of the pop-up window. This tab will allow you to create a pop-up message to display next to your drop-down list.
- Check the
- If you don't want to show a pop-up message, just leave the box unchecked.
- Enter a "Title" and an "Input Message." You can use this area to explain, describe or provide more information about the drop-down list.
- The title and input message you enter here will show up on a tiny, yellow pop-up sticky next to the drop-down when the cell is selected.
- Click the Error Alert tab at the top of the pop-up. This tab will allow you to display a pop-up error message whenever invalid data is entered into your drop-down cell.
- Check the
- If you don't want an error message to pop-up, leave the box unchecked.
- Select an error style in the Style drop-down. You can select an option from Stop, Warning, and Information here.
- The Stop option will show a pop-up error window with your error message, and stop users from entering data that isn't in the drop-down list.
- The Warning and Information options will not stop users from entering invalid data, but show an error message with the yellow "!" or blue "i" icon.
- Enter a custom "Title" and "Error message." (optional) Your custom error title and message will pop up when invalid data is entered into the drop-down cell.
- You can leave these fields empty. In this case, the error title and message will default to Microsoft Excel's generic error template.
- The default error template is titled "Microsoft Excel," and the message reads "The value you entered is not valid. A user has restricted values that can be entered into this cell."[1]
- Click the OK button in the "Data Validation" pop-up. This will create and insert your drop-down list into the selected cell.
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