Create drop down list with color in Excel and Google Sheets

Step 1. Create drop-down list

To add color to your Excel picklist, you first need to create the list itself. If you're unfamiliar with this process, refer to our separate article on creating a drop-down list that describes all possible methods in detail.

For this example, let's assume you have the source list of items in A3:A10 and you've created a drop-down menu with those items. To do that, simply select the range of cells where you want the dropdown to appear (D3:D12 in our case) and click the Data Validation button on the Data tab. In the Data Validation dialog box that appears, choose List from the Allow drop-down menu and, in the Source field, enter the reference to the range of cells containing your items.

Once you've created your drop-down list, you can move on to adding colors.

Step 2. Add colors to drop-down menu

To highlight your picklist with some color, we will be using Excel conditional formatting. The steps are:

1. Select the cell(s) with your drop-down menu.
2. On the Home tab, in the Styles group, click Conditional Formatting > New Rule… .
3. In the New Formatting Rule dialog window, choose the Format only cells that contain option.
4. Choose Specific Text from the first drop-down box and containing from the second drop-down box. In the third box, enter the reference to the cell containing the value that you want to format with a certain color like shown in the screenshot below. Alternatively, you can type the value enclosed in double quotes directly in the box, e.g. "Blue".
5. Click the Format button.
6. In the Format Cells dialog box, switch to the Fill tab, choose the color you like for that particular item, and click OK.
7. Back in the New Formatting Rule dialog window, review the settings, and if everything looks good, click OK to save the changes.

Step 3. Test your colored drop-down list

To test your colored drop down menu, click on the arrow next to the cell. You should see the list of items you entered, with the first item highlighted in the chosen color:

Repeat the above steps for other selections and you will get a cohesive color scheme that makes it easy to visually distinguish between different selections.

Color coded dropdown list in Excel

To make a color-coded dropdown in Excel worksheets, you set up conditional formatting rule as described in Adding colors to drop-down menu. When choosing the format, switch between the Fill and Font tabs and pick the same color on both.

Choosing the fill color:

Choosing the font color:

As a result, you will have a color-coded drop down list where each option is represented by a colored cell. This visual representation can be especially useful for data sets with a large number of categories or where color is a significant factor.

Color coded dropdown list in Google Sheets

To color code drop down list in Google Sheets, follow these steps. After adding background colors (Step 6), do the following:

1. Click on the color you've added to a certain item, and then click Customize.
2. On the Background tab, copy the Hex color code:
3. On the Text tab, paste the copied hex code:

That's it! After following the steps outlined above, you'll have a color-coded dropdown menu effectively hiding the text values and leaving only the color swatches visible.

In conclusion, adding color to drop-down lists in Excel and Google Sheets is a great way to enhance the visual appeal of your spreadsheets while also making them more functional and comprehensible. So go ahead and try it out, and see how color can transform your spreadsheets today!