Excel Data Validation: custom formulas and rules

The tutorial shows how to make custom Data Validation rules in Excel. You will find a few examples of Excel data validation formulas to allow only numbers or text values in specific cells, or only text beginning with specific characters, permit unique data preventing duplicates, and more.

In yesterday's tutorial we started to look at Excel Data Validation - what its purpose is, how it works, and how to use built-in rules to validate data in your worksheets. Today, we are going to take a step further and talk about the nitty-gritty aspects of custom data validation in Excel as well as experiment with a handful of different validation formulas.

How to create custom data validation with formula

Microsoft Excel has several built-in data validation rules for numbers, dates and text, but they cover only the most basic scenarios. If you want to validate cells with your own criteria, create a custom validation rule based on a formula. Here's how:

  1. Select one or more cells to validate.
  2. Open the Data Validation dialog box. For this, click the Data Validation button on the Data tab, in the Data Tools group or press the key sequence Alt > D > L (each key is to be pressed separately).
  3. On the Settings tab of the Data Validation dialog window, select Custom in the Allow box, and enter your data validation formula in the Formula box.
  4. Click OK.

Creating a custom formula-based validation rule in Excel

Optionally, you can add a custom input message and Error alert that will show up when the user selects the validated cell or enters invalid data, respectively.

Below you will find a few examples of custom validation rules for different data types.

Note. All Excel data validation rules, built-in and custom, verify only new data that is typed in a cell after creating the rule. Copied data is not validated, nor is the data input in the cell before making the rule. To pin down existing entries that do not meet your data validation criteria, use the Circle Invalid Data feature as shown in How to find invalid data in Excel.

Excel data validation to allow numbers only

Surprisingly, none of the inbuilt Excel data validation rules cater for a very typical situation when you need to restrict users to entering only numbers in specific cells. But this can be easily done with a custom data validation formula based on the ISNUMBER function, like this one:

=ISNUMBER(C2)

Where C2 is the topmost cell of the range you want to validate.
A custom data validation rule to allow numbers only

Note. The ISNUMBER function allows any numeric values in validated cells, including integers, decimals, fractions as well as dates and times, which are also numbers in terms of Excel.

Excel data validation to allow text only

If you are looking for the opposite - to allow only text entries in given range of cells, then build a custom rule with the ISTEXT function, for example:

=ISTEXT(D2)

Where D2 is the uppermost cell of the selected range.
A custom data validation rule to allow text only

Allow text beginning with specific character(s)

If all values in a certain range should begin with a particular character or substring, then do Excel data validation based on the COUNTIF function with a wildcard character:

COUNTIF(cell,"text*")

For example, to ensure that all order id's in column A begin with the "AA-", "aa-", "Aa-", or "aA-" prefix (case-insensitive), define a custom rule with this data validation formula:

=COUNTIF(A2,"aa-*")
Data validation to allow text beginning with specific characters

Validation formula with the OR logic (multiple criteria)

In case there are 2 or more valid prefixes, add up several COUNTIF functions, so that your Excel data validation rule works with the OR logic:

=COUNTIF(A2,"aa-*")+COUNTIF(A2,"bb-*")
Excel data validation formula with the OR logic

Case-sensitive validation formula

If the character case matters, then use EXACT in combination with the LEFT function to create a case-sensitive validation formula for entries beginning with specific text:

EXACT(LEFT(cell, number_of_chars), text)

For instance, to allow only those order ids that begin with "AA-" (neither "aa-" nor "Aa-" is allowed), use this formula:

=EXACT(LEFT(A2,3),"AA-")

In the above formula, the LEFT function extracts the first 3 characters from cell A2, and EXACT performs a case-sensitive comparison with the hard-coded substring ("AA-" in this example). If the two substrings match exactly, the formula returns TRUE and the validation passes; otherwise FALSE is returned and the validation fails.
Case-sensitive validation formula to allow text beginning with specific characters

Allow entries containing certain text

To allow entries that contain specific text anywhere in a cell (in the beginning, middle, or end), use the ISNUMBER function in combination with either FIND or SEARCH depending on whether you want case-sensitive or case-insensitive match:

  • Case-insensitive validation:

    ISNUMBER(SEARCH(text, cell))
  • Case-sensitive validation:

    ISNUMBER(FIND(text, cell))

On our sample data set, to permit only entries containing the text "AA" in cells A2:A6, use one of these formulas:

Case-insensitive:

=ISNUMBER(SEARCH("AA", A2))

Case-sensitive:

=ISNUMBER(FIND("AA", A2))

The formulas work with the following logic:

You search the substring "AA" in cell A2 using FIND or SEARCH, and both return a position of the first character in the substring. If the text is not found, an error is returned. For any numeric value returned as the result of search, the ISNUMBER function yields TRUE, and data validation is successful. In case of an error, ISNUMBER returns FALSE, and the entry won't be allowed in a cell.
Data validation to allow entries containing certain text

Data validation to allow only unique entries and disallow duplicates

In situations when a certain column or a range of cell should not contain any duplicates, configure a custom data validation rule to allow only unique entries. For this, we are going to use the classic COUNTIF formula to identify duplicates:

=COUNTIF(range, topmost_cell)<=1

For example, to make sure that only unique order ids are input in cells A2 to A6, create a custom rule with this data validation formula:

=COUNTIF($A$2:$A$6, A2)<=1

When a unique value is entered, the formula returns TRUE and the validation succeeds. If the same value already exists in the specified range (count greater than 1), COUNTIF returns FALSE and the input fails validation.

Please pay attention that we lock the range with absolute cell references (A$2:$A$6) and use a relative reference for the top cell (A2) to get the formula to adjust properly for each cell in the validated range.
Data validation to allow only unique entries

Note. This data validation formulas is case-insensitive, it does not distinguish uppercase and lowercase text.

Validation formulas for dates and times

Inbuilt date validation provides quite a lot of predefined criteria to restrict users to entering only dates between the two dates you specify, greater than, less than, or equal to a given date.

If you want more control over data validation in your worksheets, you can replicate the inbuilt functionality with a custom rule or write your own formula that goes beyond the built-in capabilities of Excel data validation.

Allow dates between two dates

To limit the entry to a date within a specified range, you can use either the predefined Date rule with the "between" criteria or make a custom validation rule with this generic formula:

AND(cell>=start_date), cell<=end_date)

Where:

  • cell is the topmost cell in the validated range, and
  • start and end dates are valid dates supplied via the DATE function or references to cells containing the dates.

For example, to allow only dates in the month of July of the year 2017, use the following formula:

=AND(C2>=DATE(2017,7,1),C2<=DATE(2017,7,31))

Or, enter the start date and end date in some cells (F1 and F2 in this example), and reference those cells in your formula:

=AND(C2>=$F$1, C2<=$F$2)

Please notice that the boundary dates are locked with absolute cell references.
Data validation to allow dates between two dates

Allow weekdays or weekends only

To restrict a user to entering only weekdays or weekends, configure a custom validation rule based on the WEEKDAY function.

With the return_type argument set to 2, WEEKDAY returns an integer ranging from 1 (Monday) to 7 (Sunday). So, for weekdays (Mon to Fri) the result of the formula should be less than 6, and for weekends (Sat and Sun) greater than 5.

Allow only workdays:

WEEKDAY(cell,2)<6

Allow only weekends:

WEEKDAY(cell,2)>5

For example, to allow entering only workdays in cells C2:C6, use this formula:

=WEEKDAY(C2,2)<6
Validation rule to allow only workdays

Validate dates based on today's date

In many situations, you may want to use today's date as the start date of the allowed date range. To get the current date, use the TODAY function, and then add the desired number of days to it to compute the end date.

For example, to limit the data entry to 6 days from now (7 days including today), we are going to use the built-in Date rule with the formula-based criteria:

  1. Select Date in the Allow
  2. Select between in the Data
  3. In the Start date box, enter =TODAY()
  4. In the End date box, enter =TODAY() + 6

Validating dates based on today's date

In a similar manner, you can restrict users to entering dates before or after today's date. For this, select either less than or greater than in the Data box, and then enter =TODAY() in the End date or Start date box, respectively.

Validate times based on current time

To validate data based on the current time, use the predefined Time rule with your own data validation formula:

  1. In the Allow box, select Time.
  2. In the Data box, pick either less than to allow only times before the current time, or greater than to allow times after the current time.
  3. In the End time or Start time box (depending on which criteria you selected on the previous step), enter one of the following formulas:
    • To validate dates and times based on the current date and time:
      =NOW()
    • To validate times based on the current time:
      =TIME( HOUR(NOW()), MINUTE(NOW()), SECOND(NOW()))

The screenshot below shows a rule that allows only times greater than the current time:
Validating times based on current time

Custom Excel data validation rule not working

If your formula-based data validation rule does not work as expected, there are 3 main points to check:

  • Data validation formula is correct
  • Validation formula does not refer to an empty cell
  • Appropriate cell references are used

Check the correctness of your Excel data validation formula

For starters, copy your validation formula into some cell to make sure it does not return an error such as #N/A, #VALUE or #DIV/0!.

If you are creating a custom rule, the formula should return the logical values of TRUE and FALSE or the values of 1 and 0 equating to them, respectively.

If you use a formula-based criteria in a built-in rule (like we did to validate times based on the current time), it can also return another numeric value.

Excel data validation formula should not refer to an empty cell

In many situations, if you select the Ignore blank box when defining the rule (usually selected by default) and one or more cells referenced in your formula is blank, any value will be allowed in the validated cell.

Here is an example in the simplest form:
Validation formula should not refer to an empty cell

Absolute and relative cell references in data validation formulas

When setting up a formula-based Excel validation rule, please keep in mind that all cell references in your formula are relative to the upper left cell in the selected range.

If you are creating a rule for more than one cell and your validation criteria are dependent on specific cells, be sure to use absolute cell references (with the $ sign like $A$1), otherwise your rule will work correctly only for the first cell. To better illustrate the point, please consider the following example.

Supposing, you want to restrict data entry in cells D2 to D5 to whole numbers between 1 (minimum value) and the result of dividing A2 by B2. So, you calculate the maximum value with this simple formula =A2/B2, like shown in the screenshot below:
Incorrect cell references in a data validation formula

The problem is this seemingly correct formula won't work for cells D3 to D5 because relative references change based on a relative position of rows and columns. Thus, for cell D3 the formula will change to =A3/B3, and for D4 it will become =A4/B4, doing data validation all wrong!

To fix the formula, just type "$" before the column and row references to lock them: =$A$2/$B$2. Or, press F4 to toggle between different reference types.

In situations when you want to validate each cell based on its own criteria, use relative cell references without $ sign to get the formula to adjust for each row or/and column:
Correct cell references in a data validation formula

As you see, there is no "absolute truth", the same formula could be right or wrong depending on situation and your particular task.

This is how to use data validation in Excel with your own formulas. T gain more understanding, feel free to download our sample workbook below and examine the rule settings. I thank you for reading and hope to see you on our blog next week!

Practice workbook for download

Excel Data Validation examples (.xlsx file)

Table of contents

286 comments

  1. Good day.

    I am having a strange issue with use of formula while creating a Data validation drop-down list in one of my cells.
    Formula =IF(HOVEDTABELL[FAG]="RIE"; RIETEGNINGER;RIBTEGNINGER) is tested and working if entered directly in the main worksheet. true and false conditions route to two different table on neighbouring tabs btw.
    When I try to use the same formula while creating a Data validation list, i get the "We found a problem with this formula" warning.
    Could you please suggest what could be the issue?

    Thank you.

  2. Hey folks,

    I need to make few cells required, but in case a user did not do anything on a tab (I have about ten of them in the file) I need to allow a user to save and close the file. Only if a user starts to work at THIS tab I need to force a user to fill in 3 cells within that tab.

    Could not find this anywhere, is this doable? All examples I saw invoke a VB scripting and that forces a user to fill in cells unconditionally, simply does not allow to close a file while cells not filed in. Not my case, I have to allow to close a file with these cells empty. And force a user to fill them up only if he/she starts to work at a tab with such condition.

    Thanks a lot!

  3. Hi, I want to lock some cells in a form, but would like to do it with validation. Is it possible?

    thnaks!

    • I have the same problem. I tried to make the cell equal itself in the custom formula. That stops the user from changing to another text entry but is allowing numbers. Did this ever get resolved?

    • validate for text length less than 0, obviously this will never be true, so no input is possible
      unless someone copies something there, of course

  4. how do I use data validation (a list or a formula) so that I can restrict the data entry to be only
    capital letters
    & (the ampersand sign)
    , (a comma)
    . (a period)

  5. =IF(M2"";ISTEXT(L2),ISNUMBER(L2)) - why not working. If any value is there in m2, the l1 should accept numbers or else text

    • Hello,

      Please try the following formula:

      =IF(ISBLANK(M2),IF(ISTEXT(L2),T(L2),TEXT(L2,"@")),VALUE(L2))

      Hope it will help you.

  6. what sign is the use in formula for "does not equal too" like
    IF(G6="does not equal too either does not blank",VLOOKUP(G6,A6:C19,2,0),"")

    • Hi Amit,
      The "not equal to operator" in Excel is <>

      For example:
      =IF(AND(G6<>"text", G6<>""),VLOOKUP(G6,A6:C19,2,0),"")

  7. How do I use a validation list and be able to input other data?

  8. Thanks for the instructions! How should a data validation formula look if I'm trying to specify that cells in a particular column should be formatted in either MMDDYEAR or MMDDYEAR ## format? 01, 02, etc. are added to the end of rows with the same date. (ex. 07071980, 07071980 01)

    • Hello, Lisa,

      I can suggest you the following formulas:

      1. In case the values are entered in the MMDDYEAR format:
      =AND(NOT(ISERROR(DATE(MID(A1,5,4),LEFT(A1,2),MID(A1,3,2)))),VALUE(LEFT(A1,2))<13,VALUE(LEFT(A1,2))<>0,VALUE(MID(A1,3,2))<>0,LEN(A1)=8)

      2. In case the values are formatted as MMDDYEAR ##:
      =AND(NOT(ISERROR(DATE(MID(A1,5,4),LEFT(A1,2),MID(A1,3,2)))),VALUE(LEFT(A1,2))<13,VALUE(LEFT(A1,2))<>0,VALUE(MID(A1,3,2))<>0,LEN(A1)=11, ISNUMBER(VALUE(RIGHT(A1,2))))

      If neither of the formulas above help you, I’m afraid you need to use a special macro then. We do not cover the programming area (VBA-related questions). Please try to find the solution in VBA sections on mrexcel.com or excelforum.com.

      Sorry I can't assist you better.

  9. Try use this formula for custom validation which prevent any input which start phrase "XYZ" in Cell A1: =search("xyz",A1,1)=1

  10. Thanks for the article. I was having an issue with this validation formula, =IF(IF(D5"",D5,C5)"F",H5="B",IF(IF(F5"",F5,E5)="B",H5="B",OR(H5="M", H5="B"))) and found your article. I had to remove the check for "Ignore Blanks" and check for blanks myself like this, =IF(IF(D5"",D5,C5)"F",OR(H5="B",TRIM(H5)=""),IF(IF(F5"",F5,E5)="B",or(H5="B",TRIM(H5)=""),OR(H5="M", H5="B",TRIM(H5)=""))) because D5 and F5 did contain blanks making it possible to enter anything even though the formula itself returned a 'False'. You pointed me in the right direction.

  11. What would be the formula on data validation, example the minimum amount is $25 and maximum $300 ?

  12. I've a requirement where i should NOT allow user to enter a value which starts with some phrase like "xyz". Please help me with formula.
    Thanks in Advance

  13. I need to create a excel material inventory recording sheet,all material >0 g, must record down the material expiry date.

    Example:
    If cell A1 is "0", cell A2 must key in "NA"
    If ell A1 IS ">0", cell A2 must key in "the expiry date"

    I wanted to restrict cell A2 to input date format or "NA" with reference to cell A1, can I use date validate with formula? or any suggestion?

    • Hello Jayson,

      You can use the IF function, e.g. enter the following formula in A2:
      =IF(A1=0,"NA","the expiry date")

      If you can refer to the expiry date, e.g. if the date is in cell C1, then set the cell format of A2 to date and include the reference:
      =IF(A1=0,"NA", C1)

  14. Im having trouble adding to formula i did for custom validation.

    The formula points to several lists depending on what is in cell N2.

    I have tried this both 'Allow Custom' and 'Allow List' and receive the error:

    "There's a problem with this formula.
    Not trying to type a formula?
    When the first character is an equal(=) . . . "

    Not sure why i can update the formula by adding another list reference.
    Any ideas?

    Thanks
    Tam

    • Hello Tam,

      Could you specify what formula you use and what result you need to get? If possible, please send a sample file to support@ablebits.com along with a link to this post and your comment. We'll do our best to assist you.

  15. I created an excel workbook with multiple sheet that does some accounting and mathematics calculation.
    Pls how can I turn this workbook to a desktop or mobile application that runs on it own?.
    Or which programming language do I have to learn to create an app that calculates using same kind of function in Excel.
    Thanks in anticipation.

  16. Conditional Formatting Duplicate value does not working when "/" or space is inserted please guide me

    example
    Khalid Khalid/Asif
    Math Bio/Com

  17. I need to convert -ve time value to +ve need your support.

    For Example:
    -2:20 to 2:20
    -1:18 to 1:18
    -0:17 to 0:17

  18. Hi Svetlana,

    A very short message. You are brilliant, Thank-you

  19. I recently set up the following function in Excel, to look for a list of words in ONE cell, and if it finds any of the words listed in my formula, then 'red-flag' to say "Keyword Exclusion". Again, currently it's looking at only ONE cell (cell 'I2' in the formula below); and it's working beautifully!

    However, I now need for the formula to look at a SECOND cell as well. If it finds any of the same words listed in that second cell, then simply perform the same 'red-flag' coding. I've tried different variations of "IF(OR and AND" formulas, but it's not working.

    My current formula is as follows:

    =IF(SUMPRODUCT(--ISNUMBER(SEARCH({"motor vehicle","construction","public transportation","health","family","criminal","revitalization"},I2)))>0,"Keyword Exclusion","")

    • Hi Ignacio,

      If you want the OR logic, i.e. if any of the words is found either in I2 or, say K2, simply concatenate the two cells like this:

      =IF(SUMPRODUCT(--ISNUMBER(SEARCH({"motor vehicle","construction","public transportation","health","family","criminal","revitalization"}, I2&K2)))>0, "Keyword Exclusion","")

      If you want the AND logic, i.e. if any of the words is found both in I2 and K2, then check each cell individually:

      =IF(SUMPRODUCT(--ISNUMBER(SEARCH({"motor vehicle","construction","public transportation","health","family","criminal","revitalization"},I2)), --ISNUMBER(SEARCH({"motor vehicle","construction","public transportation","health","family","criminal","revitalization"},K2)))>0, "Keyword Exclusion","")

  20. Can you clarify the find and search formulas in the article are correct?
    Case-insensitive: =ISNUMBER(SEARCH($A$2:$A$6, A2))

    Case-sensitive: =ISNUMBER(FIND($A$2:$A$6, A2))

    Based on the rest of the section, should the data range listed be replaced with "AA"? Otherwise, I don't follow how the range helps with SEARCH or FIND.

    These articles are great. I always find new ways to improve my sheets.

    • Hi!

      The correct formulas are =ISNUMBER(SEARCH("AA", A2)) and =ISNUMBER(FIND("AA", A2)) as shown in the screenshot. Don't know where those ranges came from. Sorry for the confusion and thank you - the formulas are fixed.

      • Hi
        Using data validation, I know it is possible to do the below separately:

        1. Create a data validation drop down list (ALT + A + V + V then select list from the 'Allow' field and denote the cell range in the 'Source' field)
        2. Prevent users from entering data into one cell (e.g. cell A2) if another cell (e.g. cell A1) has not yet been populated (ALT + A + V + V then select Custom from the 'Allow' field and insert '=NOT(ISBLANK(A1))' in the 'Formula' field)

        However, I am in need of a combination of both. I need to customise a cell such that if cell A1 is not populated, then cell A2 cannot be populated but, when cell A1 has data inserted, A2 should be able to be populated but only through a drop-down list. May you assist

Post a comment



Thank you for your comment!
When posting a question, please be very clear and concise. This will help us provide a quick and relevant solution to
your query. We cannot guarantee that we will answer every question, but we'll do our best :)