Comments on: Create drop down list in Excel: static, dynamic, editable, searchable

Excel is good at organizing and analyzing complex data. One of its most useful features is the ability to create dropdown lists, which allow selecting an item from a pre-defined list. Continue reading →

Comments page 7. Total comments: 269

  1. Hi Svetlana,
    I am using Excel 2007, but am not experienced. I have set up an Invoice Template on worksheet no.1, and have keyed client information (names and addresses) under worksheet no.2. However I would like to be able to type in a clients name in the Invoice billing area and have a dropdown list which shows my clients names and addresses from worksheet 2 and then click on a name and the invoice automatically prefils with this information. I just don't know where to start. I have tried looking everywhere for information on how to do this which is easy to understand, but have not had any luck

    Please can you help me?

    Many thanks, Michele F

  2. Hi,

    I am looking at having a simple "drop down box" with items to select (i know how to do this) and then if I made another "drop in box" and used the same list again, I want the "item" chosen in the first "Drop Down box" unable to be selected.

    thanks,

  3. Does not make any sense - these tutorials should be easy for everyone

  4. Really helpful. I think now i dont need to search for any other website for excel help. Thanks

  5. Hi

    I want to have a drop down list of say Towns which contains data for each town, say like population, number of bars, etc

    When i click on a town the data changes

    How is this done?

  6. Hay there,

    i gotta a problem....
    actually i wanna find out the name easily from drop down list by type first letter of that word by which it will be appeared the words those started with the letter i typed. kindly suggest me.

  7. Hi Svetlana,

    I am looking for the filter in excel like if we type any character which are in the dropdown list, that should auto populate in the below of the cell.

    Like if you find any city in http://www.cleartrip.com. When you enter the 1st letter "D" to search for "New Delhi". It auto populates all the entries which are starts with "D".

    If you could give me your mail id. I can send you the screenshot for better understanding.

    Please help me with the solution.

  8. Hi svetlana,
    I appreciate you by given quick response to every user.Please help regarding dropdown list with some parameters(Dynamic chart),as i created successfully the list but parameters value also display on the graph but limits not automatically updated with the each parameters. Thanks in advance for your support.

  9. Hi svetlana,
    I'm trying to create a drop down list in a form of states.
    I'd like it to be like an online form where as you type the letters in the box it automatically takes you to that state example: As I type o 3 times it takes me to oregon, the third state beginning with o.
    Can that be done in excel or is that an html thing that only works online?
    Thanks

  10. Thank you so much...

  11. I want to learn look up

  12. My values in the drop-down menu don't match the values that appear in my worksheet. How do I make adjustments so I get what I expect? Thanks.

  13. I'm developing a testing platform. I'm struggling to come up with a formula in Excel for the following tasks

    Add Pass/Fail/Advisory dropdown list to the spreadsheet with some functionalities.

    When Fail/Advisory selected from the dropdown list. The user have to have a few lines with the outcome results. All the results then should be linked to a different Excel file (report page) where the outcome can be displayed.

    The report page needs to be capable of being saved independently of any other pages which it is pulling data in from so we can email the report.

    I can't find formula to update Excel sheet with data from different spreadsheets. Could anyone help me out please.

    Regards,
    Will

  14. Hi
    I have 6 sheets in a workbook.. In the 1st sheet(home page) I need to create a Combo box list. The list contains the sheet names 1,2,3,4 & 5. When I select 1 from the combo box it should directly go to the respective sheet 1.

    I don't know how to do this procedure using combo box. Can you help me in this.

    Regards.
    Palani

  15. data Validation is not avalable to select how do i make it avalable?

  16. Thanks
    Good example

  17. Hello, I just moved into a logistics position within my company and I am using sheets that employees that no longer work with the company made. Within one of those workbooks I am having an issue with a drop down box. The way it is set up is by choosing a certain customer's name, it will draw info from mulitple cells and pull that customer's entire address and fill in cells on a diffferent sheet within the workbook. The problem I came across is that the drop down box stopped at a certain row even though there is more rows to be pulled up. I have been able to add these rows, but not the entire data from the row. I keep getting error message stating "The list source must be a delimited list, or a reference to a single row or column."

    The rows (customers name) that was set up prior to my taking the postion works and pulls all info from different columns. The rows that I have added to the drop down box will not pull all info from that cell and I cannot figure out how to do what I need.

    Please assist. Thank you.

  18. Is it possible to make a list in a list like:
    The dropdown will be e.g. a, b, c, d, e. When you stand on e.g. "a" antoher dropdown menu will appear with e.g. add 1, add 2, add 3....

    a
    add 1
    add 2
    add 3
    add 4
    b
    test 1
    test 2
    test 3
    c
    d
    e

  19. Thank you so much for the article- it was very clear! my question is this:

    is there a way to make a drop down table? instead of clicking on a cell and making a list come down, is there a way to make an entire table come down? the cells in the table don't have to be clickable- just drop down.

    thanks again for your amazing article!

    -Sarah

  20. Love this article.

    Is there a way to have the drop down list items disappear as they are selected?

  21. Hi,

    I am just wondering if its possible to display the contents of the drop down list which is quite similar to the content I am entering to the cell, for example:
    I am typing ERM1500-RPH which is one of the content of my data validation. and there are actually few more data which are quite similar to this. ex: ERM1700-RPH, ERM1800-RPH and etc. I am just wondering if I start to type "ERM" in the cell, is it possible that all the options that starts with "ERM" will appear in the drop down list options.(I hope someone can imagine what I'm trying to say.) lol...

    Please help me with this. Thanks.

    -shey-

  22. Hi, I have this problem that keeps me entering duplicate Document Code, How can I prevent this? Data Validation is not functioning I use

    = COUNTIF(A:A,A1)=1

    Example

    NT CP-PROC-xxx
    *the code starts here
    NT CP-PROC-001
    NT CP-PROC-002
    *and so on

    The cells are merged into 12

    pls help.

    1. I mean document code starts here

  23. Thank you for a very clear explanation about drop down...thank you thank you thank you....

  24. Is it possible to create a drop down list in footer or headers? Thank You

  25. Thank You

    Great Lesson

  26. Great help!!! very useful

  27. hai i want to know about that dropdown list so that it wont pick a name twice. example analyst comes twice in drop down list it should not come please tell

    thanks

  28. Hello, Svetlana. The article is very good. I did drop down (answers to the questions) but now I don't know how I can calculate the number for each answer (ex: for "Yes" 10 poins, for "No" 5 poins etc.
    Now I can't connect the answer cell and another cell in which I'd like to the the amount of points.
    Thank you in advance for your answer.

  29. thank you for this information on this website - wondering when creating a list, where do I go to allow the user to be able to check more than one option from the drop down.

  30. I can't not drop down list next two sheet, so how can I do it?

  31. Hello
    I would like to add a message when a value of a drop down list is selected
    is this possible.
    Using MO 2013

  32. This is very helpful.

  33. Hi,

    Great article.

    I am looking to create a drop down list as described. However using this example I want to be able to pick ingredients from a list of ingredient names in the drop down box (flour, eggs etc). On doing so I want it to represent a price to be used in another formula. So for example if flour cost £1 I want to select the word flour but for it to input £1 in the cell.

    Please help.

  34. In search box not a cell

  35. drop doun list in side of box like

  36. thank you

  37. thumps up. GREAT!

  38. Thank you very much for the postings. I have always leant alot from your work. However am wondering whether there is some source of data you can provide on which we can practice on these steps provided.I am still a student and have not have much access to data on which to practice on. I would be more than greatful to be provided with something. Thanks again.

  39. Hello,

    I have a large data set for the drop down menu is there anyway to type the name of the specific data I'm looking for instead of trying to scroll down to find it?

    Thank you

  40. Hi,

    I have the problem that the drop-down list does not work after I sent the excel spreadsheet as a template to my co-workers in order for them to enter their data.

    What can be the reason for this behaviour and how do I fix this?

    Thanks.

  41. Hi all

    is it possible to make drop down list with content which will be depended on the input of another drop down list? for example I have two drop down lists, in the 1st list I have "Cars" and "Phones". If I will choose "Cars" in the 1st list, I want in the 2nd list to appear only "BMW", "Toyota", "Mazda"; if I will select in the 1st list "Phones", I want in the 2nd list to appear only "Samsung", "Nokia", Motorola".
    Can anybody help me on this issue?

    Thank you in advance.

  42. hello
    how can i make a drop down list by default show "--SELECT--" when user open the excel file?

  43. Thanks This has really helped me with my work!

  44. hello
    i want to know is it possible for a drop down list to filter data by pressing keys for example i want to see all the word starting from A when i open list and press A and similarly for other alphabets

  45. hello
    thank you for your insight. I am attempting to create a drop down menu that is color coded. How do I do this? I not able to find the instructions. My lists are simply words without the coloring.
    thanks.

  46. Hi,

    I have a query as below:
    I'm trying to create a pricing spreadsheet that has headings like "Course group", "Course name", number of users, Price etc. Under the heading "course group", I created a drop down list of all the "course groups" that I have like accounting, asset management etc. Now under the next heading "Course Name", I want to get a specific set of options (course names) in the drop down when I select Accounting for example under the heading "Course Group". How can this be done?

    Thanks

  47. thank you somuch for this tutorial, this is very helful for me because I am a documents controller, I really need this, thank you...!

  48. Creating a drop down list is new to me but after reading articles, it appears fairly easy to create. My question is how do I make that drop down list automatically appear in every cell in the column to infinity? I believe that there are not only issues with using control C and control V, but also that only copies the cells selected and my worksheet will grow. In addition, does inserting a row work? Or is it better enter the information on the last row and then sort the data?

  49. I am creating a spreadsheet with multiple columns of drop down lists. The user will sometimes copy and paste their data into the spreadsheet, so I don't want a warning box to come up for every cell of data that doesn't match what is in the drop down. Can I just turn that data red instead of popping up a message? Then, the user can quickly scan for the red data and determine if the data needs to be changed or not. Thank you for your help.

  50. Hi,

    i have 2 drop down list in excel. in first drop down list value is 1 to 5 and second list A to E. give me solution that if i select "A" in drop down list than value in first drop down list will show "1" and so on for other.

    Thanks.

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