It should seem fairly obvious why it’s helpful to refer to a data range instead of the original values.
Select the cells that you want to use the list, and go to the Data Validation option (in the Data tab).If you don’t want people to edit the list, you can hide this sheet later. Create the list of values you want to select from somewhere in your Excel workbook.If you want to add extra items to the list, you will need to update the Data Validation list formula to cover the new cells.Slightly more time-consuming than entering the values into the Data Validation options.
#How to use vlookup in excel drop down list update#
You can update values easily and the menu will always refer to the new names.
This alternate method involves entering the data somewhere else in your Excel workbook, and referring to that data range in the Data Validation settings. (Although, if your dropdown menu is limited to only one cell, it’s not so bad…) What if you want to update your menu items later? If one of the departments in your company has a name change, then you would have to select all of the cells that use the drop down menu, and manually update the details. Excel Drop Down List Method #2: Refer to a Data Range You’ll only be able to enter values that are in the list you specified – and you can still type directly into the cell if you want. That’s it! You have now created a drop down menu for the cells you selected. Your cells will now have a menu when they are selected in Excel. Click OK to save the Data Validation options.In the “Source:” box, enter in your values separated by commas.In the “Allow:” dropdown menu, select “List”.Click on the Data Validation menu (in the Data tab in the Excel Ribbon), or use the shortcut Alt-A-V-V.In your Excel workbook, select the cells that you want to apply the drop down menu to.Here’s the quickest way to set up a drop down menu in Excel: Difficult to keep consistent if you need to change your list of dropdown menu items.There are some dangers with this option (and the other methods will work around these risks) but it is easily the fastest way to implement a drop down menu. If you have a fixed list of values that you want to choose from, you can enter them manually into the “Source:” box when you change the Validation options. OK, enough of the introduction – let’s create a drop down menu in Excel! Excel Drop Down List Method #1 (quickest): Enter Your Menu Options Manually In each of the three methods below, you will use this feature to choose the items in our menu. The Data Validation menu is in the Data tab in the Excel Ribbon: You can force cells to be integers, dates, or values from a specific list (which is what you’ll be using for creating these menus) and a few other options. Think of Data Validation is a restriction or limitation that Excel applies to the cells you specify. You can’t create a drop down list in Excel without using the Data Validation feature. This is just a simple example that might be used in an office environment, and we’ll go through this example throughout this post.Īnd before we get into the specific points of each method, read on to find out about the Data Validation feature which is a key part of setting up a drop down menu in Excel. These kinds of forms need to be filled out in a certain way, so it’s helpful to limit values so that Bob in Accounts knows exactly which budget line to allocate the Christmas Party funds to. The company you work at might have a Finance or HR form which looks similar to the above.
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