how to insert a drop down menu in excel 2016

Tip: By default, the items in the actual list are quite small.Note: The drop down box arrow in Excel is only shown when the cell containing the drop down list is selected.Note: If the user tries to type a value in the cell that is not in the drop down list, they will get an error message.Using the Source box, select the cell range on the Products sheet, which in this case is range A2:A9. Ensure Ignore blank and In-cell dropdown are checked. Under the Settings tab, in the Allow drop down menu click List. The Data Validation Dialog Box will appear. Go to the Data Tab on the ribbon and on the Data Tools group, choose Data Validation.ģ. This is the cell that is going to have the drop down list. This sheet is called ProductsDropDownList in our example.Ģ. In this case, this is the destination sheet where you would like the drop down list to be. This is the original sheet that contains the source data.ġ. In the example below, we have a worksheet called Products containing the names of products. We will cover everything about how you can make a drop down list here.Ĭreate A Drop Down List Using A Cell Range They help you to streamline the experience you are creating for your users, and design a smooth looking document for them to use. Whenever you create an Excel spreadsheet for a user to input data, a drop down list will be very helpful!

How to create a drop down list in Excel, is covered in our Advanced Excel training course.ĭrop down lists help you to organise your data and limit the amount of entries people can make to each cell. When you are creating a dropdown list Excel allows you to tailor it to your needs in a variety of ways.Īn Excel drop down list is comparable to the dropdown menus that one often sees on forms or webpages. This is also a great way to ensure that only valid data is entered into a cell. These types of lists are great for user input. You can easily allow users to choose an item from a pre-defined list, by using a dropdown list in Excel. We have all used tables in Excel, but what if you are looking to make this table into a list for others to use?

How to insert a drop down menu in excel 2016