[EXCEL TIP] Adding a drop-down list in excel

[EXCEL TIP] Adding a drop-down list in excel ---> 

Standard forms also tend to have standard answers, such as a day of the week, or a month, so a drop-down box with pre-filled selections would be useful.

Assume that you have an input cell in which the user is supposed to enter a day of the week: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday etc.

Enter the items for your drop-down list into a list on the worksheet, one item per cell. In this example, I'll assume that the month names start in cell G1 and extend down to G7, but normally you would put them outside of the readable area. In Excel terminology, a rectangular group of cells (such as G1 to G7) is called a range.

Select the cell that will contain the drop-down list. If you'd like more than one cell to display the same list, just select them all now rather than setting them up one at a time. (Click and drag to select a range; hold down Ctrl while you click to select non-adjacent cells.)

Select the cell where you want the drop-down list.

On the Data tab, in the Data Tools group, click Data Validation

Excel Data validation

In the Allow box, click List.

To specify the location of the list of valid entries, enter a reference to your list in the Source box in this case it's (=$G$1:$G$7) or click in the Source box and then select your list in the current spread sheet to populate the reference automatically.

Make sure that the In-cell dropdown check box is selected.

To specify whether the cell can be left blank, select or clear the Ignore blank check box.

You can go one stage further and display an input message when the cell is clicked.

Click the Error Alert tab, and make sure that the Show error alert after invalid data is entered check box is selected.

Select one of the following options for the Style box:

To display an information message that does not prevent entry of invalid data, click Information.

To display a warning message that does not prevent entry of invalid data, click Warning.

To prevent entry of invalid data, click Stop.

Type the title and text for the message (up to 225 characters).

Adding an input box to a drop down list in Excel

Note If you don't enter a title or text, the title defaults to "Microsoft Excel" and the message to: "The value you entered is not valid. A user has restricted values that can be entered into this cell."

After performing these steps, you'll see a drop-down arrow whenever any of the drop-down cells you just defined is "active" (that is, selected and awaiting input). Click the arrow and choose a month from the list. If you try to type something else into the cell, you'll get scolded in the form of a pop-up message.

If you'd like to provide your own wording for invalid entries, use the Error Alert tab in the Data Validation dialog box, and enter your own text in the 'Error message' field.

If your list of items is relatively small, you can enter the list items directly into the Source field. Just separate each list item with a comma.