How to Create a Drop Down List in Excel 2010

If you are preparing an Excel form that requires users to input data from certain specified options, you will need to create a drop-down list to choose from. Excel 2010 has a feature called Data Validation that lets you create a drop-down list with ease. While it is not too obvious, the process is really quite easy, and once you know how it works, you will be using it in all types of situations. In this tutorial, let’s see how to create a drop down list in Excel 2010.

How to Create a Drop Down List in Excel 2010

For the purpose of this tutorial, I have an Excel sheet that contains names of the team members who have volunteered to participate in the company’s Christmas carnival. The tasks that each member is expected to perform is to be selected from a drop-down list which will be available in column B “Task”. To create this drop-down list:

1. In one the worksheets, create the list you want to display in the drop-down list in cells A1…A4…. You can also enter them from A1 through Z1. In this example, I will create the drop-down list in Sheet 3.

2. In Sheet 1, select cell B2.

3. On the Data tab, in the Data Tools group, select Data Validation.

4. From the Data Validation drop-down list, choose Data Validation.

5. The Data Validation dialog box is displayed. From the Allow drop-down list, select List.

6. Click the Source control button, select Sheet 3, then drag to highlight the cells A1:A5.

7. Click the Source control again to display the rest of the Data Validation dialog box and click OK.

8. The drop-down list is now displayed only in cell B2. To extend the drop-down to the rest of the cells in column B, drag the bottom-right corner of the cell to the rest of the cells, or use the copy and paste function.

The drop-down arrow is visible only when the cell is active, so don’t worry if you can’t see it right away. You can now click the cell and select the items drop-down list.

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