Drop Down List

Sometimes it best to limit the Users input to a dropdown list.  This will ensure each User enters data in the same format and same spelling, which will in turn facilitate with grouping, searching and totalling on a given value.  As always, I'll show the basics here, but when you working through the example you will notice that there are other options which you can add..

Example 1: Creating a Dropdown List

• First you need to list the values you want to be used in your list.  This can be names of cities, Male / Female, age groups, vehicle types, anything...   Note this list can be placed anywhere, and that column can be hidden from the User, you can alter the list after it has been created, but remember to update the cells that the dropdown list uses..  In the Example, I have created the list in cells E2 to E7
• If I want to limit the User input in the cell B2, Click on B2 and select the Data Tab at the top.
• Now Click on Data Validation and select List from the dropdown list

• Once you click on List, a Source input box will appear for you to enter the Source for the list.  Click in the Source input box and then select the cells that hold the data for the dropdown list.  This will create an absolute reference, which looks like:  =$E$2:$E$7   Note: the presence of the $ signs this is now a absolute reference..  This means the dropdown list created in the cell B2 can be copied and pasted to anywhere on the worksheet..  Without the $ signs it would be a relative reference, so copying the cell B2 to B20 will show a list made up of the values of E20 to E27.  Which, if you are recreating this example, will be an empty list.

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