How to Create a Drop-Down List in Excel

About this video

Kevin builds a cookie order form for the Kevin Cookie Company to teach Excel drop-down lists via Data Validation. Select the target cell (D10 for cookie type), go to Data > Data Validation, change Allow from Any Value to List, and type a comma-separated source such as chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, snickerdoodle and fortune, then add double chocolate chunk later by reopening Data Validation. He makes the drop-down discoverable with a light grey fill and outside border, and copies that formatting with Format Painter — single-click to paste once, double-click to paste repeatedly until Escape is pressed. For delivery method in D14, the source can instead reference cells on a Delivery Methods sheet. A plain cell reference does not expand when a new item such as cookie cannon is added, so he converts the list to a table with Ctrl+T (with headers checked), creates a named range from the top row via Formulas > Create from Selection (Delivery_Method, viewable in Name Manager), and points Data Validation at that name — pressing F3 inserts a named range. After that, adding balloon drop delivery to the table appears in the drop-down automatically. Finally, for quantity (options 1 through 5), he unticks ‘Show error alert after invalid data is entered’ on the Error Alert tab so users can also type their own value, such as 6.

Key takeaways

• Create a list via Data > Data Validation > Allow: List, entering items separated by commas or referencing worksheet cells as the source.
• Use Format Painter to copy a drop-down cell’s fill and border so users notice it; double-click Format Painter to paste formatting multiple times, then press Escape.
• A fixed cell reference for a drop-down source does not grow when new items are added to the list.
• Convert the source list to a table (Ctrl+T) and use a named range (e.g. Delivery_Method, inserted with F3) so new table rows appear in the drop-down automatically.
• To let users type values outside the list, open Data Validation > Error Alert and untick showing an error after invalid data is entered.

Episode details: published February 4, 2025 · 9:59 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Kevin Stratvert’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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