How to Create a Drop-Down List in Excel:
 Introducing the "1 MinuteDrop–Downward"

Written by co-founder Kasper Langmann, Microsoft Role Specialist.

The drop-downward list is a neat style to seem like a superuser and impress your co-workers and boss 🙂

At the same time, information technology'southward a very user-friendly asset in almost all custom-fabricated Excel sheets.

In this tutorial, I'thou going to show you:

The v steps to create a drib-downward listing in Excel – in 1 minute or less .

I call it the "ane Infinitesimal Drop-Down".

In the blitheness correct below y'all can encounter the driblet-downwardly card in action. Behold its mighty glory!

A drop-down list is actually a tiny window from where you can peek into some other data you have constructed.

This also gives you the possibility of controlling exactly what tin exist entered into a cell. This makes the drib-downward menu a very common and powerful data validation tool.

Luckily, creating a drop-downwards carte du jour is super easy if you know the verbal steps.

In a few seconds, I'm going to show you the exact steps to create your very own drop-downwards.

*This tutorial is for Excel 2022/Microsoft 365 (for Windows). Got a unlike version? No problem, yous can still follow the verbal same steps.

Follow along by downloading our sample file right below!

BONUS: Download the Drop Down Excel Workbook Sample File (with 2 pre-loaded exercises) to go along with this post.

Before nosotros commencement the clock, let'south take a look at the data in the sample file.

Start we have a sail with all the names of our employees.

This is the data we would like to see when opening our drib-down menu.

Random data sample sheet.

Then nosotros have the "gateway" where we want to exist able to whorl through all the names on the other canvas.

This "gateway" is placed in the "Dropdown" sheet of the Excel sample file.

We'll put our drib-downwards carte du jour in cell B1.

A simple interface where the employee is chosen from a dropdown menu in cell B1.

Stride ane: Go to the "Data" tab

This step is piece of cake!

Simply movement your cursor to the "Data" tab and click it.

Click the data tab in the ribbon.

Step 2: Click "Data Validation"

Now click the button "Data validation" in the eye of the ribbon ( practise not click the lilliputian arrow – simply click the pinnacle role of the button).

Clicking the data validation button on the ribbon will give you the option to make a drop down menu.

Footstep 3: Choose the "List"

In the data validation dialog box, you need to click the drib-down carte du jour to choice what kind of data validation method you want to use (how meta is that?!).

Click the arrow next to the field and click "List" from the… well… list!

Click the dropdown and pick

Then click "OK" to move on to the adjacent step.

Stride iv: Select the source

Call up the information sheet?

That's where I've put all the employees for our drop-down list.

At present it's time to tell Excel that our drop-down should be connected to that data.

Click once in the "Source:" field.

Then click the "Information" sheet and select all the employees.

When you're done click "OK".

Protip: Desire to speed up this process fifty-fifty more?

There's a neat shortcut (more here) yous tin can utilize to select all the employee names in (almost) an instant.

When selecting the cells for the source, select the first name you encounter (in cell A2) – and so hold downwards Ctrl + Shift and click the downwardly arrow on your keyboard. Y'all've at present selected all the names in the canvass in merely a few seconds.

Pace five: Here's the end result!

And that's the one Infinitesimal Drib-Down! Beautiful isn't it?

You have now created a drib-downwards listing in Excel in 60 seconds (or hopefully even less!).

With some do, you can virtually create these drop-downs instantly.  I've managed to create one in a mere xv seconds.