Excel: Create dropdown

It is worthwhile to create a dropdown list in Excel if you only want to enter fixed values ​​in a field. This means that you don't have to write the values ​​again and again, you simply select them from the list.

1. Click the "File" tab in the top left.
2. Now click on "Options" in the left sidebar. In older versions of Excel (such as Excel 2007), you can access the options using the spherical start symbol at the top left, and the route to the developer tools (see point 4) is slightly different.
3. In the new window, select the entry "Adjust ribbon" on the left.
4. On the right side, look for the term "developer tools" and tick the box to the left of it.
5. Confirm the changes with "OK".

Create dropdown list in Excel

Now you can create the dropdown list. Just follow this guide:

1. Click the Developer tab.
2. In the "Controls" section, click the "Insert" button.
3. In the dropdown menu, select the second icon from the top left under the "Form controls" section.
4. Now use the mouse to draw the dropdown list directly into the Excel table.

Insert entries in the dropdown list

Now you have a dropdown list, but no entries. In the example screenshot, the list would include all entries in cells A1 to A3. In total, it would consist of eight entries. To determine this, proceed as follows:

1. Right-click the drop-down list and choose Format Control.
2. Now click on the symbol to the right of the input line for the "Input area" option.
3. Now drag an area in the Excel spreadsheet where the values ​​should be later.
4. Press the Enter key to confirm the entry.
5. Define the number of lines in the list and finish with "OK".

Become an Excel professional with the new course at the CHIP Academy

With the course in the CHIP Academy "Excel: Pivot tables in less than an hour" even beginners learn how to handle a large amount of data quickly and easily.

• Learn in 40 minutes from our lecturer Daniel Kogan what pivot tables are and how to use them sensibly.
• You will learn how to use pivot tables and pivot charts to gain insights and insights from your data that you would otherwise not have been able to access.
• Visit the CHIP Academy and get the extensive online video workshop for 19.90 euros.

These instructions refer to Excel 2013.