How to Create a

Validation List in Excel?

C H I N W H E I . W O R D P R E S S . C O M

Microsoft Excel 2010SHORT TUTORIAL

CREATE A TABLE AS SHOWN BELOW. FOR THE FUN OF IT, MY TABLE BELOW IS A LIST OF

MY MUNDANE TASKS.

C H I N W H E I . W O R D P R E S S . C O M

STEP 1

CREATE ANOTHER TABLE AS SHOWN BELOW ON A 2ND SHEET THAT CONTAINS THE

VALUE OF THE VALIDATION LIST TO BE USED.

C H I N W H E I . W O R D P R E S S . C O M

STEP 2

FROM THE 1ST SHEET, SELECT THE CELL THAT WOULD BE USED TO CONTAIN THE

VALIDATION LIST THEN SELECT FROM THE RIBBON DATA -> DATA VALIDATION ->

DATA VALIDATION.

C H I N W H E I . W O R D P R E S S . C O M

STEP 3

A POP UP BOX WOULD APPEAR AS SHOWN BELOW

UNDER THE VALIDATION CRITERIA -> ALLOW, SELECT LIST.

UNDER THE VALIDATION CRITERIA -> SOURCE, CLICK THE SELECTION BUTTON.

C H I N W H E I . W O R D P R E S S . C O M

STEP 4

ONCE THE DATA VALIDATION POP-UP APPEARS, SELECT 2ND SHEET AND HIGHLIGHT

THE VALUES THAT WOULD BE USED AS VALIDATION LIST.

C H I N W H E I . W O R D P R E S S . C O M

STEP 5

NOW THAT YOU ARE DONE, YOU CAN BEGIN USING THE VALIDATION LIST AS YOU

SELECT THE CELL FROM THE 1ST SHEET. IT WILL DROP DOWN A LIST CONTAINING THE

VALUES FROM THE 2ND SHEET.

C H I N W H E I . W O R D P R E S S . C O M

STEP 6

YOU CAN COPY THE VALIDATION LIST BY DRAGGING THE CELLS DOWNWARDS OR

SIMPLY CTRL C AND CTRL V TO THE TARGET CELL.

C H I N W H E I . W O R D P R E S S . C O M

STEP 7

DATA VALIDATION IS AUTOMATIC. IF THE CELL RECEIVES AN INVALID DATA, IT WILL

PROMPT AN ERROR. ADDITIONALLY, THE ERROR MESSAGE CAN BE CUSTOMIZED.

C H I N W H E I . W O R D P R E S S . C O M

STEP 8

THERE ARE A WHOLE LIST OF DATA TYPES WHICH YOU CAN ENFORCE DATA

VALIDATION WITH.

C H I N W H E I . W O R D P R E S S . C O M

STEP 9

LASTLY, THE INPUT MESSAGE IS FULLY CUSTOMIZABLE TOO.

C H I N W H E I . W O R D P R E S S . C O M

STEP 10

C H I N W H E I . W O R D P R E S S . C O M

THE ENDFor more short tutorials, please visit my blog @ chinwhei.wordpress.com