tutorial—in-cell dropdown list with challenge

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Creating an In-cell Dropdown List in Microsoft ExcelFebruary 16, 2011

Overview

We will create an in-cell dropdown list to select a particular month

An in-cell dropdown list is a great way to provide interactivity to an ordinary spreadsheet

You can make decisions within the spreadsheet based on selections from the dropdown list

This quick tutorial will show you how to create an in-cell dropdown list box in Microsoft Excel 2007


Data Validation at Work

Click on cell C3 Click Data from the main menu Under the Data ribbon, click Data

Validation– (If a dropdown menu appears, click Data

Validation again)

Validation may show up in a different location under the Data ribbon on your system


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Create the List

Under the Setting tab, select List from the Allow dropdown list

Uncheck Ignore blank– Keep In-cell dropdown selected

In the Source box, enter the months Click OK once you are done


Your In-cell Dropdown List is Now Created

Selecting a Month Click in cell C3, where you created the dropdown list Click on the down arrow after clicking C3 Select a month from the list– You can also type in a month directly, but it has to be on the list;

otherwise, you will get an error

An in-cell dropdown list loses its dropdown arrow once the cell loses focus

You can regain the dropdown arrow for reselection by clicking back into the cell with the data validation cell set

It is a good idea to format in-cell dropdowns with a different style from ordinary cells


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Using a Range for an In-cell Dropdown List

Cell Range as a List

In cell A3, type "Jan" and press Enter or Return Click on cell A3

(A thick border should surround the cell with a square on the lower-right edge)

Hover over the square until your mouse turns into a plus sign

Click and drag down about 12 rows(You should stop when you see Dec)– If auto fill does not work for you, just type in the

twelve months yourself


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Define a Name through the Name Box

With the list of months selected, enter "Months" in the Name Box and press Enter– A3 through A14 can now be referred to as Months


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Define the Range through a Dialog Box

Select cells A3 to A14 and right-click on the range From the short-cut menu, select Name a Range In the New Name dialog box, enter "Months" as the

name Press OK


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Reference the Named Range through Validation

Click in cell C3 Open the Data Validation dialog box Enter "=Months" as the Source and press OK

Your dropdown list know refers to what ever is in cells A3 to A14

This also means you can change a value in a cell in the Months range and it gets updated automatically in the dropdown list


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End Notes

From here, you can have other elements of your sheet update automatically based on a user's selection

There are many other ways to provide interactivity in Microsoft Excel

The in-cell dropdown list box provides a mechanism for users to control how other elements of a spreadsheet operate and interact with each other

You can also set custom error messages if the user enters an invalid selection

Check out the challenge on the next page…


The Challenge

Create a chart that updates automatically when a user selects a choice from a dropdown list

Check out the work through of this challenge at the following location

http://www.techronology.com/index.php?pageID=007002&lessonID=excel0002&lessonType=pres


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tutorial—in-cell dropdown list with challenge

Technology

cell dropdown list box

cell range

cell c3open

cell dropdowns

cell c3click data

dropdown arrow

list of months

dropdown menu