Drop-down list in Excel

Today, the computer has become a necessary part of our lives. Various programs simplify all the work so much that even an inexperienced novice user can not do without them. One of them was the Excel program - convenient, simple and quite effective. Due to its numerous functions, it can be used both on a home computer and in office work. For some, it has become irreplaceable.

Of course, it's difficult to start working with Excel, but with time, understanding its functions, it becomes much easier. It is sometimes difficult for a novice user to understand all the nuances of the work, so the article will deal with a specific question that interests many: "How to make a drop-down list in Excel?". Let's try to understand.

First of all, you need to understand what a drop-down list is in Excel. Quite often, when working in an Excel document, the user has to enter the same data into several cells. This is a troublesome and unnecessary business. To somehow simplify the process, you need to know about such an application function, as drop-down lists. This is a very convenient thing, and you can make such a list in many ways.

So, the drop-down list in Excel can be organized using the standard method and using the program's controls. The first case is suitable for novice users, since the actions performed are the same on all types of operating systems. First, we select all the necessary cells with the data to be added to the drop-down list. Then the menu is entered, and the following actions are performed sequentially: "Insert" - "Name" - "Assign".

The name of the selection range is entered (it can be any, the main condition - it should not contain spaces). Actions are confirmed by clicking on "Ok". Now we need to mark the cells in which the list will drop out. You can specify several at once. The menu is opened again and the "Data" - "Check" command is selected. Then the "Options" tab. Of all the proposed data types, select "List". In the "Source" field, enter the "equals" sign and the list name specified at the beginning without spaces. Done. An Excel drop-down list is created in the standard way.

In the role of a data source, a dynamically named range can act, for example, any price list. If you need to add data to the main document, they will automatically be added to the drop-down list in Excel. There is also a function of linked lists. This means that if you make changes to one, they will automatically change in the other.

The second case of creating a drop-down list involves the use of controls. In the Excel 2007-2010 version on the toolbar, open the "Developer" tab (if an earlier program is installed, the "Forms" tab opens). Here, in the listed tools, you need to find the drop-down list icon, select it and draw it with a rectangle. This will be the future drop-down list in Excel.

Use the right mouse button to select "Format Object". In the dialog that appears, perform the following commands in order: "Generate list by range" (select the cells that should be in the list), "Link with the cell" (specify the cell where the element number will be registered), and the last one - " Number of rows of the list "(the required number of lines of the future list is entered). Everywhere we confirm actions by clicking on "Ok". The drop-down list is created, you can start working.

A very simple way to create drop-down lists, which is suitable even for those who know little about computers, is this. In the column, you enter two or three values (you can have more). On one of them, the cursor is hovered and the keyboard shortcut Alt + the Down arrow is pressed, or the item "Select from the drop-down list" is selected with the right mouse button.