Drop Down List in Google Sheets
Here are the steps to add data validation drop downlist.
- Click on spreadsheet cell.
- Click Menu – Data – ‘Data Validation’
- Choose any of the listed option for Criteria.
- Fill appropriate values for chosen criteria.
- Choose action for “Invalid Data”
- Click ‘Save’
Now, you can see a drop down box in the selected cell. Click on the drop down icon & verify that the list has only valid values.
Here is the explanation on the possible options for Criteria.
Drop Down Criteria Options
- List from Range – To specify a range in sheet with list of possible input values.
- List of Items – Comma separated Input values
- Number – Range of Numeric values.
- Text – A text value that contains in the input.
- Date – Input should be a date value
- Custom Formula
- Checkbox.
These are the possible Criteria option that You can specify for the Drop down Data validation list in Google Sheets.
To test this option, You should have a Google account. Then go to the Google Sheets.
If you don’t have a Google Sheet inside Google drive, then go to drive.google.com, create a new Google spreadsheet then follow the above steps.
Note: Adding a drop down box with list of values in cell is similar to the adding validation list drop down list in Excel.
These drop down lists are a method to restrict the user input. For example: When we get input from users, in certain cell or form, we may be expecting only Date-of-birth or Title for the name as “Mr/Mrs/Ms’ etc., In those cases, we can enter these predefined values in specific cells as a drop down list.
This saves lot of time in validating the Input entered by user through Google Spreadsheet coding or manual verification.
