How to add to a drop down list in excel

Nowadays, using excel or WPS Office to add a drop-down list has become an essential skill. We use Microsoft Office and WPS Office to manage our workflow which is sometimes quite complex and difficult to do if one thinks of not doing it through these softwares. If you are someone who has just started using WPS Office, you can have a lot of questions, such as how to do these programs function. In spite of being very useful, Excel is quite complicated to use. Despite having great features and programs such as pivot tables, conditional formatting, adding a drop-down list, and flash fill, it also has many important functions which include but are not limited to the SUM function, the TEXT function, and the average function. These functions help save time while creating a spreadsheet. Now, the most important question is how to add to a drop-down list in excel. Let’s find out its answer in these simple steps.

Edit a drop-down list that's based on an Excel Table:

If you already have set up your list in an excel table, then you just need to add or remove items from the list. One function that excel automatically performs is that it will automatically update the drop-downs which are associated.

1. In order to add an item, type a new item at the end of the list.

2. Just press the delete button if you want to remove something.

Edit a drop-down list that is based on a named range:

1. For your drop-down list, choose the worksheet with the named range.

2. To add a new item, scroll to the bottom of the list and enter it in.

3. Go to Formulas > Name Manager

4. Click the named range you wish to update in the Name Manager box.

5. Select all of the cells on your worksheet that contain the entries for your drop-down list by clicking in the Refers to box.

6. Then click on close and after that, click on yes to save changes.

Edit a drop-down list with items that you have entered manually:

1. Select a drop-down list cell on the worksheet where you applied the drop-down list.

2. Go to Data > Data Validation

3. Change your list items as needed by clicking on the Source box on the Settings page. A comma should be used to separate each item, with no spaces between them, as seen below: Yes, No, Maybe.

Check the Apply these changes to all other cells with the same settings box to update all cells with the same drop-down list.

Note: This article was an attempt to show how to add a drop-down list in excel in windows version 2016, 2019, on Mac and Windows, both. With having this basic knowledge of using spreadsheets, you can use these programs easily, you just need to have some practice and patience as well. If you want to know more about WPS Office, you can download WPS Office to access, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for free.