You have a fairly complex database that takes into account your clients, their addresses, account managers, etc., but when it comes to creating your invoices in Excel, you struggle with having to enter the information one by one. Well! Rejoice, because there is indeed a much easier way to automate the entry of these values. It’s called the dropdown list.
In general, the dropdown list, also known as a drop-down menu, is a feature you can use in Excel to make your spreadsheets very efficient. With it, you save a lot of time when you need to repeat the same values. Indeed, you will now only have to select the desired data from a list that will appear, rather than entering it all manually. Below are the different steps to create a dropdown menu in Excel.
Lire également : Discover the salary of Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury in 2024
Step 1: Creating the source table of values
To use a dropdown menu in your spreadsheet, you first need to establish a directory of the data you want to appear in your dropdown menu. To do this, you must open a new spreadsheet. Now enter the series of values in a column or in a row, making sure not to leave any empty cells.
For practical reasons, it is advisable to sort the data in the created table in the order you want them to appear in your dropdown menu. You can, for example, sort them in alphabetical order.
A lire aussi : The Inspiring Journey of Bertrand Barré, Expert in Innovation and Creativity
Step 2: Naming the data series
Here, the operation to be performed consists of giving a name to each data series that you have integrated into your source table. It’s very simple, select all the values of each series, then right-click and click on “Define Name”. In the window that appears, enter a name in the “Name” box for the selected data series, then click on “OK”. But be careful! The name you give must not contain spaces. However, you can use the underscore. Repeat the same procedure for each of the data series if you have several.
Note that the names you just assigned will not appear in your list. But they will be useful for the creation of the dropdown menu.
Step 3: Creating the dropdown menu itself
Return to the spreadsheet intended to contain your dropdown menu. At this point, select the cell that will hold the dropdown list. Then, in the “Data Tools” tab of the “Data” menu, click on Data Validation. In the “Options” tab of the window that appears, select “List” in the “Allow” box. In the “Source” box, now enter the name of the data series you previously defined, making sure to precede it with “=”. You can navigate to the other tabs (“Input Message” and “Error Alert”) for additional settings. You can now confirm by clicking “OK”.
And there you go! Your dropdown menu has just been created. Enjoy!