PC_Advisor_Issue_264_July_2017

How to: Create a drop-down list in Microsoft Excel
Make sure the In-cell
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drop-down box is ticked and,
if you want people to be able to
leave the field blank rather than
choose from your list, tick the
Ignore blank box too.
With that completed you can
move onto the Input Message
tab, which allows you to create a
message that will appear when a
user clicks on the drop-down cell.
This can be handy if the question
you’re posing is a complicated one.
Just add a brief title in the
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relevant field, and then
enter the explanation in the main
Input message box. If you don’t
need this feature simply untick the
Show input message when cell is
selected option at the top.
The last tab is for the Error Alert.
This acts in a similar manner to the
Input Message, in that it will inform
the user if they enter an invalid
response. Again you can enter a
title and message, but this section
also has a setting for Style.
Clicking on this will open
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up three available icons to
accompany your message: Stop,
Warning and Information. Select
the one you feel matches the tone
you’re after or to dispense with an
alert message altogether untick
the Show error alert after invalid
data is entered box.
Click OK and you will now see
an arrow in the cell you selected
for the drop-down list. When you
click on this your range of answers
should appear as if by magic.
That’s it. You’ve added a dropdown
list to your worksheet. Now
people will be amazed by your
advanced Excel-Fu, or they might
just select one of the answers from
the list. Either way, it’s a winner. J
July 2017 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to 105