How do I edit a drop down list in Excel?

Editing Drop-Down List in Excel

Before we get to editing drop-down lists in excel, we must know the basics of what a list in excel is. In simplified terms lists in, excels are columns in excel. But in columns, we do not have any dropdowns. We simply enter values manually in it or paste the data from any other source. But if we are creating surveys or asking any other user to enter data and want to give some specific options to choose from, dropdowns in excel come in handy.

As explained above, dropdowns in excel help guide a user to manually enter values in a cell with some specific values to choose from. Like in surveys, if there is a question for the gender of a person, if we ask every user to enter values for that question, then data will not be in order. Some people will write answers in uppercase, some in lowercase, or some may make some spelling mistakes. But if we give users two values to choose from, either Male or Female, our data would be in the exact order we want. This is done by creating drop-down lists in excelDrop-down Lists In ExcelA drop-down list in excel is a pre-defined list of inputs that allows users to select an option.read more.

There are various ways of editing drop-downs lists in excel; they are:

1. Giving Drop Down Values Manually and using data validation.
2. Giving Drop Down Ranges and using Data Validation.
3. Creating a Table and using Data Validation.

Data Validation is an option under the Data Tab in the Data Tools section.

How to Edit Drop-Down List in Excel?

There are three methods explained on how to edit the drop-down list in excel:

Let us learn to make drop-down lists with some examples and learn every process to edit the drop-down list in Excel.

Example #1 Giving Drop Down Values Manually and Using Data Validation.

Example #2 Giving Drop Down Ranges andUsing Data Validation.

For Example, I am a teacher, and I want a response from my students whether they have completed their projects or not. For the survey, I want to give them just three options: Completed, Pending, Not Started.

Yes, I can use the above process, but it can be changed by the user as he/she can go to the data validation tab and change the values. In this process, we select a range of values and hide the columns so that the other user cannot edit the validation or the dropdown.

• In a list or column, copy values for dropdowns or write them down.

• In the cell we want to enter the validation, we will select the cell, i.e., cell B2

• Under Data Tab in the data tools section, click on Data Validation.

• Again Click on Data Validation; a wizard box appears.

• In the settings, under Allow, click on Lists.

• In the source tab, select the range of data for the drop-down list.

• When we click on ok, we have a drop-down in cell B2.

• Copy the validation to all the cells [up to cell B6]. Now we have to drop down a list of all the cells we want.

Now even if we hide our cell range, which was the source of the drop-down, any user cannot edit the validation. The above process also has the same disadvantage as the first example because if I have to insert another option of Half Completed, then I have to redo the process all over again. I have to insert the new option to the source and enter a new validation.

Example #3 Creating a Data Table andUsing Data Validation.

In this method, we will create a data table and use data validation as before. But the benefit of using this method will be explained later on. Let us say I have a restaurant and have some dishes to select for customers. I have inserted the data in a column as below.

• The first step is to create a table, select the data, and in the Insert tab, click on Tables.

• The following window will open and when we click ok we have created our table in column A.

• Let us name this table as Restaurant. In the left corner, we can see there is an option to rename the table.

• Rename the table as Restaurant.

• Now select the cell where we want to insert the drop-down list.

• Under the Data tab, click on Data Validation.

• In the allow Tab, select Lists.

• Now in Source, type the following,

• When we click on OK we can see that drop-down has been inserted to the data.

• Now, if I have another menu to add, suppose Soups.

• We can see that the new entry in the menu tab is also being displayed in our dropdown.

The above process has solved our problem where if a new entry has to be created and dropdowns needed to be made all over again.

Explanation of Edit Drop-Down List in Excel

I have already explained above why we need drop-down lists in our data. It helps guide a user to manually enter values in a cell with some specific values to choose from.

While asking users to choose some specific options to choose from dropdowns in excel, then making and editing drop-down lists come in handy as a user can enter wrong values, which hampers the data.

Things to Remember While Editing Drop-Down List in Excel

1. If we enter to drop down values manually or set ranges, then any newer entry needs to be inserted with a new drop-down list.
2. In tables, we can insert a new entry, and it gets updated in the dropdown.
3. To view or edit the drop-down list, we need to click on the cell.

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