Google Sheets: how to add a drop-down list

Google has made it as easy as possible for users to add drop-down lists to individual cells. To add a drop-down list, follow the steps below:

Step 1: Choose a cell, then right-click and select “Data validation”:

Step 2: In the “Criteria” section, choose “List of items”:

Step 3: Once you’ve selected “List of items”, enter all the items for your list in the free-text field. The items must be separated using commas. Now click on “Save”.

Step 4: The drop-down list will now be added to the cell you selected. You can see this because there will be a small down-arrow in the cell.

Step 5: If you click on the arrow, the drop-down list will open. Check that the items appear in the right order and that everything is spelt correctly. If you want to make changes, simply open the “Data validation” window again and edit the list in the “Criteria” section.

Step 6: In the “Data validation” window, there is also an optional “Appearance” check box: “Show validation help text”. In the free-text field just below this, you can enter a message that will be displayed whenever someone hovers the cursor over the cell containing the drop-down list.

If you enter a help text, it will be shown as follows:

Step 7: If you want to delete a drop-down list, simply go back into the “Data validation” menu and click on the “Remove validation” button. The formatting is cleared from the selected cell, so you can now enter other values.