How to Make a Drop-Down List in Google Sheets

To make a drop-down list in Google Sheets, select the cells, open Data > Data validation, add a rule with the Dropdown criteria, and enter your options. Here is how to build, edit, and troubleshoot one.

Drop-down lists keep a sheet tidy by letting people pick from set options instead of typing (and mistyping) values. In Google Sheets they take about a minute to set up, and you can build one from a typed list or from a range of cells.

How to make a drop-down list

1. Select the cell or cells where you want the drop-down.
2. Open the Data menu and click Data validation, then Add rule.
3. Under Criteria, choose Dropdown.
4. Type each option and press Enter to add the next one. You can give each a color if you like.
5. Click Done. Each cell now shows a chip you can click to pick an option.

Use a list from a range (easier to update)

Typing options is fine for short lists, but linking to a range is better when the list changes. Put your options in a column — say H1:H10 — then in the Data validation panel choose Dropdown (from a range) and set the range to:

=$H$1:$H$10

Now you can update the list just by editing those cells. If the source column might contain repeats, clean it first — see how to remove duplicates in Google Sheets — so each option appears only once.

Edit or remove a drop-down list

• To change the options: click the cell, then the chip's menu (or reopen Data > Data validation) and edit the rule.
• To remove it: open Data > Data validation, point to the rule, and click the trash icon (Remove rule).
• To reuse it: copy the cell and Paste special > Data validation only onto other cells.

Common drop-down problems

If invalid entries slip through, open the rule and set "If the data is invalid" to Reject the input instead of showing a warning. Doing the same task in Excel? See how to create a drop-down list in Excel.