How to Create, Edit, and Delete a Drop-Down List in Google Sheets

Google Sheets is a popular spreadsheet app with several useful features. One of them is the ability to create drop-down lists within any cell or range of cells. Once you add a dropdown list, it’s easy to share this Google Sheets document on Google Drive.

One reason to add a list might be to allow users to choose an answer based on their preference by asking multiple choice questions. It can also be used, for example, to gather feedback. Whatever your use case, creating a drop-down list and editing it later is super easy in both the web browser and mobile version of Google Sheets.

Let’s start.

Create Dropdown List in Google Sheets in Web App

We tried the Edge browser on a Windows machine and you can use any browser on both Windows and Mac. That said, Google recommends the Chrome browser for best results.

Stage 1: Medicine sheets.new in the address bar to quickly create and open a new Google Sheets document.

Step 2: Under the Data menu, select Data validation.

Stage 3: In the popup that follows, select the criteria that can be ‘List of items’ or ‘List in a range’. The first option means users can select an item from a predefined list of items. The second option means users can select a list of items from other cells in the same sheet or even from other sheets in the same document. we will go with List of items to keep it simple.

Step 4: Then, in the second box next to Criteria, just enter all the items you want to appear in the list, separated by commas.

Step 5: By activating the ‘Show dropdown list in a cell’ option, display the dropdown in the selected cell with an arrow pointing down, making it easy for users to notice that there is a dropdown list in the marked cell.

Step 6: Select Show warning next to ‘On invalid data’ if you want to allow users to enter invalid data (something not predefined) but will mark the typed item to highlight it. Select Reject entry to not allow anything not predefined to be selected.

Step 7: Check ‘Show validation help text’ if you want to add a special note to help users understand what to do with the drop-down list. A text box will appear when you select the option to enter notes.

Step 8: Click the Save button to finish and check the live drop-down list in the selected cell.

Here’s what it looks like when you click the downward-facing arrow.

You can now select a predefined item from the drop-down list by clicking the arrow and selecting an item.

You can also enter (write) something that is not predefined.

The cell will immediately be marked with a red symbol and a message will appear when you hover the mouse cursor over it.

Create Dropdown List in Google Sheets in Mobile App

The steps are the same for both Android and iOS versions. In the example below, we will use Android.

Stage 1: Open the Google Sheets app and open/create a new Sheets document. Select the cell where you want to add a drop-down list. Now tap on the three-dot menu icon in the top right corner and select Data validation.

Step 2: Select a Criteria for the drop-down list. It can be ‘List of items’ or ‘List from a range’. Then tap the Add button to enter the items you want to appear in the drop-down list, separated by commas.

Stage 3: Enable ‘Show dropdown in cell’ to display an arrow to let users know that the cell contains a drop-down menu. Enable ‘Show verification help text’ to display a custom message to help users understand what to do. When you enable this, an Edit button will appear. Tap this to add a message.

Step 4: Under the ‘Invalid data’ heading, select Show warning if you want others to enter something that is not predefined. Select Deny entry if you want to force users to choose one of the items in the list. Tap the Save button when you’re done.

When you select the cell containing the drop-down menu, you will see an arrow in the lower corner of the screen. Tap to select an item from the bottom-up scrolling list.

If you want to enter a different value instead of the predefined one, tap the keyboard icon instead and type your answer.

Just like in the web app, entering a different answer than the predefined one will flag the cell for ticking.

Editing or Deleting Dropdowns in Google Sheets in a Web App

The first few steps will remain the same. In Sheets, select the cell where you added the drop-down list and go to the Data > Data validation menu. You can now edit the criteria, selected cells and all other options or click the Remove validation button to delete the list. Click the Save button to save the changes.

Note that deleting the dropdown will remove verification, but not manually remove the user’s input.

Edit or Delete Dropdown Lists in Google Sheets in Mobile App

The steps for editing or deleting dropdowns in Google Sheets’ mobile apps also remain the same. Select the cell containing the drop-down list and select Data validation from the three-dot menu. Tap on Remove rule to delete the list or edit it as you see fit.

Drop-Down Lists Are Fun

It’s pretty easy to create and manage drop-down lists in Google Sheets. Creating a list takes less than a few minutes, but a lot also depends on the number of items. And if you’ve set the criteria to ‘List from a range’ this may take a bit more time.

You can also collaborate with other users on the same Google Spreadsheet document by allowing multiple users to edit the same document. This will save you some time, especially if there are some drop-down lists or there is a lot of data to parse.