How To Make A Dependent (Cascading) Drop-Down List in Excel

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Making a cascading (dependent) Excel drop down list

Sep by Svetlana Cheusheva Excel, Excel tips 168 Comments
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Last week we started to explore the capabilities of Excel Data Validation and learned how to Custom Search
create a simple drop-down list in Excel based on a comma-separated list, range of cells or a
named range.
Today, we are going to investigate this feature in-depth and learn how to create cascading drop Excel: featured articles
down lists that display choices depending on the value selected in a previous dropdown.
Сompare 2 columns in Excel for
Creating a simple Excel dependent dropdown list matches and di erences
Cascading drop-down lists with multi-word entries Compare 2 Excel les/sheets for
di erences
Block changes in the primary drop-down list
Merge multiple sheets into one
Make a dynamic depending drop-down list
Merge Excel rows without losing
data
How to create a simple cascading dropdown in Excel Merge 2 columns in Excel
Making simple dependent drop-down lists in Excel is easy. All you need is a few named ranges and Excel DATEDIF - calculating date
the INDIRECT formula. This method works with all versions of Excel 2007, 2010 and 2013. di erence in days, weeks, years
How to use Find and Replace in

1. Type the entries for the drop-down lists. Excel most e ciently
First o , type the entries you want to appear in the drop-down lists, each list in a separate column. Compare two columns and
For example, I'm creating a cascading dropdown of fruit exporters and column A of my source remove duplicates
sheet (Fruit) includes the items of the rst dropdown and 3 other columns list the items for the
Change text case to UPPERCASE,
dependent dropdowns.
lowercase, Proper Case
Count distinct and unique values

in Excel
Сreate calendar in Excel (drop-

down and printable)
Excel INDEX / MATCH functions

instead of VLOOKUP
COUNTIF in Excel - count if not

blank, greater than, duplicate or
2. Create named ranges. unique
Now you need to create names for your main list and for each of the dependent lists. You can do
this either by adding a new name in the Name Manager window (Formulas tab > Name Manager > Outlook: featured articles
New) or typing the name directly in the Name Box. Con gure Outlook Junk Mail Filter
to stop spam email
Merge duplicate contacts in

Outlook
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Outlook quickly and safely
Note. Please pay attention that if your rst row is sort of column header like you see in the Сreate and use e-mail templates
screenshot above, you shall not include it in the named range. in Outlook
For the detailed step-by-step instructions please see Creating a named range.
Things to remember:
Excel formulas
1. The items to appear in the rst drop-down list must be one-word entries, e.g. Apricot, Mango,
Oranges. If you have items consisting of two, three or more words, please see How to create a
Excel functions
cascading dropdown with multi-word entries. Excel PivotTables Excel charts
2. The names of the dependent lists must be exactly the same as the matching entry in main list. Excel Vlookup
For example, the dependent list to be displayed when "Mango" is selected from the rst drop- Excel duplicates
down list should be named Mango.
Merge data in Excel
When done, you may want to press Ctrl+F3 to open the Name Manager window and check if all of Excel formatting
the lists have correct names and references.
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3. Make the rst (main) drop-down list.

1. In the same or in another spreadsheet, select a cell or several cells in which you want your
primary drop-down list to appear.
2. Go to the Data tab, click Data Validation and set up a drop-down list based on a named range
in the usual way by selecting List under Allow and entering the range name in the Source box.
For the detailed steps, please see Making a drop down list based on a named range.
As the result, you will have a drop-down menu in your worksheet similar to this:
4. Create the dependent drop-down list.

Select a cell(s) for your dependent drop-down menu and apply Excel Data Validation again as
described in the previous step. But this time, instead of the range's name, you enter the following
formula in the Source eld:
=INDIRECT(A2)
Where A2 is the cell with your rst (primary) drop-down list.
If cell A2 is currently empty, you will get the error message "The Source currently evaluates to an
error. Do you want to continue?"
Safely click Yes, and as soon as you select an item from the rst drop-down menu, you will see the
entries corresponding to it in the second, dependent, drop-down list.
5. Add a third dependent drop-down list (optional)

If needed, you could add a 3rd cascading drop-down list that depends either on the selection in
the 2nd drop-down menu or on the selections in the rst two dropdowns.
Set up a 3rd dropdown that depends on the 2nd list

You can make the drop-down list of this type in the same fashion as we've just made a second
dependent drop-down menu. Just remember the 2 important things discussed above, which are
essential for the correct work of your cascading drop-down lists.
For instance, if you want to display a list of regions in column C depending on which country is
selected in column B, you create a list of regions for each country and name it after the country's
name, exactly as the country appears in second dropdown lists. For instance, a list of Indian
regions should be named "India", a list of Chines regions - "China", and so on.
After that, you select a cell for the 3rd dropdown (C2 in our case) and apply Excel Data Validation
with the following formula (B2 is the cell with the second drop-down menu that contains a list of
countries):
=INDIRECT(B2)
Now, each time you select India under the list of countries in column B, you will have the following
choices in the third drop-down:
Note. The displayed list of regions is unique for each country but it does not depend on the
selection in the rst drop-down list.
Create a third dropdown dependent on the rst two lists

If you need to create a cascading drop down menu that depends on the selections both in the rst
and second drop-down lists, then proceed in this way:
1. Create additional sets of named ranges, and name them for the word combinations in your
rst two dropdowns. For example, you have Mango, Oranges, etc. in the 1st list and India, Brazil,
etc. in the 2nd. Then you create named ranges MangoIndia, MangoBrazil, OrangesIndia,
OrangesBrazil, etc. These names should not contain underscores or any other additional
characters.
2. Apply Excel Data Validation with the INDIRECT / SUBSTITUTE formula that concatenates the
names of the entries in the rst two columns, and removes the spaces from the names. For
example, in cell C2, the data validation formula would be:
=INDIRECT(SUBSTITUTE(A2&B2," ",""))
Where A2 and B2 contain the rst and second dropdowns, respectively.
As the result, your 3rd drop-down list will display the regions corresponding to the Fruit and
Country selected in the rst 2 drop-down lists.
This is the easiest way to create cascading drop-down boxes in Excel. However, this method has a
number of limitations.
Limitations of this approach:
1. The items in your primary drop-down list must be one-word entries. See how to create
cascading drop-down lists with multi-word entries.
2. This method won't work if the entries in your main drop-down list contain characters not
allowed in range names, such as the hyphen (-), ampersand (&), etc. The solution is to create a
dynamic cascading dropdown that does not have this restriction.
3. Drop-down menus created in this way are not updated automatically i.e. you will have to
change the named ranges' references every time you add or remove items in the source lists.
To get over this limitation, try making a dynamic cascading drop down list.
How to create cascading drop-down lists with multi-

How to create cascading drop-down lists with multi-
word entries
The INDIRECT formulas like we used in the example above can handle one-word items only. For
example, the formula =INDIRECT(A2) indirectly references cell A2 and displays the named range
exactly with the same name as is in the referenced cell. However, spaces are not allowed in Excel
names, which is why this formula won't work with multi-word names.
The solution is to use the INDIRECT function in combination with SUBSTITUTE like we did when
creating a 3rd dropdown.
Ultimate Suite for Excel Professionals

Suppose you have Water melon among the products. In this case, you name a list of water melon
exporters with one word without spaces - Watermelon.
Then, for the second dropdown, apply Excel Data Validation with the following formula that
removes the spaces from the name in cell A2:
=INDIRECT(SUBSTITUTE(A2," ",""))
How to prevent changes in the primary drop down

list
Imagine the following scenario. Your user has made the selections in all of the drop-down lists,
then they changed their mind, went back to the rst list, and chose another item. As the result, the
1st and 2nd selections are mismatched. To prevent this from happening, you may want to block
any changes in the rst drop-down list as soon as a selection is made in the second list.
To do this, when creating the rst dropdown, use a special formula that will check whether any
entry is selected in the second drop down menu:
=IF(B2="", Fruit, INDIRECT("FakeList"))
Where B2 contains the second dropdown, "Fruit" is the name of the list that appears in the rst
drop-down menu, and "FakeList" is any fake name that does not exist.
Now, if any item is selected in the 2nd drop-down list, no choices will be available when the user
clicks on the arrow next to the rst list.
Creating dynamic cascading drop-down lists in Excel

The main advantage of a dynamic Excel dependent drop-down list is that you are free to edit the
source lists and your drop-down boxes will get updated on the y. Of course, creating dynamic
dropdowns requires a bit more time and more complex formulas, but I believe this is a worthy
investment because once set up, such drop-down menus are real pleasure to work with.
As with almost anything in Excel, you can achieve the same result in several ways. In particular,
you can create a dynamic dropdown using a combination of OFFSET, INDIRECT and COUNTA
functions or a more resilient INDEX / MATCH. The latter is my preferred way because it provides
numerous advantages, the most essential of which are:
1. You have to create 3 named ranges only, no matter how many items there are in the main and
dependent lists.
2. Your lists may contain multi-word items and any special chars.
3. The number of entries can vary in each column.
4. The entries' sort order does not matter.
5. Finally, it's very easy to maintain and modify the source lists.
Okay, enough theory, let's get into practice.
1. Organize your source data in a table.

As usual, the rst thing for you to do is to write down all the choices for your drop-down lists in a
worksheet. This time, you will have to employ Excel tables to store the source data.
Let me remind you that tables were introduced in Excel 2007, so you can use this method in all
modern versions of Excel 2013, 2010 and 2007.
Once you have entered the data, select all of the entries and click Insert tab > Table. Then switch to
the Design tab and type a name of your table in the Table Name box.
The most convenient and visual approach is to store the items for the rst drop-down as table
headers, and the items for the dependent dropdown as table data. The screenshot below
illustrates the structure of my table, named exporters_tbl - the fruit names are table headers and a
list of exporting countries is added under the corresponding fruit name.
2. Create Excel names.

Now that your source data is ready, it's time to set up named references that will dynamically
retrieve the correct list from your table.
2.1. Add a name for the table's header row (main dropdown)
To create a new name that references the table header, select it and then either click Formulas >
Name Manager > New or press Ctrl + F3 .
Microsoft Excel will use the built-in table reference system to create the name of the
table_name[#Headers] pattern.
Give it some meaningful and easy to remember name, e.g. fruit_list, and click OK.
2.2. Create a name for the cell containing the rst drop-down list.
I know that you don't have any dropdown yet :) But you have to choose the cell to host your rst
dropdown and create a name for that cell now because you will need to include this name in the
third name's reference.
For example, my rst drop-down box is reside in cell B1 on Sheet 2, so I create a name for it,
something simple and self-explanatory like fruit:
Tip. Use appropriate cell references to copy drop-down lists across the worksheet.
Please be sure to read the following few paragraphs attentively, because this a very useful tip
you that don't want to miss. Thanks a lot to Karen for posting it!
If you plan to copy your drop-down lists to other cells, then use mixed cell references when
creating the name for the cell(s) with your rst drop-down list.
For the drop-downs to copy correctly to other columns (i.e. to the right in the worksheet), use
relative column (without the $ sign) and absolute row (with $) references like = Sheet2!B$1.
As the result, B1's dependent drop down list will appear in cell B2; C1's dependent drop-down
will display in C2, and so on.
And if you plan to copy the dropdowns to other rows (i.e. down to other cells in the column),
then use absolute column (with $) and relative row (without $) references like = Sheet2!$B1.
2.3. Create a name to retrieve the dependent menu's entries.

Instead of setting up unique names for each of the dependent lists like we did in the previous
example, we are going to create one named formula that is not assigned to any particular cell or
a range of cells. It will retrieve the correct list of entries for the second dropdown depending
on which selection is made in the rst drop-down list. The main bene t of using this formula is
that you won't have to create new names as you add new entries to the rst drop-down list - one
named formula covers them all.
You create a new Excel name in the usual way (Formulas > Name Manager > New) with this formula:
=INDEX(exporters_tbl,,MATCH(fruit,fruit_list,0))
Where:
exporters_tbl - the name of the table (created in step 1);
fruit - the name of the cell containing the rst drop-down list (created in step 2.2);
fruit_list - the name referencing the table's header row (created in step 2.1).
I gave it a name exporters_list, as you see in the screenshot below.
If you are curious to learn the Index and Match functions in-depth, check out this tutorial: INDEX &
MATCH - a better alternative to VLOOKUP.
Well, you have already done the major part of the work! Before getting to the nal step, it may be
a good idea to open the Name Manager ( Ctrl + F3 ) and verify the names and references:
3. Set up Excel Data Validation

This is actually the easiest part. With the two named formulas in place, you set up Data Validation
in the usual way (Data tab > Data validation).
For the rst drop-down list, in the Source box, enter =fruit_list (the name created in step 2.1).
For the dependent drop-down list, enter =exporters_list (the name created in step 2.3).
Done! Your dynamic cascading drop-down menu is accomplished and will update automatically
re ecting the changes you've made to the source table.
This dynamic Excel dropdown, perfect in all other respects, has one shortcoming - if the columns
of your source table contain a di erent number of items, the blank rows will appear in your menu
like this:
Exclude blank rows from the dynamic cascading dropdown

If you want to clean any blank lines in your drop-down boxes, you will have to take a step further
and improve the INDEX / MATCH formula used to create the dependent dynamic drop-down list.
The idea is to use 2 INDEX functions, where the rst gets the upper-left cell and the second
returns the lower-right cell of the range, or the OFFSET function with nested INDEX and COUNTA.
The detailed steps follow below:
1. Create two additional names.

Not to make the formula too bulky, create a couple of helper names with the following simple
formulas rst:
A name called col_num to reference the selected column number:
=MATCH(fruit,fruit_list,0)
A name called entire_col to reference the selected column (not the column's number, but the
entire column): =INDEX(exporters_tbl,,col_num)
In the above formulas, exporters_tbl is your source table's name, fruit is the name of the cell
containing the rst dropdown, and fruit_list is the name referencing the table's header row.
2. Create the named reference for the dependent dropdown.

Next, utilize either of the below formulas to create a new name (let's call it exporters_list2) to be
used with the dependent drop-down list:
=INDEX(exporters_tbl,1,col_num) : INDEX(exporters_tbl, COUNTA(entire_col),

col_num)
=OFFSET(INDEX(exporters_tbl,1,col_num),0,0,COUNTA(entire_col))
3. Apply Data Validation.

Finally, select the cell containing the dependent dropdown and apply Data Validation by entering =
exporters_list2 (the name created in the previous step)in the Source box.
The screenshot below shows the resulting dynamic drop-down menu in Excel where all blank lines
are gone!
Note. When working with dynamic cascading drop down lists created with the above formulas,
nothing prevents the user from changing the value in the rst dropdown after making the
selection in the second menu, as a result, the choices in the primary and secondary dropdowns
may mismatch. You can block changes in the rst box after a selection is made in the second
one by using either VBA or complex formulas suggested in this tutorial.
This is how you create dynamic cascading drop-down lists in Excel. Feel free to download the
sample workbooks and see it in action:
Download Cascading Dropdown Sample 1 - easy version
Download Cascading Dropdown Sample 2 - advanced version without blanks
If you have any questions, you are most welcome to post a comment. Thank you for reading!
168 Responses to "Making a cascading (dependent) Excel drop

down list"
1 Terry says:
October 30, 2014 at 8:07 pm
Hi
Thanks for the example. My question is how do you prevent someone changing the fruit cell
once the exporter cell is chosen?
Reply
Svetlana Cheusheva says:

October 31, 2014 at 8:58 am
Hi Terry,
If you want to prevent users from changes the rst drop-down once they make a selection
in the second, you need to use a special IF formula when creating the main drop-down.
Please see this part for more details:
How to prevent changes in the primary drop-down list
Reply
John Seals says:

August 10, 2016 at 3:50 pm
I was able to prevent changes in rst drop-down after they select a choice in second
thanks to the advice. But now, I can enter things o the drop-down menu. Did I
inadvertently turn something on?
Thanks
Reply
2 ferrol says:
I need help with part of you tutorial.

In creating a dynamic cascading drop down list in excel,
under 2.3. Create a name to retrieve the dependent menu's entries.
Which cell or range of cells gets =INDEX(exporters_tbl,,MATCH(fruit,fruit_list,0)) as its name.
Where do i place this name
Reply

Hello Ferrol,
This is a very good question. This name is not assigned to any particular cell or a range of
cells. In fact, this is a named formula that retrieves the correct list from your table
depending on which selection is made in the rst dropdown.
The main bene t of using this formula is that you don't have to create an individual name
for each entry, one named formula covers them all.
You create this name in the same way as the two previous ones (steps 2.1 and 2.2) by
clicking Formulas > Name Manager > New, or by pressing Ctrl + F3 and then clicking New.
Reply
lilac says:
July 31, 2017 at 6:23 am
Dear Svetlana,
I tried Step 2.3 - and it keeps throwing me error.
In Name Manager - the Refers To section keeps on putting quote around INDEX ie.
="Index(...)"
If I delete the quote, it says There's a problem with this formula and I cannot save it.
Hence the Value in Name Manager doesn't evaluate.
I copied your example to the tee and I'm using Excel 2016
Is there a solution for this?
Many thanks.
Reply
3 Karen says:
November 10, 2014 at 1:12 pm
I tried this for my project and found I could not ll to the right to copy the data validation
across.
So for instance in your example I had entries at B1 and B2. I then entered another fruit at C1
(di erent to the fruit entered at B1). I found that B1's dependent drop down list was
appearing in cell C2 instead of the dependent drop down list for C1 as I wanted.
I xed this by removing the absolute reference in Step 2.2 as follows

= Sheet2!B$1 //ie no $ before the B
I was then able to ll the data validation from B2 to the right, so that C2 was dependent on
C1; D2 was dependent on D1 etc.
I'm not sure if any of this made sense. I hope it has.
I have to thank you very, very much for this instruction. It has been a great help.
Reply
Ana says:
Awesome! that was my issue, thanks!
Reply
Shosh says:
July 17, 2016 at 8:56 pm
Thank you! That was my problem too!
Reply
Anik Sachdeva says:

November 10, 2016 at 9:41 am
HI Karen
How can these drop downs work in another sheets (of same workbook)
Reply
Kleber Bonitese says:

June 28, 2017 at 9:37 am
Nice! I also had this issue, since I am doing this in a form... So for "fruit" I named an interval
like "=Sheet2!$B5"
This way all the cells in the columns are now working well. Hey, Svetlana, maybe it would
be worth it to add this to your tutorial, since many people seem to need it variable and not
just for a single cell.
Cheers guys!
Reply
4 Emma says:
Hi,
Instead of preventing changes to a cell once a selection has been made; what if we wanted all
the responses to be cleared when a user has made a selection for 1, 2, 3 etc. and then
decides to go back to 1 to change the response.
For instance, I've got three drop down lists in C1, C2 & C3 and then want C2 & C3 reset to
blank, when I change C1; or maybe C3 to blank, when I change C2. The point is to reset the
responses provided after the new target cell. Is there anyway to achieve this?
Thanks a lot in advance.
Reply
Tommy says:
April 14, 2015 at 1:33 pm
Try using macros: Right-click the sheet and select view code. Copy and paste the below
text. Enable macros.
Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)

If Target.Address = "$C$1" Then
Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("C2,C3").ClearContents
End If
Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("C3").ClearContents
End If
End Sub
Reply
Ron says:
How would you alter the code below if I have more than one lkinked data validations on
one worksheet?
For example I have the same situation as below but in columns D, E, F, etc.?
Thanks
Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)

Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("C2,C3").ClearContents
End If
Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("C3").ClearContents
End If
End Sub
Reply
Samatha says:
July 26, 2016 at 3:01 pm
I'm running into the same issues as Ron. I have 1000+ rows that have multiple
dependent drop-down lists; how do I edit the code so that it applies to all rows?
Reply
Marcia says:
September 14, 2016 at 9:49 am
Hi, If I have named my sheets - ie I've called mine Analysis so I just substitute "Sheet1"
with "Analysis" or do I need to keep the sheet number?
Also how do I actually get this to work - do I need to run it? or save it as a macro name?
Many thanks
Marcia
Reply
drop down to sub drop down says:

April 6, 2017 at 1:04 pm
I am looking drop down list and if I go to list of drop down and select one. I need another
drop down from that drop down list. Can it will be possible
Reply
5 Rahul says:
Hi,
I have made three dynamic named ranges using o set formula. All these three lists are on
di erent worksheets. I want to make a dependent dynamic dropdown on a 4th sheet. is it
possible ? and if yes, how?
for ex: store1, store2, store3 these are three named ranges on sheet a , b, c respectively. now
i want to make a dependent dropdown in which rst dropdown should have store1, store2 ,
store 3 and the second dropdown must have the items listed in these.
Reply
6 Umair says:
I was Struggling for dependent list -- how to create in excel /// After 1 and half year ... I got
this from here .............!!!
O My Good.
Thank YOu very very very Much ......... :)
Reply
7 Ciprian T. says:
Hello guys,
question related to - dynamic cascading drop-down lists
I followed the steps, done = working for the rst cell (B1 in your example)
How you copy it to the entire column? I tried normal drag (select the corner bottom-right and
drag below) and I destroyed the results in the 2nd column ....same thing happened when I did
it in your sample
Since I need hundreds of rows daily, doing B1 procedure in all manually is not possible
Thanks for the great help you provide so far
Reply
8 Jason says:
Svetlana - I have got the drop down box process down, and have been able to make them
dependent. My question is: Is there a way for me to make this applicable to an entire column,
without manually changing the data validation in each cell. Example being, I want column C
drop boxes (from row 2 to 10,000) to be dependent on column B drop boxes, ie drop box cell
C25 would be dependent on drop box in cell B25. Right now I can only get everything in
column C to tie to B2...
Thanks!
Reply
Steve says:
December 29, 2014 at 8:32 pm
Yes,
Using the example I added columns going across so the change for you will be slightly
di erent.
The key is the Name "col_num" in the example. It uses the =MATCH(fruit,fruit_list,0) which
references the named cell "fruit". This needs to be changed to reference the cell relative to
the current cell (The cell where the second list is being used.
I changed this to use the INDIRECT function to reference the cell one row up so my full
function used in the "col_num" name is: =MATCH(INDIRECT("R[-1]C[0]",FALSE),fruit_list,0)
The "R[-1]C[0]" is the relative reference looking at the value in the cell one row up in the
same column. If you have your selections going down in two columns then your relative
reference in the INDIRECT will look one cell to the left in the same row or "R[0]C[-1]"
Reply
Raimonds says:
May 14, 2015 at 7:54 pm
Hi,
I followed thoroughly your instructions and they work just great on my desktop Excel.
However it doesn't work on the Excel iPad version (also not in Excel online). Whereas the
static/ xed reference (ie "=MATCH(fruit,fruit_list,0)") works both on desktop as well as on
iPad. Any ideas it isn't working with the INDIRECT function?
Would there be any other ways to reference a cell relatively to the current one?
Thanks!
Reply
Alexander says:
May 15, 2015 at 3:07 pm
Hi Raimonds,
Unfortunately, we can’t say for sure why the solution doesn’t work on the Excel iPad (in
Excel online) and can’t suggest an alternative. The point is that the functions are very
limited in Excel for iPad and Excel online. Microsoft is constantly trying to improve
both versions, but it is still not possible to ful ll some complex tasks there.
Reply
9 Gregory says:
Svetlana,
I am working on a spreadsheet and I was wondering if it is possible to apply dynamic
cascading lists to 3rd or 4th dependent lists. Is this possible, and if so, how would I go about
doing it?
Reply
Steve says:
April 2, 2015 at 8:24 pm
I am looking for this sort of thing too.
Reply
10 Christina says:
Is it possible to apply this to multi select drop downs? So, I would select Apricots and Mango
(using a VBA script) and then see the related suppliers to both Apricots and Mango?
Thanks a lot!
Reply
11 Matt Cook says:

Is it possible to exclude blank rows which appear through the data list for example in your
data table if A2 was blank, currently this would appear as a gap in the drop down list which I
wanted to avoid.
Thanks
Reply

Hello Matt,
Regrettably, there is no quick and simple way to ful ll this task. You'll de nitely need to
create a temporary table and copy all non-blank rows there.
Reply
Bernard Banko says:
January 12, 2016 at 10:42 pm
Put in your data validation list instead of exporters_list this string:

=OFFSET(exporters_list;0;0;COUNTA(exporters_list);1)
Reply
12 Sangita says:
December 1, 2014 at 5:55 am
Hi,
Is there a way to create a single or multiple substitution teachers table with

alternative pop-up options in the time-table.
Reply

Hello Sangita,
Please specify what you mean by "alternative pop-up options".
Reply
13 Naeem says:
Hi,
Instead of single value / item, i wish to display some bullet points for 2nd dependent drop
down against selection in the rst dropdown.
Please reply ASAP.
Reply
14 jam says:
how can i return a certain data using VLOOKUP??? for example using just an id number i have
to return the name of that id number user? is that possible in data validation???
Reply
15 Saleh says:
Hi,
Thank you for a good description, but i have a question, how can i use this multilevel drop-
down list not for one cell, do it for more than 100 cells at once.
I want to make a list for 100 product, and ask people to ll other elds like that you teach. but
I cant do it for 100 products one by one. Help me !!
Reply
AC says:
March 18, 2015 at 1:48 am
I am having same problem as Saleh, how can we ll the multilevel drop-down so it can
work for hundreds or thousands rows and not be dependent on what the 1st cell's
selection is? Right now when you ll the row it only brings the drop down list from the 1st
selected cell and building this formula row by row can't be the only way to do this
repeatedly is it? HELP!!
Reply
16 Sajan says:
In a drop down list how to select a name starting from letter 'T" quickly a particular name
from a huge drop down list.
Reply
17 Alex says:
Is there a way to automatically update the exporter cell to the rst item in the list once the
fruit is selected?
Reply
18 Eric says:
January 5, 2015 at 8:17 pm
Using your instructions above, I’ve been able to create my dynamic, cascading validation
successfully. Then I copied the validation into subsequent rows. My problem is that when I’ve
selected from the dropdowns in the rst row, the dependent dropdowns for subsequent
rows are stuck matching the rst row. Can you tell me what I’m doing wrong? Thanks!
Reply
19 Fawwad says:
January 8, 2015 at 10:31 am
@Eric remove the "$" from the dynamic location of the cell. Refer to Karen's comment (third
from top). She faced same issue for columns and removed $ from the column letter. For
rows, keep the $ for row letter but remove it from row number
So your reference to the rst cell would become from

= Sheet2!$B$1
to
= Sheet2!$B1
I have tried this and it works a treat!!
Reply
Kra says:
I am also facing the same problem.

@Fawwad removing the "$"from the dynamic location of the cell is not working. Please
advise if any alternate solution. Thanks !
Reply
20 Alex M says:
I want to create drop down menus for a consumer to choose from (I have them created).
Once they select what they want I want to be able to gather and list information in a new
sheet that is gathered from multiple di erent sheets within the same project. I want to
basically write an if/then statement that if they select this from the drop down list and
something from a di erent drop down list then a master list appears with what they need. It's
kind of a generic example but anything helps.
Reply
21 Andy says:
Thank you.
Reply
22 Hamza says:
your work is helping me a lot. i would like to know that if i select a certain option from drop
down and ll some data accordingly then if i change the drop down selection then the data
should change accordingly.how do i do it?
Reply
23 Mike says:
Hi Svetlana,
I am trying to create something similar to your example above. But I am using a number drop
down of Values 0-10. Every time I try to create the third dependent drop down, based on the
previous two drop downs, it won't create in Name Manager as it says the value I am
combining collates to a eld in the spreadsheet (Win1).
I can do everything I need by putting the values of Zero-Ten in text format but is it possible
that the values are based on Zero-Ten but the user selecting shows the Number value 0-10
Thank you
Mike
Reply
24 Hady says:
I want know. If i made a drop down list containing names of fruits and i want a speci c
number to appear in another cell depending on the selected fruit. How can i make that ?
Thanks in advance.
Reply
25 Sherrie says:
Is there a way to copy info in a cell - example: ADM-90-13 - without having Excel automatically
change the "13" to 14, 15, 16, etc. as it populates the next cell. I've been cutting and pasting
and it takes quite a while to accomplish this.
Thanks for any help you can provide.
Reply
26 Kaddy says:
February 3, 2015 at 10:52 am
Hey Hi!
Thanks for this extremely helpful article.
I have a small error in implementing it, can you help me in solving it?
I created a original list, and a dependent list.
However, the dependent list accepts value only if the 1st option of the original list.
If I select any other option other than the 1st, then the dependent list doesnt work.
Can you let me know how to rectify it?
Reply
27 Judita says:
February 13, 2015 at 4:08 pm
Hi,
could you tell me how to make cascading (dependent) Excel drop down list where entries
repeat, but I only want it be mentioned once in the drop down list? E.g. rst row - Supplier
Tesco Tesco Tesco Argos Iceland Iceland. I the drop down list I want to see Tesco Argos
Iceland.
Thanks!
Reply
28 Rahul says:
How to assign same value to a cell using dependent list?

For(your)example: how can I assign/populate same exporters for two fruits say 'Mango' and
'Apricot' dynamically without duplicating the values?
Please let me know.
Reply
29 Kironde says:
March 3, 2015 at 5:09 pm
I have a column with a heading and values below. the heading has a drop down with two
selections. I want that when I select on or the other that the values below change. For eg. if i
have a di erent gure for budget and target I would have budget and target in the drop
down and the gures below would change depending on which one I selected.
Reply
30 Meet says:
March 3, 2015 at 11:11 pm
Hello,
I have made a drop down menu in the one column.

Now I also want to setup such a way that if I choose one entry from drop down menu in
column A then I should get value in column B corresponding to my choice in Column A.
Thanks
Reply
31 Michael says:
March 11, 2015 at 10:52 pm
Hi, I've been looking on the internet for a while now trying to nd what I am looking for. The
problem is I don't know what its called. I know hot to do the drop down menu (data
validation) which is easy and ne however, what I want is for when I select an option from my
drop down menu, some other cells to be automatically populated with data.
I.e.
Pressure Torque
4.0 BarG 20Nm
5.0 BarG 40Nm
So when I select 4.0BarG from the drop down menu, I want another cell to be automatically
populated with 20Nm. Is this possible? If so can someone point me in the right direction
please.
Hopefully someone can help/advise me what this function is called so I can search better.
Thanks!
Reply
James says:
March 18, 2015 at 4:48 pm
Post 31 that Michael entered is exactly what I am trying to gure out too. Any help would
be much appreciated.
I would like to create a spreadsheet with one drop down list that then populates 2 other
cells.
I.e.
ColumnA ColumnB ColumnC

Company name Currency Commission
So you select a company name from the drop down list and it automatically lls out the
currency type and the commission percentage for that particular company for you.
Is that possible?
Many thanks in advance,
James
Reply
Anonymous says:
March 31, 2015 at 2:56 am
Use IF statements. It will take a while to gure out but just use the logic.
IF a cell equals another cell then make the cell with the IF statement return the value if
true.
Reply
32 LCoelho says:
March 24, 2015 at 9:04 pm
Is it possible to create a dependent dropdown list based on two columns?

For example:
Col A
"Proc 1"
"Proc 2"
"Proc 3"
"Proc 4"
Col B
"1.1 Sub-Proc"
"1.2 Sub-Proc"
"1.3 Sub-Proc"
"1.4 Sub-Proc"
"1.5 Sub-Proc"
"2.1 Sub-Proc"
"2.2 Sub-Proc"
"2.3 Sub-Proc"
"3.1 Sub-Proc"
"3.2 Sub-Proc"
"3.3 Sub-Proc"
"3.4 Sub-Proc"
"4.1 Sub-Proc"
"4.2 Sub-Proc"
I would like to create a 2nd dropdown list based on the rst Char of the Column B dependent
on the last Char of a result of a 1st dropdown list based on the Column A.
As a Result, if I select "Proc 2" on the 1st dropdown list, I would like to have the following Sub-
Procs listed on the 2nd dropdown list:
"2.1 Sub-Proc"
"2.2 Sub-Proc"
"2.3 Sub-Proc"
Tks in advance
LCoelho
Reply
Richard says:
No, you would have to have your main column:

Procedure 1
p...2
p...3
then your headers would have to be
p...1, p...2, p...3 etc..
and your sub proc. would have to be under their respective col.
Reply
33 saklain says:
April 1, 2015 at 5:18 pm
Hi
my question is how to create main dropdown option ex i created dorp down option where
ever i check a)jack b) tom c) harry in 500 cells if i want to know total numbers of onyone like
how many tom are there then what to do ?
Need your help
Reply
34 Asha says:
April 10, 2015 at 9:36 am
Good explanation on dynamic dropdown list and additional points to trace the error when
mapping the dependent list to maindropdown list.
I was re ering many sites on this indirect function. None was pointing out to the formula
index, prior to the nal step indirect function. It was throwing error after possible all tries
(Cell Reference Error).
Many Thanks for this post:)
Reply
35 Amit Bhardwaj says:

April 17, 2015 at 10:17 am
You rocks!!
Well articulated and understandable. I have navigated plenty of google search results but its
found to be very simple to understand and implement.
Thanks much
Reply
36 David says:
April 20, 2015 at 12:45 pm
Is there a way to use drop down lists to entirely di erent sets of data? E.g. I have a list of
managers and their employees for a "progress tracker"; is there a way I can select one
manager from the drop down, their list of employees and all the related data for those
employees will be displayed? Maybe using a drop down is not even the proper fuction for
this?
Thank you!
Reply
37 Varsha says:
April 23, 2015 at 3:23 pm
HI,
Very good article. Thanks for this.

But is there a way where after having this list, I will have one more cell where I enter some
info. All these details along with dropdown selection and the cell info come together in the
nal cell separated with semicolon ;
Ex: In below ex A1 to A3 are drop downs and A5 is text box where I can manually enter details
also A6 is text box where all details are collated and put up and not editable
A1 : Health
A2 : Fruits
A3 : Apple
A5 : Apple is good for health
A6 : A1:Health ; A2:Fruits ; A3:Apple ; A5: Apple is good for health
Reply
Varsha says:
April 23, 2015 at 5:13 pm
Got it..it was simple...
Reply
38 Judita says:
April 27, 2015 at 3:17 pm
Hello,
I love your tutorials, very useful and easy to fallow. I wanted to enquire if you done a tutorial
on how to create dynamic cascading drop-down lists with three columns (where column
three depends on column one and 2).
Thank you
Reply

April 27, 2015 at 3:30 pm
Hello Judita,
Thank you so much for your kind feedback. Please check out step 5 "Add a third dependent
drop-down list (optional)" in the rst solution in this tutorial.
Reply
Swathi says:
March 15, 2016 at 2:43 pm
Hi Svetlana,
This INDIRECT doesnt work when Table method is used to create dynamic lists. Please
provide a tutorial for when this method is used.
Reply
39 Lee says:
April 27, 2015 at 7:03 pm
Hello,
I am trying to create a pricing list using 2 text drop-down lists.
Column A "Install" + Column B "Red Cabinet" = $2,500.00 (from a pre-made list)

Column A "Move" + Column B "Blue Cabinet" = $2,000.00 (from a pre-made list)
Column A "Remove" + Column B "Green Cabinet" = $500.00 (from a pre-made list)
Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Lee
Reply
40 aghil says:
April 30, 2015 at 8:16 am
hi,
I want to allow my user to start typing in the cell where we have applied drop down and then
the drop down to show only values matching his entry. As my list is a big list which makes it
di cult to scroll down n select.
Reply

April 30, 2015 at 9:14 am
Hi Aghil,
You can nd the links to a couple of scripts that can lter a drop-down list as you type on
this page:
http://stackover ow.com/questions/706906/jquery- lter-dropdown-list-as-you-type
Reply
41 Anonymous says:
May 5, 2015 at 11:20 am
Hi, great article!

I've also read the article "Creating a drop down list in Excel: static, dynamic, from another
workbook" and I learned a lot!
Right now I'm trying to make a 3 level cascading list, Country, Province/State,
City/Municipality, that is editable in the future.
I would like to know if its possible in excel.
If possible, sending me a template would help a lot, or at least please tell me how to.
Thanks a lot in advance!
Reply
42 JIrman says:
May 5, 2015 at 11:20 am
Hi, great article!

I've also read the article "Creating a drop down list in Excel: static, dynamic, from another
workbook" and I learned a lot!
Right now I'm trying to make a 3 level cascading list, Country, Province/State,
City/Municipality, that is editable in the future.
I would like to know if its possible in excel.
If possible, sending me a template would help a lot, or at least please tell me how to.
Thanks a lot in advance!
Reply

May 5, 2015 at 11:46 am
Hello JIrman,
Please check out "5. Add a third dependent drop-down list (optional)" in this tutorial. It
explains the detailed steps on adding the 3rd level.
Reply
43 Nicole says:
May 22, 2015 at 6:21 pm
Great tutorial! I am trying to apply this dependent dropdown list to an entire column. Eg.
What is selected in B2 will a ect the dropdown menu in C2. What is selected in B3 will a ect
the dropdown menu in C3. How do I apply this rule to the entire column (of 20,000 lines)??
When I select the whole column to apply this rule to, C3's menu depends on B2 instead of B3.
Please help!
Reply
Kevin says:
June 11, 2016 at 1:01 pm
I'm having the same issue, did you ever gure out how to remedy this? Thanks!
Reply
44 Chris says:
May 27, 2015 at 3:59 pm
Is it possible to create sub-choices within a drop down list?
Apple
- green
- red
Mango
- for juice
- for pulp
- fresh
- tinned
Similar to the menu > sub-menu > sub-sub menu > sub-sub-sub menu cascade that you have
with Windows "All Programs"
Reply
45 fernando says:
June 1, 2015 at 3:10 pm
Hello,
What if your dependent variable on the table is a number.

I am having this issue. Excel says that the dependent name can't be a number, and I need my
3rd column to be dependent on the 2nd column (which is composed by numbers only).
Thanks
Reply
46 Nathan says:
June 2, 2015 at 9:13 pm
Hi
This helped a lot. I created a dynamic drop down list referencing another drop down list,
following your steps and it work perfectly.
My problem is now when I try to copy those cells and de ned names to a second sheet to
have di erent information shown on sheet2, the de ned names still reference the rst sheet
only. Is there a way to have the entire name (in your case the 'fruit' name) reference
sheet2!A5, sheet3!A5, etc? Everything is the same as sheet 1, I just need the fruit cell to
reference the new sheet instead of the old.
Reply
Anik Sachdeva says:

I am facing the same issue, @Nathan, did it resolve for you?
Reply
47 Sam says:
June 5, 2015 at 2:18 pm
Svetlana,
So I have two columns, each being a drop-down list. I want to be able to change either list,
based on the choice in the other cell.
For example, if i choose "apple" from the drop down list in A1, B1 will then read "red".
But conversely, i would like to choose "pink" from the drop down list in B1, and have it
change A1 to "peach".
And this applies back and forth so that each column, A and B will be updated no matter which
list is chosen from, all the while keeping them drop down lists.
Let me know if you can help! That'd be amazing
-Sam
Reply
48 Sarah says:
June 9, 2015 at 7:07 am
Hi there!
I have been looking for a way where by if i enter an item's name ie. Bag, in the next cell the
price ie. $19.50 would automatically appear. Is it possible on excel?:)
Thank you!
-Sarah
Reply
49 Dan says:
June 11, 2015 at 12:05 pm
I after something similar. My drop down list is either BPay or Bank Deposit. If they select
BPay, I want Biller code and Reference to appear in 2 di erent cells below. Like wise, if Bank
Deposit is selected, I want Acc No, Acc Name, Bank Name and BSB to appear in 4 cells below.
Is this possible?
Thank you
Dan
Reply
50 Shreeram says:
June 25, 2015 at 2:33 pm
Hello,
I followed your article closely and have managed to achieve what I intended. Thanks a ton.
However, I am unable to apply it to other cells (rows below) if i drag the bottom right of the
cell where the formulae are working well.
What am I doing wrong?
Thanks in advance,
Shreeram
Reply
51 Erin says:
July 2, 2015 at 9:48 pm
Great Tutorial Thank you!
I have 2 worksheets. One has 14 Columns. Each Column has between 2 and 8 items to select.
On the next Sheet I have a drop arrow for one cell to choose one of the 14 column items
(thanks to your tutorial) However, the next cell needs to give me the items for each column
header. I have tried data validation, list, and since my source is on another sheet:
=Indirect(SUBSTITUTE(Sheet2!$A$1:$D$7))I then get an error message. Is this a 2 steps
process somewhere, or what am I missing?
Thank you,
Erin
Reply
52 Jim says:
July 16, 2015 at 1:23 pm
Hello,
I have the 2 dropdowns. The rst se;ects a type of machine, once selected the second will
display only the material that works on the machine. When selecting another machine in the
rst dropdown I would like the second that displays the material to go blank and ready for a
selection. Reason is by not going blank the material that is still listed will be associated with
the rst machine selection making a error. By going blank with a new machine machine is
selected in the rst dropdown will force the person making the selection to select the correct
material thus eleminating the chance of the error.
Reply
53 Utsav says:
July 27, 2015 at 9:41 am
I want to select data from three drop down list ddl1, ddl2 & ddl3 and the result should be
shown by matching the details.
For example: I have ddl city1 & city2 and third ddl as mode_of_transport.
When I select a city from city1 and another city from city2 and from third I select mode as
ROAD, then the result should display cost of ticket and time taken.
Is it possible ??
Reply
54 Sumit says:
July 28, 2015 at 8:18 am
Hi all,
How can add a Validation Button On My Sheet. How can add the sheet Which is in Drop Down
List
Reply
55 Fabiana says:
July 31, 2015 at 8:46 am
It's really weird. I've done exactly what you suggested, but it's not updating automatically - I
wonder what I'm doing wrong. I'm using Excel 2013.
Reply
56 jim quest says:

August 8, 2015 at 3:43 pm
Not sure if I understood it
Reply
57 pratik says:
August 26, 2015 at 2:47 pm
article is very good but i have one query..
in C column i want to show some data dependent on what select in B column. i know by using
indirect function we can do that. but how to implement this logic to entire column? can you
please help becuase it is very hard to select each cell update indirect(b2), indirect(b3)...etc...
Reply
58 LAURA says:
September 1, 2015 at 3:47 pm
I would like to make a drop down from a table where i select an item # (column A) and the
description (column b) automatically appears. Is this possible?
Reply
59 Ritam Sinha says:
This is an wonderful illustration, thanks! But I'm getting stuck in a problem. My requirement is
to create a task and sub-task list and populate that on daily basis. I mean master sheet will
contain tasks like Functional Design, Technical Design etc.; sub-tasks like preparation, review,
rework etc. There will data validation in user input sheet where user will select a task on daily
basis and a sub-task will be populated accordingly. Above example is working only for a
particular row. Because "fruit" refers to cell "Sheet2!$B$1". What do I need to do to make it
applicable for Sheet2!$B$2..$B$10 and so on?
Reply
60 beda says:
Perfecto
Reply
61 Delibas says:
I have one question.
I have Banks
Abank
Bbank
Cbank
And Eachbank has same currency

USD
GBP
EUR
CHF
JPY
And Each Currency has some special Number

Abank USD SPECIAL NO 111
Bbank USD SPECIAL N0 112
Cbank USD SPECIAL NO 113
same for EUR,CHF,JPY,GBP
I this stiuation
When i selected First Dropdown i wanted to show Banks-
Second dropdown wanted to show All currencies-
Third dropdown wanted to show Special no
Let me give you and example

IF Abank selected on DRPList1
and USD selected on DRPList2
show only ABANK USD SPECIAL NO 111 on DRPList3
IF Bbank selected on DRPList1

and USD selected on DRPList2
show only BBANK USD SPECIAL NO 111 on DRPList3
But it is always showing ABANK USD SPECIAL NO 111 DRPList3
So how can i connect lists if my banks has same currencies and this each same currencies has
di erent special number
Thanks
Reply
62 Nteng says:
Good day,
Thank you soo much for the assistance. I have managed to create a multiple word cascading
drop down list. The problem is that the result on the dependent list only references to
whatever is on the rst row of the main drop down list. How can i correct this?
Reply
63 Pandharinath Kerkar says:

Sir,
Please help me to get dropdown list based on the followings:

I have a list of names, how to create dropdown list to populate the list of the words to display
when the rst, then second letter (and so on) of the word typed.
Reply
64 Ricardo says:
Thanks for the tutorial.

Help me a lot with my problem.
Reply
65 Santosh Budakoti says:

I have 2 columns in a spreadsheet, both are picked from a drop down list.
Col A is "Do you want more information" - Possible Values Yes\No
Col B is "How did you hear about us" - Possible values are Email\Phone\Other
Question: If "No" is chosen in Col A, then Col B's value should be N/A, otherwise the user
should be able to choose from the dropdown and pick a value. Using the following formula, I
can get N/A to appear, but the "false" option overwrites any available dropdown values or
previously selected values. So simply put, if Yes is chosen, let user choose a value in the other
cell. If No is chosen, show N/A in the other cell. Thoughts on how I can get this to work? or
how it's work with data validation?
Reply
66 Paul says:
Hi
Great post, very helpful. However, each of the list in my table is mixed, it might look like this;
Apricot
Apricot Italy
Apple Morocco
Mango China
Chile Apricot
Rather than separate out the individual lists, how can I make the 2nd drop down list only
show those values that word match the 1st drop down, i.e Apricot Italy and Chile Apricot?
Probably not the most elegantly written post.
Cheers
Reply
Maria Azbel (Ablebits.com Team) says:

January 28, 2016 at 10:14 am
Hello, Paul,
Sorry, it's not possible the way you describe. You should add another column and lter it
using the formula.
Reply
67 Iván Calderón says:

I just want to say thank you for your generosity. This tips will make me perform better at
work. I made a search for this in the internet for a while, and your website was the only one
to post the exact answer.
Reply
68 Nitin Goswami says:

It was a great article it really helped me alot.Thanks alot for you help. I really appreciate your
time and help. Thanks again :-) buddy
Reply
69 Mike Bautista says:

Hi,
I have a spread sheet with 2 dropdown list and it is working ne using indirect function.
Problem is when i erase the value in the rst dropdownlist column the second dropdown list
value stand still. Is there a way that if I delete the value in the rst dropdown the second
dropdown will be removed as well?
Thanks.
Mike
Reply

January 28, 2016 at 10:12 am
Hello, Mike,
Most likely you need a VBA macro that will react to changes in the cell. Sorry, we cannot
help you with this task.
Reply
70 Zane says:
hello!
How can one create dependent value to drop down list?

If in cell B3 one chooses one value from drop down list, excel automatically in cell C3 drops
dependent value.
Example - in drop down list I choose customer and automatically in next cell I get address for
chosen customer. Is that possible to do in excel?
Reply

January 28, 2016 at 10:11 am
Hello, Zane,
Looks like you need VBA. Sorry, we cannot help you with this.
Reply
71 SURIBABU says:
i have small problem in excel. it is i am created a drop down in the excel. like this Ex: B is
1,2,3,4,5.... and C is 45,56,59,58,26..
but iam select B1 then automatically C Cell become changed into 45.
how is it please solve my problem. thanking you
Reply
72 Guillermo Jimenez says:

Very helpful. Thanks!
Reply
73 Trey says:
I have created my lists.

I have the primary drop-down working!
My 2nd drop-down isn't working. I have my ranges named using "o set" formula as the lists
may frequently change. When I make the secondary list NOT using o set, it seems to work
okay.
Any tips?
Reply

January 28, 2016 at 10:10 am
Hello, Trey,
To help you better, we need a sample table with your data in Excel. You can email it to
support@ablebits.com. Please add the link to this article and your comment number.
Reply
74 Liz says:
I have created a drop-down list on a master sheet. I have 22 sheets with identical columns to
the master sheet. The only di erence between these sheets is how many rows there will be
with data entered. (Some cells in some rows will be blank- this is necessary.) Can you please
explain how I can have a drop-down selection link to a speci c worksheet and populate the
current sheet (in this case it would be the master sheet) with the data in the cells from the
sheet selected in the drop-down? For example, I would like to select a rep's name in the drop-
down box, and it populates with that rep's sheet (the rep's sheet will have a 4 digit number as
the name of the sheet). Any and all assistance is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Reply
75 Woody says:
January 31, 2016 at 10:48 pm
I have a drop down list A1 with Name, List B1 is phone number, C1 is Text, and D1 is Email.
After I click a name I would like the corresponding phone number, Text(just the word) and
Email(Just the word)in the next drop down. Also be able to choose the same name with a
couple of times but with either number, test and or email I can attached a copy of what i have
if need be
Reply
76 Gerald says:
I want to make a list using the following:
I have a category for Ex. Business

And i Want to show the di erent type of business by simply clicking on the category of
business
can you help me how to make this in excel.
Thank you.
Reply
77 Jason says:
Thank you for posting this tutorial. Using it, I was able to set up the dependent drop down
lists I needed. Now I need to gure out how to make them work across multiple tabs. The
problem is stemming from the initial cell reference. Here's my example:
NAME: CELL_1_DOOR_TYPE
FORMULA: ='1ST FLOOR'!$C$5
It works perfectly on the 1ST FLOOR tab. The problem is, of course, that if you're on 2ND
FLOOR, 3RD FLOOR, etc., it references C5 on the 1ST FLOOR tab.
Is there a way to force the named formula to always reference C5 on the active tab or must I
recreate the named formulas for each tab?
Thanks in advance!
Reply
Anik Sachdeva says:

I also have same issue.
Reply
78 Ahtisham says:
I want to run a macro on the basis of di erent selections from drop down list, is this possibl?
Reply
79 Vijay says:
Hi,
I have one master table with an organisation Business units till departments (5 Columns).
Now I am looking at the similar Filtering (unique values) functionality based on my list
selection in the other dependent cells. If I follow this above method, I end up creating around
120 Named ranges which is next to impossible to remember.
What is the best way to dynamically get the Unique values depending on the selection of top
level hierarchy ?
The normal ltering in excel on this table shows the unique values, However I want this
ltering on the cell that I want the values.
Pl. help
Vijay
Reply
80 Eric says:
I have to create a document that displays company names in a dropdown list. Once selected.
i want another cell to display a dependent dropdown list to show addresses for the selected
company name. The only issue is i want to be able to add/remove company names AS WELL
as the addresses listed under each.
I understand creating a dynamic cascading dropdown list can allow future edits of the
addresses but not sure how to do the same for company name. I want to create a le for
someone with no excel experience to be able to add/remove both company name and its
associated addresses.
Reply
81 ha y says:
March 5, 2016 at 7:23 pm
I've used sumproduct(subtotal(....)) formula on dashboard to dynamically calculate values

form a table, by applying lters to the table on sheet2. I need to have lters(dropdown values
of lters) on the dashboard, in order to avoid going to sheet2 for applying di erent lters and
instead select a values from dropdown list and it automatically lters the related column in
sheet2. I can share the sheet, anyone plz help me.
Reply
82 Gareth says:
March 11, 2016 at 5:32 pm
Hi,
Love this tutorial. On my project i need to add a checkbox to the top of a column. If the user
selects that checkbox the rest of the data entry cells below become active and visible. If the
box remains unchecked then the cells below are shaded out. I don't need to hide them, just
color them out in a certain shading so the seem inactive. Can anyone help me with this
please?
Gareth
Reply
83 Swathi says:
March 15, 2016 at 2:24 pm
Hi. Thanks for the tutorial.
How to make a third dependent dynamic drop down based on data selected in the second
dependent drop down?
Reply
Swathi says:
March 15, 2016 at 2:29 pm
I tried the one mentioned in "5. Add a third dependent drop-down list (optional)" but after
using the Table method for the second drop down, this doesnt work
Reply
84 Carmen says:
March 17, 2016 at 7:13 am
I have a searchable dropdown list which is not dependent, but, I need to protect sheet. I have
already unlocked cells in Format Cells.
My dropdown list won't work after protecting sheets. I also have some basic VBA coding to
allow grouping/ungrouping, and formatting columns after protecting cells.
My formula for data validation is =BillTo
My formula for the name 'BillTo' in Name Manager is using

=OFFSET(Data!$D$2,,,COUNTIF(Data!$D:$D,"?*"))
Can you please help me??
Thank you!
Reply
85 Ken says:
March 20, 2016 at 11:40 am
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. This combined with t&e vlookup command will fo just
what i need.
Reply
86 sanjay says:
March 20, 2016 at 2:19 pm
Sir,
I learn alot from your article, rst of all thanks so much.

but i face a problem after creating dependent Drop down, when i select a value from a drop
down and almost complete my app entries and then i change in dropdown list it will not
updated in the my previous selected selectioon
like example list
Fruit
Oranges
Apple
Now i update Apple to Kashmiri Apple, it must be updated everywhere where i selected
Apple.
Please send me solution
Reply
87 beginner says:
March 24, 2016 at 10:12 am
how do you put multiple entry in one column for data validation?
Reply
88 Pankaj says:
March 30, 2016 at 1:39 pm
Hello All,
Is it possible through VBA if i choose the drop down 1 the other drop down goes blank for
new dynamic selection through name range.
please post for any further clari cation on the same.
Reagrds
Pankaj
Reply
89 Atisham says:
April 3, 2016 at 6:51 pm
Can i make a list (created in one table) dependent on selection from the list (created in other
table)
Reply
90 Grant says:
April 18, 2016 at 8:00 am
Hi, Im trying to create a Spreadsheet that when i select from a drop down menu in the rst
coloumn it brings up my selection results in the 2nd coloumn.
Reply
91 Nair Enolam says:

April 23, 2016 at 7:11 pm
Thanks to this tutorial I have my sheets working exactly as I need them but now I want to go a
step further and use the selected item from the drop down to create a product/model
number.
eg A supplier in Pakistan(PA) of Mangoes(MA) was my rst ever supplier(001), they also
supply Yams(YA)
so in that example there would be two product numbers PAMA001 & PAYA001
I have used the same process above to create corresponding tables with the data used to
build the product/model number
where do I look to nd a way to do that, if it's actually possible
cheers Nair
Reply
92 avi says:
May 16, 2016 at 8:59 pm
hi svetlana,
how can I make the list to have multiple selection, I need more than one selection - let say for
example mango, orange and apple ?
Reply
93 Bernard says:
May 24, 2016 at 9:22 am
Hi
I want to create a drop down menu that selects a code however within the drop down menu I
want to include what the code's description is. However I only need the cell to be populated
with the code not the description.
Supplier Code
1234 Mountain Warehouse
Select only 1234 for the cell.
Is this possible?
Reply
94 Brendan says:
July 12, 2016 at 4:16 pm
Hello,
I have 3 tables with data, that contain some scattered blank rows. I have created data
validation lists that can hide these blank rows, until they are populated later on. My question
is this:
Based on the above, can I use some form of an INDIRECT in the data validation process, so
that the "correct" list will show up, based on what the user has selected from another
column? In the past, I could use the INDIRECT function, if I named the range in the formulas.
Because of the formula I am using to hide blank data, I cannot gure out how to attach this to
an INDIRECT. Thanks for any help!
Reply
95 Ron says:
July 19, 2016 at 11:28 pm
Hi Svetlana
I thank you for your post, I found a di erent way to get to a solution to the cascading drop
down boxes. My situation has four levels to select and I didn't want to make named ranges
for all of the possibilities. If I'd found your post rst I would have tried the option using the
tables. My solution involves having a pair of columns of data for each level after the rst. I
used a pivot to generate each set of data as by base data is subject to change. I then use a
match and countif combination to build an address range based on the previous selection.
My method for dealing with a change at a higher selection level was to clear the selections to
the right of the change using an on-update event.
It's all a bit convoluted but it works. I'm happy to send it to you if you'd like to have a look. My
description may be a bit brief to convey how it works.
Ron
Reply

July 20, 2016 at 9:13 am
Hi Ron,
Thank you very much for sharing your solution. I think I got the general idea though not the
details. The table option would probably be easier to implement but your approach is
original and unique, at least I've not encountered it anywhere else. Excellent job!
Reply
96 Neil says:
July 20, 2016 at 3:55 pm
I have a main validation list consisting of 3 values A, B or C. The second validation list has
values of A1 to A5, B1 to B5 and C1 to C5). Is it possible to set the second list to only show
values dependent on the choice made from the rst. e.g. if I choose A then the second list will
only show values A1 to A5. and so on. Is this possible?
Reply
97 David says:
August 4, 2016 at 5:29 pm
HI, Your tutorial was excellent for what I needed. One additional item. Is there a way to add a
search eld to each of the Columns. Some of the lists are long and rather then scrolling, it
would be helpful to add a search or lter eld when they rst click on the drop down menu
for either of the rst 2 columns.
Thanks
David
Reply
98 Alex says:
August 11, 2016 at 6:14 am
Hi,
I want to know if it is possible to put di erent lists in the same dropdown.
Thanks,
Alex
Reply
99 Doreen says:
August 17, 2016 at 8:56 pm
Thank you Svetlana, I found this very helpful. I was trying it with another posting, but he
didn't mention the use of a single word for the titles. Once I changed it - Excel was happy.
Reply
100 Kash says:

Thanks for the great tutorial.
One additional function i need to know.

First column will be DropDown List and second column just shows the speci c date.
Example.
We have 5 items names

A
B
C
D
E
And Values as follow
60
70
80
90
100
So I want in the rst column A DropDown List which should contains a list of (A,B,C,D,E) and
When I select any one of them it should show the related value (A=60) (B=70) etc
Thank You
Reply
101 Fábio says:

This tutorial helped me a lot... Thank you!
I have an issue regarding cascading excel dropdown lists that I'm looking forward to solve it
as soon as possible...
It is the following,
I created a cascading dropdown list with several dependent entries.

Therefore, I developed a macro to clear contents when updating my ‘mother’ cell. The thing is,
I did not want a macro to clear contents, but one to update them, giving me a value instead of
a blank cell. I would like to keep the dropdown option in the case I want to change my
standard value.
I’m looking forward for someone how could explain it.
Kind Regards,
Fábio Pereira
Portugal
Reply
102 Natasha says:

Can you create an indirect function where if you have a list with three items, say, "fruits",
"trees" and "other". You want the dropdown list to appear only for "fruits" and "trees".
However, once you choose "other" from the list, I want to be able to enter my own text.
Is this possible? I need a formula or another method rather than indirect function. Please
assist.
Reply
103 Sarah says:

Hi
I already have a multiple cascading drop down set.
I need a second non dependant set from the rst but cant seem to get it to work....is it
possible to have two independence, dependant cascading sets?
Set A of drop down relates to cats, Set B relates to dogs
Reply
104 BILL says:

Hello,
I have a question, I have a dropbox with 2 options. Let's say A and B,

when I select option B I want to apear one table with prices. And option A have already it
diferent table in the main excel sheet.
I tried but I could not do it.
Please help!!! ASAP

Thanx
Reply
105 Anik Sachdeva says:

Dependent drop down is not working for multiple sheets. Please help
Reply
106 Josef says:

I have a long drop down list. Is there a way where typing the rst letter will start ltering the
drop down list i.e. typing "a" will show only list items starting with "a", continuing typing like
"ac" will only show list items starting with "ac" and so on?
Reply
107 Sara says:

Hello,
I apply the same way and it works for only di erent values.
the problem is I have 3 dependent drop down lists
the rst list contains unique names but the second one has repeated words for each name in
the rst list and the 3 only depend on them.
Reply
108 Ahitagni says:

Its not working if Named Range values are having space. Deleting the spaces its working..Is
there any way to achieve this???
Reply
109 Sonja Berrios says:

I followed the instructions in your example exactly for the dynamic cascading list. However
when I select a fruit, no dropdown list appears for exporters. I click on the dropdown button
and no dropdown list appears. I can't see anything that I've done wrong. I copied and pasted
the name from name manager just to be sure I didn't type it wrong. Any suggestions of likely
errors?
Reply
110 Priya says:

Hi,
If i want to create a sheet where i need to use the cascading dropdown in the consecutive
rows, how can I implement it?
For example, my rst row i will select a value from dropdown list In cell A2 and dependent
drop down is listed in B2.If I have implement the same in A3 and B3 how should I do it?
Reply
111 Prithu says:
How to use the same formula in consecutive rows?
Reply
112 Matt says:

Hi Svetlana,
I'm trying to load a dropdown list based on doing a VLOOKUP in a data table. For example I
load a data table with Orders and Items (only 1 database call) where an Order may have
multiple Items.
I want the user to enter an Order # in a cell, then the corresponding Items are loaded into the
dropdown list. I presume I want to load the dropdown using some form of VLOOKUP or
Index/Match but can't seem to nd a solution. Any help is appreciated!
Reply
113 mohamad says:

thanks for your good site

how can i copy a dropdown cell to another cells of a column?
my mean is data validation-list-indirect(A2)
i want copy this in all cells of the column
Reply
114 sameena says:

Can anyone help please. I need to create 2 pick lists in excel 2010 for translation service as
follows:
select language from (pick list) and select language to (pick list) and the third box should show
me a list of translators based on the rst 2 selections from the list only. Thanks Same
Reply
115 Oksana says:

Svetlana -
Thank you so much for this great tutorial!
In case you followed the directions to the letter and it's still not working, you may have made
the same silly mistake I did:
=INDIRECT(A2) refers to the cell in which the rst drop down list is located, not the named
range. So when you're putting in the second drop down list, you're referencing the cell
preceding it. I was referencing the list as it appeared in my reference tab. Silly!
Reply
116 Iesha says:

Hi have a hazard library with 500 hazard which I want to pick in a list and then I have
contributing factors, controls, risks, description which I want to cascade I have only managed
to be able to select the hazard and the second column contributoing factors in one cell I can't
copy down and I cannot get it to copy across for the varying lists. Any ideas??
Thanks
Reply
117 Don says:

March 2, 2017 at 9:43 pm
Hi, Is there a way to reference a single primary drop down list....twice? For example if your
primary drop down selection is named "vehicle" and one of those selections is "bicycle" then
when you select "bicycle" there may be reason to have two non-dependent drop downs like
"derailleur type" and "tire size" that would both populate when "bicycle" is selected. The
problem I run into is that a named range must be unique...I can only use the primary drop
down name once only.
Thanks
Reply
118 Kai says:

April 6, 2017 at 1:37 pm
Hi, this post is really awesome. I have 2 questions:

1. Is there a way to reference the INDIRECT formula to another workbook? This means all my
data lists for the dropdown boxes are in a di erent workbook. Is this possible?
2. For the dynamic dropdown with no blanks, is there a way to make it work when the cells
are not truly blank? Meaning, they have formulas in them but do not return results so there's
no display in the cell but it's not technically blank.
I've been stuck with these for days.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
Reply
Natalia Sharashova (Ablebits.com Team) says:

April 10, 2017 at 11:34 am
Hello, Kai,
1. yes, there's a way to reference another workbook for dropdown lists. Please, look at
these example pics;
2. replace Named range counta(entire_col) with ROWS(entire_col)-
COUNTBLANK(entire_col) in your formulas.
For more details go here
Reply
119 Nouman says:

April 10, 2017 at 7:06 am
Course| Trainer|Date|Start time|End Time|Duration|Outcome|Notes
for example the above are rows, is it possible if i select course and it give me all the details
horizontally? for example In the Course section I select Employee training, and it give me
trainer name, date of training, start time etc?
Reply
120 Rahman says:

April 14, 2017 at 3:44 am
Hi terry, Please help me, In datavalidation dropdown list which is open by click on mouse but
I want to open dropdown list when we select, datavalidation list shouldbe show the option,
thank you.
Reply
121 Klay says:

May 11, 2017 at 7:01 am
How do you create a dependent drop down list for text with space and character such as "/"
or "&"?
Reply
122 SeppeDelvo says:

June 3, 2017 at 10:34 am
Hi!
Thanks for the usefull information. This explanation is awesome when using just one
dependent dropdown. However, I'm working on a sheet with multiple dependent dropdown
(B1 is dependent on A1, C1 is dependent on A1 and B1, D1 is dependent on A1, B1 and C1,....
Any advice on how I should do this?
Thanks a lot!
Reply
123 Alex says:

June 16, 2017 at 12:29 am
I have successfully used the example for Dynamic dropdown menus (thank you) and I would
like to know if is possible to adapt to ll-in a table with X-Y range of cells where the selection
may applied for for any of these cells. So far I can only make it working for rows or columns
(take o the "$") in the reference cell setup (fruit in your example).
Many thanks
Reply
124 Andrew Laning says:

June 21, 2017 at 5:28 pm
Hello,
I have successfully created multiple drop down lists for 12 di erent categories each having 5
options/choices. I used an index-match function to create scores for each category based on
what was chosen and then added all categories to receive a total score. My problem is I can't
nd a of being able to have another drop down list with the customer name where when you
select any customer their scores and selections in the other drop down lists would
automatically appear/save.
Thanks!
Reply
125 Lila Bdr. says:

June 23, 2017 at 2:30 pm
I have two drop down lists in two di erent sheets of the same workbook. When I change the
value in one dropdown, the other dropdown also should display the same value in the
second sheet and when I change value in the second sheet the rst one also should change
to the same value. Both of the lists contain the same values.How can I do that? Would you
help me please? VBA macro would be better for me.
Reply
126 Kevin says:

June 23, 2017 at 5:37 pm
What would you do if your "fruit" was listed in the rst column of your table instead of your
table headers?
For example:
Fruit: Country:
Apricot Algeria
Apricot Iran
Apricot Pakistan
Apricot Turkey
Ive used your index match method, but placed the match function in the "rows" instead of
"columns". However, my drop down list for Country that is based on my Fruit selection is only
returning the 1st result. In the example above it would only return Algeria instead of a drop
down list of Algeria:Turkey.
Reply
Kevin says:
June 23, 2017 at 7:06 pm
Actually, gured out a solution using a similar approach to your remove blank cells
approach "=INDEX(exporters_tbl,1,col_num) : INDEX(exporters_tbl, COUNTA(entire_col),
col_num)"
I use the above to return the 1st row where the chosen country appears and the last row
where the chosen country appears.
Reply
127 CMYK says:

July 2, 2017 at 2:55 pm
Hey All,
I am tryig to develop 30 lines in which the user of the excel le can put only certain
prede ned values. Dependent drop-down lists seem to be a workable solution, but due to
structure and dynamics of the data base I cannot apply any of the formulas/codes so far. I am
much obliged or any help. Here it is the back ground
I have a database in a worksheet where:

- in column A is list of all producer; and
- in column B next to the producer's name is included list with this producer's products
Products are listed in column B and ocupy 3 to 7 cells from column B
- 1 row contains always only 1 cell with value inside. Either in column A is the name of the
producer, or in column B is a product, which is produced by this producer.
By way of example:
- Row 1 is for headings;
- A2 - Producer1;
- B3 - Product1, B4 - Product2, B5 - Product3
- A6 - Producer2;
- B7 - ProductX, B8 - ProductY, B9 - ProductZ
etc.
Could someone please help?
Reply
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Making a cascading (dependent) Excel drop down list

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3. Make the rst (main) drop-down list.

4. Create the dependent drop-down list.

5. Add a third dependent drop-down list (optional)

Set up a 3rd dropdown that depends on the 2nd list

Create a third dropdown dependent on the rst two lists

Where A2 and B2 contain the rst and second dropdowns, respectively.

Limitations of this approach:

How to create cascading drop-down lists with multi-

Ultimate Suite for Excel Professionals

How to prevent changes in the primary drop down

=IF(B2="", Fruit, INDIRECT("FakeList"))

Creating dynamic cascading drop-down lists in Excel

3. The number of entries can vary in each column.

4. The entries' sort order does not matter.

Okay, enough theory, let's get into practice.

1. Organize your source data in a table.

2. Create Excel names.

2.3. Create a name to retrieve the dependent menu's entries.

exporters_tbl - the name of the table (created in step 1);

I gave it a name exporters_list, as you see in the screenshot below.

3. Set up Excel Data Validation

Exclude blank rows from the dynamic cascading dropdown

1. Create two additional names.

2. Create the named reference for the dependent dropdown.

=INDEX(exporters_tbl,1,col_num) : INDEX(exporters_tbl, COUNTA(entire_col),

3. Apply Data Validation.

Download Cascading Dropdown Sample 1 - easy version

Download Cascading Dropdown Sample 2 - advanced version without blanks

168 Responses to "Making a cascading (dependent) Excel drop

Svetlana Cheusheva says:

John Seals says:

I need help with part of you tutorial.

Which cell or range of cells gets =INDEX(exporters_tbl,,MATCH(fruit,fruit_list,0)) as its name.

Where do i place this name

Svetlana Cheusheva says:

I xed this by removing the absolute reference in Step 2.2 as follows

I'm not sure if any of this made sense. I hope it has.

Awesome! that was my issue, thanks!

Thank you! That was my problem too!

Anik Sachdeva says:

Kleber Bonitese says:

Thanks a lot in advance.

Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)

Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)

drop down to sub drop down says:

Thank YOu very very very Much ......... :)

I am looking for this sort of thing too.

11 Matt Cook says:

Svetlana Cheusheva says:

Put in your data validation list instead of exporters_list this string:

Is there a way to create a single or multiple substitution teachers table with