How to Create Searchable Drop Down Lists in Excel with ZERO Effort!

Finally we get SEARCHABLE drop down lists in Microsoft Excel WITHOUT writing complex formulas. There's no VBA, no filter function. The autocomplete functionality is there by default.

The ability to search for values in data validation was released on the web (online) version of Excel last year but now it's available in the Excel desktop version as well. To search the drop-down list you just have to start typing in the cell. A list of search results will appear and filtered down as you type. It also automatically suppresses empty cells.

🔍 Key Takeaways:
▪️ Learn how to create searchable drop-down lists without any complex coding.
▪️ Understand how to use Data Validation for creating dynamic, user-friendly drop-down menus.
▪️ Discover two major improvements: Auto-Complete in drop-down lists and automatic exclusion of blank cells.
▪️ Explore the new Search Box option for cells, enhancing navigation and functionality in Excel sheets.

You can use this to create multiple searchable drop-down lists or data validations in a single sheet.

This update is for Office/Microsoft 365 subscribers for Windows and Mac.

00:00 Searchable Drop Down Lists in Excel
00:29 Create Searchable Drop Down Lists Without Formulas
03:33 New Search Box Option
05:27 Wrap Up

🎬 LINKS to related videos:

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#Excel

[LeilaGharani]

Drop-down lists now automatically exclude duplicates, showing only unique values.
Not Excel related: who's a fan of chips & yoghurt here (5:14)?

[ryanpeterson]

I'm super pleased to see this finally headed to Windows. As much as i'm not a fan of Google/Android i will give them kudos for always being first to the market on a lot of useful items that Office should of had years ago. Thanks for the amazing tutorial videos!

[SeanGHOB]

Thanks for letting us know, Leila. This is how drop-down lists should have always worked. Glad they finally fixed it.

[SPARCHE]

I added searchable dropdown lists to my sheets thanks to you, but the number of steps to generate a list with unique entries and then reference it was making my sheets very heavy to run. Now it'll be so much easier =)

[josecoss]

Love how simple you make it to understand.. Thank you.

[ChadrickNurn]

Even with as hard I worked to get my lists to automatically remove blanks, and to make them searchable, I am not upset to see this. I am delighted that I don't have to worry about those insane formulas and named ranges anymore. I am so excited to see this.

[JashimUddin-zbqn]

The simple method in less time is great, you explained it very nicely and it felt good

[CielBieDee]

Your tutorials are a life saver. Keep these vids up

[hoofdstukgemist]

We just spent months learning and using all different types of options, this is a blessing in the sky, unfortunate it couldn't be here sooner.

[raghujagwani]

hi Leila, Thanks for the tip, one of the annoying thing about drop down list was that if we had blank rows at the bottom, for an empty row it would try to match and start at the bottom of the list, hopefully the automatic blank skip with elevate that issue.

[kuuuyajim]

This is great news! Hopefully, creating a dependent drop-down list also get easier. 😅 Thank you Leila! ❤️

[cassioalexan]

Great news, Leila!! And it's even better to know this new feature from you! Finally Excel has brought us a change in something so simple but extremely useful. Thanks for sharing!

[nanimanibog]

Omg. This is a very much needed feature. I'm so excited, I can't wait anymore!!!

[mattschoular]

Fantastic. I can't wait for MS to release this to the masses. Thanks Leila

[ruthngmj]

Finally! Thank you for sharing. Can't wait for it to be available soon.

[linacastleofmystery]

i just wrote a formula for multiple dependent drop down menus that were NOT searchable and it took me a while to set up with what I needed lol I then realized that the menus were a pain because I did not set them up as this is nice to see :)

[andrewcharlesmoss]

Finally! Great to see this feature added.

Now, let’s wait a few years until we can have a dropdown arrow that permanently shows in a cell (so users know the cell contains a dropdown). 😬

[barteczekz]

Please promise that you will inform us when it moves out of beta! We need this for general use in organizations. Thank you!

[mamachugh]

This is fabulous! I work without the ribbon and this makes it absolutely unnecessary. Perfect!

[cavyommmehta]

Wow!
Please keep us informed about new features just like this.
✔️💖💯