Tip #10: 3 helpful ways to use data validation in your spreadsheet

Data validation in spreadsheets makes data entry processes more efficient, while helping reduce inconsistencies and errors in your data sets. In this article, we'll look at three ways you can use data validations to create useful dropdown lists in your spreadsheets.

Dynamic data validations

Dynamic validations help you create a new dropdown list based on an existing dropdown list or range of values. Let's say the first dropdown has the names of all the departments in your organization. You can now create a secondary dropdown list that displays designations based on the value chosen from the first dropdown!

Dynamic data validation can be achieved using the lookup functions based on the number of criteria required. Here's a published spreadsheet for a hands-on experience!

Dropdowns with symbols

You might need to include symbols in your spreadsheet for comprehension or visual presentation. Create a validation with a list of desired text symbols and easily access them when needed.

Note: Only text icons can be used in data validation. There are many sites offering free text icons for easy use via copy-paste.

Condition-based validations

Apart from dropdowns, you can use data validation to restrict or allow data entry, and set conditions on a range based on values in other cells. This way, you can restrict edits on a range without using Lock!

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