What is picklist?

Picklist is a drop down list with a predefined set of items. For the cells with picklist, one cannot manually enter any data to it. To populate the cells with picklist, one can only pick a value from the drop down list.

How to create a picklist?

1. Select the cell/cell range you want the drop down menu in

2. Click on the Insert menu

3. Click on the Picklist option

4. In the picklist dialog box that appears next, you will have places where you can enter the list of values you want displayed in the drop down menu. Enter the values one after another.

5. When you're done entering the values, click on the Create button.

6. Now, you will see an arrow facing down in the selected cells. You can click on the arrow to access the drop down menu and select the value you want to populate the cell with.

You can not enter any other values manually. If you want to enter a value that is not in the list, you will have to edit the existing drop down list and add the value you want.

How to edit an existing Picklist?

1. Click on the Insert menu.

2. Hover over the picklist option.

3. Click on the option to Manage Picklists from the drop down menu.

4. From the dialog box with all the available picklists for the workbook, hover over the picklist you want to edit, and click on the three dots next to its name.

5. Click on the edit icon.

6. Remove/add values to the list as you desire, and click on the Save button.

 

Editing a value from the picklist will effectively change the old value to the new one, in every occurrence until then. This saves you time and effort, and you'll not have to change it manually in every othere place!

How to /predefine the format of the values in the Picklist?

Picklist lets you predefine the formats for the values you've listed as well. This means when you populate the cell with a particular value from the picklist, the formatting you've predefined is applied to that cell as well.

1. Select the cell/cell range you want the picklist displayed in.

2. Click on the Insert menu.

3. Click on the Picklist option.

4. In the dialog box, you'll have a place to enter the values you want to be listed as part of the picklist.

5. After you enter the value in a box, select the paint brush icon next to the box.

6. You will get to pick the color for the cell background and the text color. You can choose which color to use for the fill option and which one to use for the text color.

Use a picklist in another range 

If you have a picklist created for a range, and you want to use the same in another range as well, you can copy the picklist and use it else where, in the same work book.

1. Click on the Insert option.

2. Hover over the picklist option.

3. Select the manage picklist option.

4. Hover over the picklist you want to make a copy of, and click on the three dots next to the picklist.

5. Click on the copy icon.

6. In the dialogue that open up, select the cell range that you want to apply this copied picklist to.