How to Create a Yes / No Drop Down in Excel & Google Sheets

This tutorial will demonstrate how to create a yes/no drop-down in Excel and Google Sheets.

 

 

Restricting user input by means of a drop-down list is very useful when you wish the user to select from a list of preset values. You can achieve this in Excel by means of Data Validation.

Data Validation to Add a Yes/No Drop-Down List

1. In the Ribbon, select Data > Data Tools > Data Validation.

 

 

2. In the Settings tab, select List under Allow, and ensure that Ignore blank and In-cell dropdown are checked. Type in Yes, No as the Source for the drop-down list.

Note that unchecking Ignore blank would mean an empty cell is considered invalid. Unchecking In-cell dropdown would mean that “Yes” or “No” would have to be typed in (or copy-pasted), rather than selected from a drop-down list in a cell.

 

 

3. To set up a message to inform the users of the worksheet that they need to select from a drop-down list, select the Input Message tab and check the Show input message when cell is selected check box. Type in the Title and Input message required.

 

 

4. Then select the Error Alert tab and set up a message when the user does not select from the valid drop-down list. Make sure that Show error alert after invalid data is entered is checked, and then select the Style in the drop-down list. Then type in a Title and Error message for the warning.

 

 

5. Click OK to add the Data Validation to the selected cells.

When you click in the first cell that has the Data Validation applied to it, the Input Message will appear.

 

 

Should you ignore the values in the drop-down list, and type a different value into the cell, an Error Alert message will appear.

 

 

How to Create a Yes/No Drop-Down List in Google Sheets

Creating a drop-down list in Google Sheets using Data Validation is very similar to how the list is created in Excel.

1. First, highlight the cells where you want the list to appear and in the Menu, select Data > Data validation.

 

 

2. You can then set the Criteria by selecting List of Items and typing in Yes and No separated by a comma.

 

 

3. Make sure that Show dropdown list in cell is ticked and then select either Show warning or Reject Input. Then click Save to save the Data Validation.

The drop-down list will now appear in the selected cells.

 

 

Should you type an incorrect value into the cell, a message will appear rejecting the input.