How to prevent copy and paste over cell with drop down list in Excel?

To guard your drop down lists from being overwritten by pasted content, you can use VBA in the worksheet that contains those cells. Follow these steps:

1. Open the worksheet that includes the dropdowns you want to protect.

2. Press Alt + F11 to open the Visual Basic for Applications window.

3. In the left pane, double-click the sheet you want to apply the protection to (not "ThisWorkbook"). Paste the following VBA code into the code editor:

VBA code: Prevent paste over dropdown

Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)
'Updated by Extendoffice
    Dim xValue As String
    Dim xCheck1 As String
    Dim xCheck2 As String
    Dim xRg As Range
    Dim xArrCheck1() As String
    Dim xArrCheck2() As String
    Dim xArrValue()
    Dim xCount, xJ As Integer
    Dim xBol As Boolean
'    If Target.Count > 1 Then
'        Exit Sub
'        End If
    xCount = Target.Count
    ReDim xArrCheck1(1 To xCount)
    ReDim xArrCheck2(1 To xCount)
    ReDim xArrValue(1 To xCount)
    Application.EnableEvents = False
    On Error Resume Next
    xJ = 1
    For Each xRg In Target
        xArrValue(xJ) = xRg.Value
         xArrCheck1(xJ) = xRg.Validation.InCellDropdown
        xJ = xJ + 1
    Next

    Application.Undo

    xJ = 1
    For Each xRg In Target
        xArrCheck2(xJ) = xRg.Validation.InCellDropdown
        xJ = xJ + 1
    Next

    xBol = False
    For xJ = 1 To xCount
        If xArrCheck2(xJ) <> xArrCheck1(xJ) Then
            xBol = True
            Exit For
        End If
    Next

    If xBol Then
       MsgBox "The selected cells containg data validation drop-down lists, no pasting allowed."
    Else
        xJ = 1
        For Each xRg In Target
            xRg.Value = xArrValue(xJ)
            xJ = xJ + 1
        Next

    End If

    Application.EnableEvents = True
End Sub

4. Press Alt + Q to close the VBA editor and return to Excel.

5. Try pasting into a dropdown cell. A message will prevent the paste, and the dropdown will remain intact:

Alternative solutions:

• Protect worksheet: Lock cells with dropdowns and protect the sheet to prevent editing. Learn more
• Use data validation alerts: Set the alert style to "Stop" to block invalid manual input. Learn more