How to create drop down list with multiple checkboxes in Excel?

Traditional dropdown lists in Excel limit users to single selections. To overcome this limitation and enable multiple selections, we'll explore two practical methods to create dropdown lists with multiple checkboxes.

Use List Box to create a drop down list with multiple checkboxes
A: Create a list box with source data
B: Name the cell which you will locate the selected items
C: Insert a shape to help output the selected items
Easily create drop down list with checkboxes with an amazing tool
More tutorials for drop down list...

Use List Box to create a drop down list with multiple checkboxes

As shown in the screenshot below, all names in the range A2:A11 in the current worksheet will serve as the source data for the list box located in cell C4. Clicking this box expands the list of items you can select, and the selected items will be displayed in cell E4. To achieve this, follow these steps:

A. Create a list box with source data

1. Click Developer > Insert > List Box (Active X Control). See screenshot:

2. Draw a list box in current worksheet, right click it and then select Properties from the right-clicking menu.

3. In the Properties dialog box, you need to configure as follows.

• 3.1 In the ListFillRange box, enter the source range you will display in the list (here I enter range A2:A11);
• 3.2 In the ListStyle box, select 1 - fmList StyleOption;
• 3.3 In the MultiSelect box, select 1 – fmMultiSelectMulti;
• 3.4 Close the Properties dialog box. See screenshot:

  

B: Name the cell which you will locate the selected items

If you need to output all selected items into a specified cell such as E4, please do as follows.

1. Select the cell E4, enter ListBoxOutput into the Name Box and press the Enter key.

C. Insert a shape to help output the selected items

1. Click Insert > Shapes > Rectangle. See screenshot:

2. Draw a rectangle in your worksheet (here I draw the rectangle in cell C4). Then right click the rectangle and select Assign Macro from the right-clicking menu.

3. In the Assign Macro dialog box, click the New button.

4. In the opening Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window, please replace the original code in the Module window with the below VBA code.

VBA code: Create a list with multiple checkboxes

Sub Rectangle1_Click()
'Updated by Extendoffice 20200730
Dim xSelShp As Shape, xSelLst As Variant, I, J As Integer
Dim xV As String
Set xSelShp = ActiveSheet.Shapes(Application.Caller)
Set xLstBox = ActiveSheet.ListBox1
If xLstBox.Visible = False Then
    xLstBox.Visible = True
    xSelShp.TextFrame2.TextRange.Characters.Text = "Pickup Options"
    xStr = ""
    xStr = Range("ListBoxOutput").Value
    
    If xStr <> "" Then
         xArr = Split(xStr, ";")
    For I = xLstBox.ListCount - 1 To 0 Step -1
        xV = xLstBox.List(I)
        For J = 0 To UBound(xArr)
            If xArr(J) = xV Then
              xLstBox.Selected(I) = True
              Exit For
            End If
        Next
    Next I
    End If
Else
    xLstBox.Visible = False
    xSelShp.TextFrame2.TextRange.Characters.Text = "Select Options"
    For I = xLstBox.ListCount - 1 To 0 Step -1
        If xLstBox.Selected(I) = True Then
        xSelLst = xLstBox.List(I) & ";" & xSelLst
        End If
    Next I
    If xSelLst <> "" Then
        Range("ListBoxOutput") = Mid(xSelLst, 1, Len(xSelLst) - 1)
    Else
        Range("ListBoxOutput") = ""
    End If
End If
End Sub

Note: In the code, Rectangle1 is the shape name; ListBox1 is the name of the list box; Select Options and Pickup Options are the displayed texts of the shape; and the ListBoxOutput is the range name of the output cell. You can change them based on your needs.

5. Press Alt + Q keys simultaneously to close the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window.

6. Clicking the rectangle button will fold or expand the list box. When the list box is expanded, select the desired items by checking them. Then, click the rectangle again to output all selected items into cell E4. See the demo below:

7. And then save the workbook as an Excel MacroEnable Workbook for reusing the code in the future.

Create drop down list with checkboxes with an amazing tool

Tired of the complex VBA coding? Kutools for Excel makes it simple to create dropdown lists with checkboxes for seamless multi-selection. Perfect for surveys, data filtering, or dynamic forms, this user-friendly tool streamlines your workflow and saves you time.

1. Open the worksheet that you have set data validation drop-down list, click Kutools > Drop-down List > Enable Advanced Drop-down List. Then, click  Drop-down List with Check Boxes from the Drop-down List again. See screenshot:

2. In the Add CheckBoxes to the Dropdown List dialog box, please configure as follows.

• 2.1) Select the cells containing the drop down list;
• 2.2) In the Separator box, enter a delimiter which you will use to separate the multiple items;
• 2.3) Ckeck the Enable search option as you need. (If you check this option, you can do a searchable in the drop down list later.)
• 2.4) Click the OK button.

  

From now on, when you click the cell with drop-down list, a list box will pop up, please select items by checking the checkboxes to output into cell as the below demo shown.

For more details of this feature, please visit this tutorial.

This article provides two methods to help you easily create drop-down lists with checkboxes in Excel. You can choose the one you prefer. If you're interested in exploring more Excel tips and tricks, our website offers thousands of tutorials.

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