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How to clear dependent drop down list cell after selecting changed in Excel?

Author Siluvia Last modified

For a dependent drop down list, when the value of the parent drop down list is changed, the selected value in the second one will be invalid. You have to manually remove the invalid value from the second drop down list after selecting changed in the first one. In this article, I will show you a method to automatically clear the dependent drop down list cell after selecting changed in Excel.

Clear dependent drop down list cell after selecting changed with VBA code

Clear dependent drop down list cell after selecting changed with VBA code

The following VBA code helps you to clear dependent drop down list after selecting changed in Excel.

1. Right click the sheet tab contains the dependent drop down list you will clear automatically, then select View Code from the context menu.

2. In the opening Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window, copy below VBA code into the window.

VBA code: clear dependent drop down list cell after selecting changed

Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)
'Update by Extendoffice 2018/06/04
    Application.EnableEvents = False
    If Target.Column = 5 And Target.Validation.Type = 3 Then
        Target.Offset(0, 1).Value = ""
    End If
    Application.EnableEvents = True
End Sub

Note: In the code, number 5 is the column number contains the parent drop down list. In this case, my parent drop down list locates in column E.

right click the sheet and select view code, then paste the code into the module

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

From now on, when changes made to the parent drop down list, contents of the second drop down list will be cleared automatically. See screenshot:

when changes made to the parent drop down list, contents of the second drop down list will be cleared

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