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Kutools for Excel

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Quickly create drop down lists with checkboxes in Excel

Supposing you have a list of drop-down list cells, you can select options from the drop-down list to fill the cells easily. However, you can select only one option from the drop-down list for one cell, and the new selected option will overwrite the existing one automatically.

How can you select multiple items from a drop-down list? In fact, you can add checkboxes to the drop-down list, so that you can select multiple items by checking multiple checkboxes. Here, I will introduce Kutools for Excel’s Drop-down List with Check Boxes feature. With this amazing utility, you can quickly add multiple items to a cell by selecting the checkboxes in the front of the items.

 

Usages:

To apply this Drop-down List with Check Boxes feature correctly, please do with the following steps:

Step 1: Select cells where to apply the Drop-down List with Check Boxes feature
A. If you have an existing drop-down list:
Select the drop-down list to which you will add checkboxes to make multiple selections.
B. If there is no existing drop-down list:
Select the cells where you will apply the Drop-down List with Check Boxes feature, Kutools will help you create one in the next step.
Step 2: Enable the Drop-down List with Check Boxes feature

1. Click Kutools > Drop-down List > Drop-down List with Check Boxes to open the settings dialog.

2. In the Drop-down List with Check Boxes Settings dialog, you can configure as follows:

(1) Specify applying scope.

  1. To apply the Drop-down List with Check Boxes feature to certain ranges, please select Specify Range option from the Set scope drop-down menu, and then specify the certain ranges by clicking the range-selection icon in the below box.
    Tips: You can select multiple nonadjacent ranges by holding the Ctrl key.
  2. Alternatively, you can apply the Drop-down List with Check Boxes feature to other options from the Set scope drop-down list: Current workbook, Current worksheet, or a specific worksheet.

(2) Specify a delimiter to separate multiple selected items.

Enter a separator in the Separator box to separate the selected options from a drop-down list, such as comma, semicolon, space, etc. Note that if you need a space after the separator, you should type in the space as well, for example, ", ".
Tips: If you specify the Text Direction as Horizontally, you must type in a separator; if the Text Direction is Vertically, you can specify the separator as nothing.

(3) Specify text direction to decide how you want to display the selected items in a cell.

  1. Horizontally: This option will add the later selected drop-down list options at the end of the existing ones. Click to see the effects.
  2. Vertically: This option will add the later selected drop-down list options below the existing ones. Click to see the effects.

(4) Enable the search option or not.

Check the Enable search checkbox, so that when you type certain characters or letters, only matching items will display in the drop-down list. Click to see the effects.

(5) Click the Ok button to save the settings.

  1. If you enabled the Drop-down List with Check Boxes feature after selecting an existing drop-down list, this settings window will close automatically with checkboxes added before your original drop-down options.
  2. If you enabled the Drop-down List with Check Boxes feature after selecting cells with no data validation, a dialog as shown below will pop-up asking if you want Kutools to help you create a drop-down list.
  3. Please select Yes to quickly create a regular drop-down list.
Step 3: Make multiple selection with the Drop-down List with Check Boxes feature

Now, you can select multiple options simultaneously from drop-down list in the specified ranges, current workbook, current worksheet, or specific worksheet according to the scope you set.

  1. If you specified the text direction as Horizontally and did not enable the search feature, once you select a cell where the Drop-down List with Check Boxes feature is applied, you would see a dropdown menu with checkboxes as shown below. With which you could select multiple drop-down list options in a cell.
  2. If you specified the text direction as Vertically and enabled the search feature, once you select a cell where the Drop-down List with Check Boxes feature is applied, you would see a dropdown menu with checkboxes with a search box on the top. You can enter certain characters in the search box to only show items containing the characters, and select multiple items into a cell as shown below.

Usage tips:

  1. Click a cell with drop-down list to show the dropdown menu with checkboxes. Tick the checkbox before an item to add it to the currently selected cell, while unchecking an item will remove it from the cell.
  2. Toggle the checkbox before Please select to select all items from the drop-down list or select nothing.
  3. Click or any places beyond the drop-down list to close the dropdown menu with checkboxes.
  4. Click to open the Drop-down List with Check Boxes Settings dialog.

Notes

  1. The dropdown menu with checkboxes only appears when you select a cell that contains a drop-down list on which you have applied the Drop-down List with Check Boxes feature.
  2. Once you have enabled the search feature and selected a cell where you have applied the Drop-down List with Check Boxes feature, anything you type will show in the search box but not in the selected cell. To type in the cell, you should double click the cell first.
  3. If you set the applying scope to a range, you should not insert new columns or rows in the range. If you set the applying scope to worksheet, you should not change the worksheet’s name. Since the action may overwrite the drop-down list with check boxes setting and make it invalid.
  4. To clear the dropdown menu with checkboxes, click Kutools > Drop-down List > Clear Advanced Drop-down List.
  5. To disable the dropdown menu with checkboxes after you close Excel, on Kutools tab, click Help > Setting Center, and then check the Disable Advanced Drop-down List on Startup option.
  6. The feature can be enabled and work only if you have installed Kutools for Excel.

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The functionality described above is just one of 300 powerful functions of Kutools for Excel.

Designed for Excel(Office) 2021, 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007 and Office 365. Free download and use for 30 days.

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Comments (4)
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This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Sziasztok, engem is az érdekelne, hogy a korábban feltett kérdésekre mi a válasz. Csak ott működik a funkció ahol le van töltve ez az alkalmazás?
Amikor elmentem/bezárom/újra megnyitom a fájlt, nem aktiválja automatikusan! Mi erre a megoldás?
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Hello, Roland,
This feature only works if you have installed Kutools for Excel.
When you quit/close/reopen the file, this feature is activated automatically.

Please download and install the newest version.
https://www.extendoffice.com/download/kutools-for-excel.html
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Hi, [kutools drop down list with checkbox] works when activated. When I save/close/re-open the file, it doesn't activate it automatically. What can be done especially if I am sending the file to someone who doesn't have kutools?
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site
Id be curious about this as well. If I send this excel to someone does that mean then need to also have the program installed?
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