How to do Dynamic Dropdown without blanks in Excel step by step guide

in #leofinance2 years ago

Dynamic Dropdown without blanks in Excel

As I am revising my excel template for Retail Inventory, I realized there might be some people out there needing help or guide on how to use a dynamic dropdown, but do not want to include the blanks.


Sample Problem Description 1:

I want to make a dropdown list in excel using Setup!$C$15:$C$44 range but do not include the blanks

Solution 1:
=OFFSET(Setup!$C$15,0,0,COUNTA(Setup!$C$15:$C$44))

This formula uses the OFFSET function to select the range starting from Setup!$C$15, with a height equal to the count of non-blank cells in the range Setup!$C$15:$C$44.

Here's the step by step guide on how to make a dynamic dropdown:

Step 1. Select the cell where you want to create the dropdown list.

dynamic dropdown select cells

Step 2. Click on the "Data Validation" button in the "Data" tab of the ribbon.
select data validation in the data tab

Step 3. In the "Data Validation" dialog box, select "List" from the "Allow" dropdown list.

data validation allow list

Step 4. In the "Source" field, enter the range Setup!$C$15:$C$44.

Step 5. To exclude blanks from the dropdown list, change the source to: **=OFFSET(Setup!$C$15,0,0,COUNTA(Setup!$C$15:$C$44))**

dynamic dropdown formula in excel ignoring blanks

Step 6. Click "OK" to close the dialog box.

click OK for dynamic dropdown

Your dropdown list should now only show non-blank values from the Setup!$C$15:$C$44 range.


Sample Problem Description 2:

I want to make a dropdown list in excel using the range named "ProductDescription" but do not include the blanks.

more details:
ProductDescription is a named range that refers to 'Item Details'!$C$4:$C$103

Solution 2:
=OFFSET('Item Details'!$C$4,0,0,COUNTA(ProductDescription))

You can follow the same instructions written above, except for the step 5 where you will put this solution 2 instead.


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