How to create a dropdown list in Google Sheets on Mac: steps for Chrome

What a dropdown list does in Google Sheets

A dropdown list limits what goes into a cell. You give the cell a set of allowed items. When someone clicks the cell, they see those items and pick one. Google's help calls this an in-cell dropdown list.

Under the hood, the list is a data validation rule. The rule sits on the cells you select, not on the sheet as a separate object. That is why pasting can change or remove it.

Dropdowns help most where people type the same values again and again. Status columns, yes or no answers, and team names are common examples. Consistent spelling also makes sorting and filtering less messy.

Before you start on a Mac

The Sheets menus sit in a toolbar inside the page, below Chrome's address bar. The menus you need are Insert, Data, and Help. Look for them there, not in the macOS menu bar at the top of the screen.

This guide uses Google Chrome. Google's offline help names Chrome and Microsoft Edge, so Chrome is the safe choice for matching these steps.

You need edit access to the file. If you can only view it, you cannot add or change a rule. Ask the owner for edit access, or make your own copy first.

Create a dropdown with your own list of items

This is the simplest type of dropdown. Select the cells, open Data > Data validation, and click Add rule. Under Criteria, choose Dropdown. Then click Add another item for each option and type it in.

Write each item the same way every time. A stray space at the start or end of an item can stop two matching-looking values from matching. Check your items before you share the file.

• Keep each item short. Long text is hard to scan in a narrow column.
• Put the items in the order people will look for them.
• Use one idea per item. Split combined answers into separate options.
• Skip blank items at the end of the list.

Create a dropdown from a list in your sheet

Use Dropdown (from a range) when the options already live in your file. Put them in one column, such as on a tab named Lists. Then select that column as the source.

The rule reads the cells in the range, not a copy of them. If you add a new item below the last cell in the range, the dropdown will not show it until you extend the range. Check the range after each change.

Pick a display style: Chip, Arrow, or Plain text

Display Style controls how a chosen value looks in the cell. It is one of the choices in the rules panel. You can change it later without rebuilding the list.

Google added dropdown chips on December 8, 2022. Chips also support multiple selections, which the next section covers.

Allow multiple selections and set a warning for bad entries

Turn on Allow multiple selections when one cell needs more than one answer, such as skills or tags. This option works only with chip-format dropdowns. Set Display Style to Chip before you turn it on.

Advanced options controls what happens when someone enters a value outside the list. Under If the data is invalid, choose Show a warning to allow the entry with a warning. Otherwise, Google rejects invalid entries.

Pick a warning when people sometimes need a value that is not on the list yet. Pick rejection when a report, filter, or formula depends on exact values.

Quick ways to add a dropdown: Insert, right-click, and @

For a fast chip dropdown, select the cells and go to Insert > Dropdown. You can also right-click the selected cells and choose Dropdown. Google's help page lists both routes, along with the Data validation path.

You can also type @ in a cell, then type dropdown and pick it from the menu. On March 5, 2024, Google added preset dropdown chips for common uses, such as priority or review statuses.

Use the quick routes for small lists you rarely change. Use Data validation when you need ranges, warnings, or multiple selections.

Keyboard shortcuts for dropdowns on a Mac

Google's shortcut page lists Mac menu shortcuts with Control and Option. Ctrl+Option+I opens Insert on a Mac, which is ⌃⌥I. Ctrl+Option+D opens Data, which is ⌃⌥D.

Google's official keyboard shortcut page does not list a shortcut for creating a dropdown. Press ⌘/ to show the common shortcuts in Sheets. Our guide to showing keyboard shortcuts covers the rest of the list.

Edit or remove a dropdown list later

To change items in a typed list, select a cell in the list and open Data > Data validation. Edit the items under Criteria, then click Done. For a range based list, edit the source cells or change the range.

To remove the restriction, open Data > Data validation and click Remove Rule. The text already in the cells stays. Only the dropdown rule goes away.

Mistakes that break a dropdown list

• A stray space or a typo makes a good-looking entry fail. Retype the item in the list so it matches exactly.
• A normal paste can replace the rule in the cells you paste over. Press ⌘Z to undo, then paste with ⌘⇧V.
• A range based list does not include cells added below its range. Extend the range when you add items.
• A value you deleted from a colored range can stay in the criteria list. It stays until the source range changes or another item's color changes.
• Multiple selections do not work with arrow or plain text formats. Switch the display style to Chip.

Test the list before you share it

Click a cell in the list and open it. Pick each item once and check the text. Then type a value that is not on the list and see whether Google warns you or rejects it.

Test on the devices your team uses. A list that works on your desktop can behave differently on a phone, so check the list there too.

Admin settings and limits

Google's December 8, 2022 post says there is no admin control for dropdown chips. According to that post, a Workspace admin cannot switch this feature off for a domain.

Google's official pages do not state a maximum number of dropdown items or a maximum range size. For a very long list, test the dropdown before you depend on it.

If the menu names look different

Google updates the Sheets menus. The help pages do not show version numbers or last updated dates for these steps. Use the names here as a starting point, and look for the closest match in the same menu if a name differs.

Google's help pages do not include Mac-specific dropdown steps. The paths here are the browser menus, with ⌘ and ⌃ used for shortcuts. If you cannot find a command, try the tool finder guide.

Next steps once the dropdown works

Dropdown columns often sit under a long header row. Freeze the top row so the column names stay visible as you scroll.

If your source list has repeated entries, clean it before you build the range. The steps are in remove duplicate rows.

For more on sheet work tied to a specific job, see Google Sheets for data analysts on Mac.