Drop Down Menu

[Guest]

I have list of people that I am constinly putting into different spreadsheets
for various reasons. I want to be able to set up a drop down menu that lists
everyones names that I usually use on my spreadsheets, and then, after I
press the enter button all of their contact info shows up in the cells either
below or next to the one that has the drop down menu. How do I go about
doing that?

 

[Guest]

You will need a combitation of DATA VALIDATION and VLOOKUP formula.

 

[Guest]

Ok, so how come I can't seem to find the function DATA VALIDATION? How do I
go about using these two formulas?

 

[David Biddulph]

Perhaps look up "data validation" in Excel's help?
Perhaps look in the Data menu?

 

[Guest]

For data validation see... http://www.contextures.com/xlDataVal03.html

Then you can use the Vlookup function to pull the other information that you
require.

for example your information is contained Sheet2 A2:C50
A B C
Names Telephone Number Street
2 Joe Bloggs 555 555 Any St
3 Barry Soap 555 123 Any Ave.


Your formula might look like this (assuming your drop down list is in Sheet1
cell A2
In Sheet1 cell B2 type...

=VLOOKUP(A2,Sheet2!A2:C50,2,0)

This will return the following...

If Joe Bloggs is selected from the drop down list the telephone number for
him will be returned 555 555 as the 2 after the range returns the value in
the 2nd column of your data range. If you want the street to return chage the
2 for a 3.

Hope this helps.

Gav.

 

[Guest]

Small error...

Look here for Data Validation

http://www.contextures.com/xlDataVal01.html

 

[Alan D]

I am having trouble with the drop down menu, I create a list called
operations hit enter and then choose a cell like the instructions suggest,
choose the list and hit save and I get my comments to show up but no drop
down arrow, can someone help me?

 

[Luke M]

To create drop down, select the cell you want, then goto Data - Validation.
Select List, and then type your list, or choose the range of cells
containing your list.