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Excel Combo Box

By Madhuri ThakurMadhuri Thakur

Combo Box in Excel

Table of Contents

  • Combo Box in Excel
  • How to Create Combo Box in Excel?
  • Form Controls “Combo Box” in Excel
  • ActiveX Control Combo Box in Excel
  • Steps to delete Active X Control Combo Box in Excel

Combo Box in Excel

Combo Boxes in excel is not used for VBA Code but also for Excel spreadsheets. It is available under the Insert option of the Developer menu tab. These boxes are drop-down kind of elements that allow the user to select any value from the values listed in the Combo Box drop-down list. To select the Combo box option from Insert drop down and drop it anywhere in the sheet. And to add the values into the list, click right and select Format Control, select the input range and cell link.

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There are two options for creating a “Combo Box” in Excel:

  1. Form Controls “Combo Box”:- It comes inbuilt with excel. In this type of control box, users cannot make changes to properties.
  2. ActiveX Controls “Combo Box”: – It is more versatile than form control. In this type of control box, a user can make changes to properties.

Combo Box

An example used for the two methods

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In order to distinguish between the two combo boxes, let us look at the following examples –

Combo Box Example

Difference between Form and Active X Combo Box

How to Create Combo Box in Excel?

Initial steps before creating a Combo Box in Excel

You can download this Combo Box Excel Template here – Combo Box Excel Template

In case the Developer tab is visible beside the View tab in the Excel Ribbon then,

  • Click on Developer-> Insert-> select “Combo Box” from either Form Controls or ActiveX Controls options.

Creating Combo Box

In case the Developer tab is not visible beside the View tab in the Excel Ribbon then,

  • Click on File -> Options.

Click Options Step 1

  • “Excel Options” dialogue box will be displayed as shown below. Click “Customize Ribbon”. Under the “Customize the Ribbon” drop-down box, select the “Main Tabs” value, selected by default, on the right panel. In the “Main Tabs” panel, select the Developer check box. Click Ok.

Customize Ribbon Step 2

  • You should now find the Developer tab in your Excel Ribbon.

Developer tab Step 3

  • Create a simple list of values in the worksheet to start with, irrespective of the type of “Control Box”.

list of values

Form Controls “Combo Box” in Excel

Steps to create:

  • Go to the Developer tab in the Excel Ribbon -> click Insert -> click on “Combo Box” under “Form Controls”.

Combo Box Example 1-1

  • Click on the Excel Sheet at a location where you want to place the “Combo Box”. You may select the “Combo Box” and drag any of the small squares in the middle of the boundaries or circles in the corners to change the “Combo Box” size.

Combo Box Example 1-2

  • Right, click on the new “Combo Box” -> select “Format Control”. The “Format Control” dialog box will appear.

Combo Box Example 1-3

  • Select Control

Combo Box Example 1-4

  • Click on the button to the right of the “Input range”.

Combo Box Example 1-5

  • Select the cell range for the values in the list, which auto-populates the input box. Click on the highlighted button.

Combo Box Example 1-6

  • Click OK in the “Format Object” dialog box.

Format Object Example 1-7

Note: Drop down lines =8(by default) can be configured to show a number of items in the “Combo Box”.

Combo Box Example 1-8

  • It Shows 8 number of items in the dropdown list.

Combo Box Example 1-9

Cell link – Enter cell number to display the position of a selected value in the list.

Combo Box Example 1-10

  • It shows the position of months.

Combo Box Example 1-11

  • Now you will be able to click on the drop-down arrow of the new “Combo Box” to see the list.

Combo Box Example 1-12

Steps to delete Form Controls “Combo Box” in Excel

  • Go to Developer tab -> “Design Mode.”

Combo Box Example 1-13

  • Select the Form Controls “Combo Box” and press Delete.

Combo Box Example 1-14

Point to be remembered

  1. It helps the user to choose a value from the range of items.
  2. In Form Control Combo Box, a user cannot make changes in the properties.

ActiveX Control Combo Box in Excel

The procedure to create ActiveX Control “Combo box” is a bit different from that of Form Control “Combo Box”.

Steps to create ActiveX Control Combo Box in Excel

  1. Follow either of the 2 ways to view the “New Name” dialog box –
  • Go to Formula tab -> click on “Name Manager” -> Click New in the “Name Manager” dialog box.

Name Manager Example 2

OR

  • Go to Formula tab -> click “Define Name”.

Define Name Example 2-1

  • Enter Name, Months. Click on the button to the right of the “Refer to” input box.

Combo Box Example 2-2

  • Select the cell range which auto-populates the “Refers to” input box. Click on the highlighted button.

Combo Box Example 2-3

  • Click OK in the restored “New Name” dialogue box.

New Name dialogue box Example 2-4

  • You will find a new range by the name”Months” in the “Name Manager” list.

Combo Box Example 2-5

  • To create the “Combo Box”, we need to select “Combo Box” under “ActiveX Controls”.

Combo Box Example 2-6

  • Click on the Excel Sheet at a location where you want the “Combo Box” to be placed. Right, click on the “Combo Box” -> click on Properties.

click on Properties Example 2-7

  • A properties dialog box will appear.

Combo Box Example 2-8

  • In the Properties dialog box, in the ListFillRange field, type the name of the named range, e.g. Months, that we have created above. Click on X in the upper right corner of the dialog box to close the same.

Combo Box Example 2-9

  • Save the file with the “.xlsm” extension and reopen the file.

Combo Box Example 2-10

  • Click on a pointer in “Combo Box” to see the list of values.

Combo Box Example 2-11

  • To edit various properties, e.g. font size, color etc., make changes through a Properties dialog box.

Properties dialog box Example 2-12

To select/deselect “Combo Box”, click on “Design Mode” in the controls group of the Developer.

  • To deselect “Combo Box”, deselect “Design Mode”.

Combo Box Example 2-13

  • To select “Combo Box”, select “Design Mode”.

Combo Box Example 2-14

  • Select “Combo Box” as shown in the following.

Combo Box Example 2-15

Steps to delete Active X Control Combo Box in Excel

  • Go to the Developer tab, turn on “Design mode”.

Design mode Example 2-16

  • Select the Active X control combo box that you want to delete and press Delete.

Combo Box Example 2-17

Things to Remember

  • It is more versatile.
  • It allows the user to type the value in the text box from the range of items.
  • In ActiveX Control “Combo Box”, the user can edit properties, e.g. font size, colors, etc.
  • It is commonly used as a user interface control where users can select an item as per their own choice.
  • It makes data entry easier and has many features and flexibility.

Recommended Articles

This is a guide to Combo Box in Excel. Here we discuss its uses and how to create Combo Box in Excel with excel examples and downloadable excel templates. You may also look at these useful functions in excel –

  1. Box Plot in Excel
  2. Combo Chart in Excel
  3. Name Box in Excel
  4. Excel Search Box
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