A common use of data validation is to create a drop-down list. Use it to restrict the type of data that users enter into an Excel cell.

Select a cell — I selected B2. Click the Data tab. In the Data Tools group, click Data Validation, and then click Data Validation from the dropdown. From the Allow dropdown, choose List.

We can illustrate this technique by adding such a validation data control to the Membership Number column as follows: Select all existing data cells in the column in question.

The Data Validation feature in Excel 2013 offers a List option to confine selections in a cell to a preconfigured series of values. This selection can further influence the values in another list ...

Learn how to create a drop-down list using Data Validation in Excel. Data Validation limits the type of data that can be entered into a cell.