How do you create a combo box in Excel???

Question

I can create the actaul box but how the hell do you put stuff in it??!?!?! I'm really stuck, help me people! =(

Answer 1

If you are working outside of VBA/Macro enviroment then firstly name the range of data that you want to use in your combo box. (Highlight data, Insert, Name, Define, call it XXXX, OK).
Then place your cursor where you want your combo box and select Validation from the Data menu. In 'Allow' select List and in the Source type =XXXX (or whatever you named your data range).
The box will now contain the list of data, if you require data based on that selection I use VLOOKUP.
If you would like an example spreadsheet drop me a line and I will email it.

Answer 2

Are you using a drop-down list or an ActiveX control?

If just a drop-down list is all you need, you can either enter your list of choices directly into the Sources box (separated by commas) when you create the drop-down in Data, Validation, Allow: List or you can specify a range which contains the items you want to select from. The range can exist on another worksheet and I generally make it a named range.

For further details, see the Help Topic: 'Create a drop-down list from a range of cells'

If you need a box where you can select from a list but can also add to the list by typing in, then Validation won't work and you need an ActiveX control. That is outside my experience at the moment but is explained under Help Topic: 'Add an ActiveX control' and would involve a VB Macro to do what you want (because you would need to capture and store additional input in order to make it available for the next input).

Hope that helps. There is a very good group/list which concerns ONLY MS Office and is run by Linda Johnson. You can subscribe (free) at http://www.freelists.org/webpage/mso.

Another good source of Office information, with some good articles on VB and Excel is Dian Chapman's Ezine Techtrax http://www.mousetrax.com/techtrax.asp

A good VBA Course is here: http://www.mousetrax.com/techcourses.html

Answer 3

I think you can use VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) and therefore you can use ActiveX controls.