Ecel help please

C_Mababejive

OK so heres what im trying to do. I have a feeling it has something to do with the Vlookup function but im not sure how to implement it. Maybe there is anotther way?


In column cells A1 to A10 i want items 1 to 10

In column B1 to B10 i want a drop down menu. The menu in each cell will contain the same items to choose from

In column C1 to C10 id like the result of that selection to be inserted

So i guess that somewhere, i must have some kind of table giving a list of results or outputs related to the menu choices?


As i say this has a whiff of Vlookup about it but not sure how to make it work, or maybe there is an easier way?

Thanks

victor2

You don't need another cell for the result of the dropdown.

This works with Excel 2010, and probably for in later versions.

Vlookup is great for other purposes, but possibly a bit OTT for what you want?

DullGreyGuy

Why do you want B and C to be identical?

Use data validation list in B will give you the drop down and then just in C1 =B1

C_Mababejive

victor2 said:

You don't need another cell for the result of the dropdown.

This works with Excel 2010, and probably for in later versions.

Vlookup is great for other purposes, but possibly a bit OTT for what you want?

Thanks,,

The item in the drop down menu isnt the end result. For example , if the items in the menu were a list of food items, then choosing a food item in the list would output a result, lets say a number ,so for example selecting bread would output the number 5. 

C_Mababejive

DullGreyGuy said:

Why do you want B and C to be identical?

Use data validation list in B will give you the drop down and then just in C1 =B1

Thanks ill have to do more reading as im only a fairly basic excel user 

outtatune

C_Mababejive said:

victor2 said:

You don't need another cell for the result of the dropdown.

This works with Excel 2010, and probably for in later versions.

Vlookup is great for other purposes, but possibly a bit OTT for what you want?

Thanks,,

The item in the drop down menu isnt the end result. For example , if the items in the menu were a list of food items, then choosing a food item in the list would output a result, lets say a number ,so for example selecting bread would output the number 5. 

In which case you need to use Data Validation to create the list of food types as linked to by @victor2 and then use vlookup to get the number into column C.

If you have a table elsewhere in the workbook listing the food types and their numbers you can use that for both the data validation and the vlookup.

https://exceljet.net/excel-functions/excel-vlookup-function

Andy_L

outtatune said:

C_Mababejive said:

victor2 said:

You don't need another cell for the result of the dropdown.

This works with Excel 2010, and probably for in later versions.

Vlookup is great for other purposes, but possibly a bit OTT for what you want?

Thanks,,

The item in the drop down menu isnt the end result. For example , if the items in the menu were a list of food items, then choosing a food item in the list would output a result, lets say a number ,so for example selecting bread would output the number 5. 

In which case you need to use Data Validation to create the list of food types as linked to by @victor2 and then use vlookup to get the number into column C.

If you have a table elsewhere in the workbook listing the food types and their numbers you can use that for both the data validation and the vlookup.

https://exceljet.net/excel-functions/excel-vlookup-function

Vlookup is a deprecated function. Xlookup would be better, it's more flexible (can do both horizontal and vertical lookup and can return multiple cells), and defaults to an exact match which is generally what people want.
https://exceljet.net/excel-functions/excel-xlookup-function

Andy_L

C_Mababejive said:

victor2 said:

You don't need another cell for the result of the dropdown.

This works with Excel 2010, and probably for in later versions.

Vlookup is great for other purposes, but possibly a bit OTT for what you want?

Thanks,,

The item in the drop down menu isnt the end result. For example , if the items in the menu were a list of food items, then choosing a food item in the list would output a result, lets say a number ,so for example selecting bread would output the number 5. 

Best way depends o  What are you then doing with the number.

As said You could use a lookup to match the dropdown result to a table but if you are then using that number to match something else you could do it in one step

outtatune

Andy_L said:

outtatune said:

C_Mababejive said:

victor2 said:

You don't need another cell for the result of the dropdown.

This works with Excel 2010, and probably for in later versions.

Vlookup is great for other purposes, but possibly a bit OTT for what you want?

Thanks,,

The item in the drop down menu isnt the end result. For example , if the items in the menu were a list of food items, then choosing a food item in the list would output a result, lets say a number ,so for example selecting bread would output the number 5. 

In which case you need to use Data Validation to create the list of food types as linked to by @victor2 and then use vlookup to get the number into column C.

If you have a table elsewhere in the workbook listing the food types and their numbers you can use that for both the data validation and the vlookup.

https://exceljet.net/excel-functions/excel-vlookup-function

Vlookup is a deprecated function. Xlookup would be better, it's more flexible (can do both horizontal and vertical lookup and can return multiple cells), and defaults to an exact match which is generally what people want.
https://exceljet.net/excel-functions/excel-xlookup-function

I specifically referred to vlookup because I don't know what version of Excel the OP uses. xlookup only appeared a couple of years ago; many if not most people are using older versions that have never heard of it. While vlookup does have its many many flaws, something as simple as what the op is describing shouldn't be a problem. And there is very little chance of MS removing vlookup support from future versions of Excel; there are millions of existing workbooks that rely on it.

If I was an O365 user creating a workbook purely for myself and which I could guarantee would never be opened by anyone using Office 2019 or earlier then yes, xlookup would be a good choice. Otherwise, vlookup is the safe choice.