How to Create Excel Drop Down List with Color (2 Ways)

We’ll use a sample dataset of dress stores that represents the order, size, and color information of a particular dress. The dataset contains 4 columns: Order ID, Dress, Available Color, and Available Size.

Method 1 – Creating a Drop-Down List with Color Manually

We will create the drop-down list of the Available Colors.

Creating the Drop-Down List

• Select the cell or cell range to apply Data Validation. We selected the cell range E4:E12.
• Open the Data tab.
• From Data Tools, select Data Validation.

• A dialog box will pop up. For the validation criteria, select the option you want to use in Allow. We selected List.

• Select the source. We selected the source range G4:G9.

• Click OK.

• Data Validation is applied for the selected range.

Read More: How to Make a Drop Down List in Excel

Color the Drop-Down List

• Select the cell range where Data Validation is applied.
• In the Home tab, select Conditional Formatting and choose New Rule.

• A dialog box will pop up. Select the rule Format only cells that contain.
• Select the Format only cells with option Specific Text.

• Select the cell address from the sheet that contains the Specific Text.

• We selected the G4 cell which contains the color Green.

• Click on Format to set the color of the Specific Text.

• Another dialog box will pop up. Select the fill color that corresponds to the text value you put as the condition.
• Click OK.

• Click OK again.

• The specific text Green is colored with green for our example.

• Every time you select the text Green from the drop-down list the cell will be colored with green color.

• Repeat the process to add additional fill colors. Apply a New Rule every time, in the same dataset.

• Each time you select a value from the drop-down list, it will appear with the corresponding color in the cell.

Method 2 – Using the Table Format in Excel to Create a Drop-Down List with Color

We’ll create two drop-down lists, one for Available Size and another for Available Colors.

Creating the Drop-Down List

• Select the cell to apply Data Validation. We selected cell D4.
• Open the Data tab and select Data Validation.

• A dialog box will pop up. For Allow, select List.
• Select the Source from the sheet.

• We selected the source range I4:I7 as we’re inputting the sizes.

• Click OK.

• You will see Data Validation is applied for the selected cell.

• Repeat the process for cell E4.

• Select a different Source from the sheet, since we need to select colors.

• We selected the source range G4:G7.

• Click OK.

• Data Validation is applied for the selected cell.

Color The Drop-Down List

• Select the cell range where Data Validation is applied. We selected cell D4.
• In the Home tab, go to Conditional Formatting, choose Highlight Cells Rules, and select Equal To.

• A dialog box will pop up. From there select any cell to apply Format cells that are EQUAL TO. We selected cell I4.
• In with, select an option. We selected Green Fill with Dark Green Text.
• Click OK.

• The size value from the drop-down list is coded with the selected color.

• Repeat this process to color the drop-down list value which is in the I5 cell.

• The I5 value is colored with the followed option.

• Repeat the process to color all the drop-down list values of Available Size.

• Select cell E4.
• In the Home tab, go to Conditional Formatting, select Highlight Cells Rules, then choose Equal To.

• A dialog box will pop up. Select any cell to apply Format cells that are EQUAL TO. We selected cell G4.
• In with, select an option. We selected Custom Format.

• Another dialog box will pop up. Select the fill color of your choice. We selected the color Green since the condition value points to Green.
• Click OK.

• Click OK.

• The selected color is applied to the drop-down list values.

• Repeat to color all the values of Available Colors.

Each of the values will appear with a formatted color.

Using the Table Format in a Drop-Down List with Color

• Select the cell range to format the range as Table. We selected the cell range B3:E4.
• Open the Home tab, choose Format as Table, and select any Format (we selected Light)

• A dialog box will appear. Check My table has headers.
• Click OK.

• You will see that the Table format is applied.

• Insert new data in row 5 and you will see that the drop-down list is available.

• Select any value to check if the values come with colors.

• You will see a drop-down list with color.

• You can add more cells to the table.

If you don’t want the Filter option in the Table Header, you can remove it.

• Select the Table,
• Open the Table Design tab, then from Table Style Options, uncheck Filter Button.

• The table header filter button is removed.

Read More: Create Excel Drop Down List from Table

Practice Section

We’ve provided a practice sheet in the workbook to practice these methods.

Download the Practice Workbook

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