How to create a drop-down list with symbols in Excel

Creating a drop-down list in an Excel worksheet is easy, as long as it is a regular drop-down menu. But what if you have to make it special by adding a special symbol, or make it even more special by adding some text as well as symbols? Ok, sounds interesting but wondering if this is possible? What's an answer you don't know when Geek Page is here to help?

This article is all about creating dropdown menus with symbols as well as symbols and text. Hope you enjoyed reading this article!

Also read: How to add a drop-down menu in Microsoft Excel

Part 1: Create a drop-down list with only symbols

To create a drop-down menu with symbols, We first need to create a list of sources from which to get the symbols to populate the dropdown menu.

Let's see how to create a symbol source list and how to use this source list to populate a drop-down menu.

Step 1: First, clickthe cell where you want to insert the first symbol.

With the cell selected, click the INSERT tab at the top and then click the button named Symbols.

Step 2: Now, from the list of options available under Symbols, click on the Symbol option.

Step 3: You can now see all the special symbols that can be inserted into your Excel worksheet.

Note: You can do some filtering using the Subset drop-down menu in the Sign window.

Click on the symbol you want to insert, and then click the "Insert " button.

In the example below, I have chosen to insert a symbol called Indian Rupee Sign.

Step 4: You can now see the inserted symbol in the background. Click the Close button to close the symbol window.

Step 5: Now let’s add the second symbol to our source list. To do this, Select the second cell where you want to insert the second symbol, preferably directly below the first symbol.

Now as before, click on the INSERT tab at the top, click on the drop-down menu called Symbols, then click on the Symbol option.

Step 6: You can now select the symbol you want to insert the into. If you want to insert multiple symbols into the same cell, please select the first symbol, click the "Insert" button, select the second symbol, click the "Insert" button again, and so on.

After inserting all the symbols you need, click the Close button.

In the example below, I inserted 2 symbols .

Step 7: Again, I added 2 more lines to the source list containing the symbols.

After creating the source list, click the cell where you want to create the drop-down menu.

Step 8: Make sure the cell in which you want to create the symbol drop-down menu is selected.

Next, click on the Data tab in the top ribbon. Now click on the Data Validation drop-down menu and click on the Data Validation option.

Step 9: In the "Data Verification" window, first click "Settings" Tab.

Now, select List from the list of available options under the Allow drop-down menu.

Next, click the Minimize icon associated with the Source field to select your symbol source list from the Excel table.

Step 10: Simply click and drag to select the symbol source list you created.

The data validation window will now be automatically populated. Green, marked in the screenshot below.

Click to expand the icon to return to the Data Verification window.

Step 11: Just click the OK button.

Step 12: Now, if you click on the cell where the drop-down menu is inserted, you can see your own custom symbol drop-down list. enjoy!

Section 2: Creating a Drop-down List Containing Symbols and Text

Now let’s say you want to create a symbol drop-down menu, but you also want to include some text Also associated with your symbol. For this we need to have 2 columns. One for symbols and one for text. We will then merge these 2 columns to make it the source list for a new dropdown containing symbols and text.

First, we need the symbol source list columns that we created in the previous section, and second, we need the text columns that you want to associate with each symbol.

Once you have the two columns ready, follow these steps to connect them perfectly and make a beautiful drop-down menu out of them.

Step 1: Create one more column where your symbols and text will be combined.

Double-click the first cell of the newly created column.

Now, copy and paste the following formula onto it to connect the symbols and text.

=A2 & " : " & B2

Note: A2 is the cell where the first symbol is located, and B2 is the cell where the first text is located. If your value exists in some other cells, replace A2 and B2 with the corresponding cell IDs. Additionally, the : symbols are used as associative operators. You can use any other association, even leave it blank, or skip it entirely.

After writing the formula in one cell, let’s drag the formula down and apply it to all cells below it, in the same column.

Just click the small square in the lower right corner of the cell where the formula is applied and drag it down.

Step 2: Viola, your symbols and text are now merged. Now let's create a dropdown menu using this column.

Step 3: First click the cell in which you want to create the drop-down menu.

Click the

Data tab on the top ribbon, click the Data Validation drop-down menu, then click Data Validation from the available menu options options.

Step 4: In the "Data Verification" window, first click "Settings"Tab. From the Allow drop-down menu, click the List option.

Now, just like in the previous section, use the

minimize and expand icons on the source field to select The symbol and text are associated with the list, which is basically the column named combination value in the screenshot below.

Click the

OK button after completion.

Step 5: That’s it. You can now show off your new drop-down menu, complete with text and symbols. enjoy!

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