How to Add a Blank Option to a Drop-Down List in Excel?

It's possible that you'll come across situations where you'll need to provide your users with the opportunity to choose a bank or empty value from a Data Validation drop-down list at some point. Because users need just tap the Delete or Backspace key on their keyboards to wipe away the cell value, this modification may be classified as a "nice-to-have." On the other hand, I've discovered that this very little improvement might help the user-experience run a little bit more smoothly. This is because the user can be uncertain as to whether or not they are permitted to have a blank value.

Let's take a look at the methods in which you may obtain that blank value added to the drop-down list for your Data Validation.

Add Blank Selection to an Excel Drop-Down List

I will include a blank option by referring to a cell that is now empty. Allow me to create a modified section for a user that includes the names of several banks. Now, I'll make a drop-down list to modify this list, along with the blank choices, so stay tuned for that.

Step 1

In order to generate a new section correction list of bank, you will need to add a blank cell below the Select_Bank list that you want to utilize.

Step 2

Select the cell or cells to which you will add the data validation list.

Step 3

Then go to the "Data" menu and select "Data Validation".

Step 4

You may build a data validation list based on an existing list by opening the "Data Validation" popup, and then selecting "List" from the "Allow drop-down list" in "validation criteria" section.

Step 5

Select the "Source" box and add options for dropdown, then select the OK button. At this point, you should see that the choice on the data validation list is empty.

Step 6

Click the arrow button to show the dropdown list.

Step 7

Select an option from the drop-down list.

Step 8

The selected bank name will be displayed in the cell.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you learned how to add a blank option to a drop-down list in Excel. Follow the steps shown in this tutorial to practice and see how it works so that you will find it easy to use drop-down lists in Excel when you actually need it.