Data entry becomes a bit tricky when there are a lot of people and a lot of data involved. To help address this, Zoho Sheet—being the collaboration-friendly spreadsheet it is—is happy to introduce the picklist.
What is a picklist?
Picklists, as the name suggests, help you create a list of values that you can pick from instead of having to manually enter data into a cell. You can choose from a dropdown that’ll contain a predefined set of values to fill the cell.
Keeping data consistent
Creating a picklist for a range means that values that don’t form part of list cannot be entered in that particular range. When you have a bunch of collaborators, these lists help maintain consistency while simultaneously making it quick and easy for them to enter data in the said range.
Having only one version of a value—as opposed to having different spellings, different capitalization, or human errors—is so helpful when you’re trying to analyze or visualize a data set.
Fill a few colors!
If there are only going to be a handful of values in a range, color coding is one way to make your spreadsheet easily comprehensible. Picklist helps you color code your list of values, as and when you build the list itself!
You can choose which color to fill your cell background with and what the font color should be for each of the variables. Just like the value, if you want to change the formatting at any point in time, you can change it right in the source. The rest of the range is automatically updated with the changes.
How different is it from a dropdown menu created using Data Validation?
Lists created in Data Validation (DV), although often construed as actual dropdown menus, are simply a measure to prevent irrelevant data entries. While it helps streamline data entry, it does little to make data entry easier.
For instance, if a range of cells have values filled using picklist, and you wish to replace one of the many values in the list with another, it’s enough to change it only in the source. Every occurrence of the value in the said range will automatically get updated.
So, the difference between a list created using DV and a picklist is simply the purposes they solve. One helps streamline data entry while the other helps make data entry easier and restricts redundant entries.
You can create, edit, or use these picklists from your Android and iOS applications as well. This means you’re not just working on the go—you’re working smarter on the go.
Give the new picklist feature a try! You can find it under the Insert menu.
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Hello, Are you planning to add the option of multiple selection in the picklist ? Thanks Victor M. dS
Hello Victor, We'll definitely look into the possibility of providing the option in the future! Thank you for your suggestion.