Create Custom Lists in Excel

September 3rd, 2005

You can use this tip to automatically create a list of items that you use frequently.

For example, let’s say that you need to list the days of the week as follows:

S = Sunday
M = Monday
T = Tuesday
W = Wednesday
Th = Thursday
F = Friday
Sa = Saturday

You probably know that you can List the full name of the days or three-letter abbreviations by typing any one day in a cell and using Extend (the thin black cross in the lower right corner of the cell) to fill in succeeding days.

However, there are probably other lists (such as the one above) that you have to type more than once that are not stored in Excel by default. (Examples might be lists of employees, products, parts, sales regions, etc.)

To use Extend to create your own custom list:

  1. Type the list into a spreadsheet (down a column or across a row, doesn’t matter which).
  2. Select the list.
  3. Select Tools | Options.
  4. Click on the Custom Lists tab.
  5. Click the Import button in the lower right corner.

    6. Add a Custom List in Excel

  6. Excel will add the new list.
  7. Click OK.
  8. Test the list by typing the first (or any) item on the list and use Extend.

To edit the list:

  1. Select Tools | Options.
  2. Select the Custom Lists tab.
  3. Select the list you want to edit from Custom Lists on the left.
  4. Edit the list entries.
  5. Click the Add button.
  6. Click OK.
  7. Test the edited list with Extend.

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