Data Validation In MS Excel

 Data validation is a feature in Microsoft Excel that allows you to control the type of data that can be entered into a cell or range of cells. Here are the steps to use data validation in Excel:

Select the cell or range of cells where you want to apply data validation.

Go to the Data tab in the Excel ribbon and click on the Data Validation button in the Data Tools group.

In the Data Validation dialog box, choose the type of validation rule you want to apply. The most common types of validation rules are:

Whole number: to allow only whole numbers for example we have validation between 1 & 1000 any value other than it will result in error.

Decimal: to allow only decimal numbers for example we have validation between 1.1 & 3.0 any value other than it will result in error.

List1: to allow only values from a specified list for example we have validation between Text1, Text2 & Text3 any Text other than it will result in error.

List2: to allow only values from a specified list for example we have validation between Cell K2 to K4 any Text other than contained in it will result in error.

the "Data Validation" feature can be used to create a dropdown list of options for a cell. Here's how to do it:

Select the cell or range of cells where you want the dropdown list to appear.

Go to the "Data" tab in the ribbon and click on "Data Validation" in the "Data Tools" group.

In the "Data Validation" dialog box, under the "Settings" tab, select "List" in the "Allow" drop-down menu.

In the "Source" field, enter the list of options you want to appear in the dropdown, separated by commas. For example: "Option 1, Option 2, Option 3".

You can also choose to show an error message or restrict input to only the items in the list by selecting the appropriate options under the "Error Alert" tab.

Click "OK" to close the dialog box and apply the validation to the selected cells.

Now, when you click on the cell or range of cells, a dropdown arrow will appear, allowing you to select one of the options from the list you created.

Date: to allow only date values within a specified range

Time: to allow only time values within a specified range

Once you have selected the validation rule, enter the required information. For example, if you choose the List option, you need to enter the list of allowed values in the Source box.

Optionally, you can also enter an error message that will be displayed if the user enters an invalid value. You can also set a warning message to appear if the user enters a value that is close to the limit.

Click on the OK button to apply the validation rule to the selected cells.

Now, when a user tries to enter data into the validated cells, Excel will check if the entered value meets the validation criteria. If the value is not allowed, Excel will display an error message and prompt the user to enter a valid value.