I’m working on a Google Sheets document where I need to store customer information along with multiple project links for each customer. In Excel, I could use combo boxes that would show up when clicking on a cell, letting me pick from different links inside that combo box. But Google Sheets doesn’t have combo boxes like Excel does. I tried making data validation dropdowns with links inside them, but that doesn’t work either. The links just show as text and aren’t clickable. Is there any workaround or different approach I can use in Google Sheets to get something similar working? I need users to be able to click on a cell and see a list of links they can actually click on to open different project pages.
Google Apps Script is way better for this. Create a custom function that shows a sidebar or popup with clickable links when you select a cell. The script reads your dropdown choice and displays the matching links in an interactive panel. You’ll need basic coding skills, but the docs are clear and there’s tons of templates out there. I built this for a client tracker last year - worked way better than trying to hack the dropdown to handle links. Users loved it because clicking a cell instantly showed all the project links in a clean interface.
yep, totally know what u mean! sheets can be a bit tricky. maybe try adding hyperlinks in a separate column. it’s not super fancy, but when you select from the dropdown, they’ll pop up for quick clicks. hope that helps!
Had the same problem with my project sheets. Here’s what worked: use a dropdown for project names, then VLOOKUP to grab the actual links from a reference table. I set up a hidden sheet - project names in column A, HYPERLINK formulas in column B. Pick from the dropdown and VLOOKUP automatically fills the next cell with a clickable link. Not as clean as Excel’s combo boxes, but it works and stays organized. Users just click one cell over for the link - they get used to it fast.