Build cascading dropdowns in Google Sheets from a list you almost certainly already have.

Keep a plain two column list somewhere in your workbook: a category in the first column, an option in the second, one row per pair. The Dropdown Wizard reads that list and turns it into linked dropdowns. Choose Wine in the first column and the second offers Red, White and Sparkling. Choose Spirits and it offers Whisky and Vodka instead.

No INDIRECT. No named ranges. No helper columns quietly breaking when somebody inserts a row.

HOW IT WORKS

1. Select your two column list and click Use current selection.
2. Tell it which column holds the category and which holds the option.
3. Check the preview, then Apply.

That is the whole thing. It usually takes about thirty seconds.

IT CHECKS BEFORE IT CHANGES ANYTHING

The preview counts your categories and your options, and names any category you have not added options for yet, so you find the gap before your team does. If a target column already has validation rules the wizard did not put there, it stops and asks you first rather than overwriting your work.

WHEN YOUR LIST CHANGES

Edit your source list, then run Refresh dropdowns. Each row rebuilds its option list from whatever category is sitting in it. Change a category in a row and Refresh, and that row's options follow.

YOUR DATA STAYS PUT

The Dropdown Wizard only reads and writes the spreadsheet you currently have open. It makes no network requests at all, so there is nowhere for your data to go. No account, no sign up, no server, nothing stored.

FREE

Free to install and free to use. There is no paid tier and no trial to remember to cancel.

Made by The Sheet Wizard. Help and setup notes: https://thesheetwizard.com/dropdown-wizard-help/