Limit the use of a dropdown selection to only a single row in a column

Richard Heath

Hello,

I've developed a sheet that our Project Manager use to generate a Certificate based on a number of criteria.

So the Certifcate (a dashboard) pulls the correct data from multiple sources, the user needs to simply select "YES" in the appropriate row per the below screen shot.

Can anyone suggest a way that limits only one "YES" across the entire column? Ideally, if a user enters YES somewhere else, the existing YES disappears.

Having duplicate entries, like below, will cause issues with the dashboard

Thanks for your assistance.

Andrée Starå

Hi Richard,

Unfortunately, you can’t because when you edit a cell with a formula, the formula is deleted.

I’d recommend to either:

• use a so-called helper column with a message that shows when there are more than one Yes.
• Or/and mark the cell/row with conditional formatting when there's more than one Yes.
• The third-party service, Zapier or the Smartsheet API would work, but the issue is that it wouldn't be instant.

Would any of those options work/help?

I hope that helps!

Be safe and have a fantastic weekend!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

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