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Multi selection form into single rows

Lemoni

Hi all,

I have a form that allows multiple selections. Once the form is submitted I need the each selection to be added as a new row.

I have several issues:

-Selection list extensive (50+) therefore cannot be written as separated columns as suggested earlier.

-Users will have a hard time to submit a form for each item and therefore a multi selection is a must

-Each selection calls a unique number (from a different sheet) into a separate column and therefore I cannot use the multi selection as is.

I was unable to find a solution that works for this. I would highly appreciate any help. Thanks in advance

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Comments

Paul Newcome

Is there a reason having multiple columns won't work? 50 is well within sheet limits.

Paula Grahame

It might be a lofty extra step, but can you create sheets unique to each of the 50+ options, then create a copy automation from the form submission sheet based on the selections chosen in your dropdown, include a column in those sheets to create a unique identifier, then mesh all of those sheets into a single sheet thus giving you your single sheet with each unique submission?

Lemoni

Thanks for the comment. The sheet later merges in an archieve with various columns and it complicates the process for other users. I have the process in a sheet format and works fine but I am trying to see if a form would be feasible it is easier to use.

Lemoni

I see. My worry would be selection may be random for instance first 3 options (A,B,C) can be selected in multiple ways (A-B, B-A, A-B-C, C-A etc and scaling that to 50 items would be quite difficult.

Paul Newcome

For those other users, you could create a row report from the archive that only shows the columns they need, or you can hide the extra columns on the archive sheet.

Paula Grahame

Save as New would be your best friend here… But I understand your concern. I hope you can find a viable solution for your problem.

Matt_Burrows

Hey @Lemoni - Struggling to see why @Paula Grahame 's solution can't be adapted by using 'contains' instead of 'is one of'. I have already run this as a solution on my own projects.

Is there something visual you can share please?

Thanks, Matt

Lemoni

The sheet I am trying to generate a form for is for ordering materials. Once ordered by users it is sent to stores and copied into a main stock sheet where it is connected to multiple other sheets. There are various automations and notifications involved.

Example:

columns:

item, order quantity, item code, location, ordered by, ordered date

Format stores accept:

Pencils, 10, X999A, Building 5, employeename, 09/06/2026.

Books, 3, YY113, Building 4, employeename, 09/06/2026.

And sending this information to stores is via an automation email.

It appears that we cannot add multiple fields for a single column. Ideally form for would have multiple fields filling two columns; item name and number.

Lemoni

Using forms, I cannot generate multiple fields because each field correspond to a different column. But what I need to do is to have one column for items and one column for quantities. I have a database of items that then pulls the item code. The form also contains several more fields such as names, date, department etc.

Once submitted, the list goes on to the stores department via an email automation and they deliver the items. And when I generate a multi-selection list, this time the it is hard for stores to interpret how many of each item is requested. Due to the volume of requests, they will not be able to process it otherwise. Below I made a very simple example. Please let me know if you have any ideas.

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