Linked dropdown columns overview

Linked dropdown columns enable you to directly link a column's dropdown list to a column in a separate source sheet. This connection ensures that the options available in your dropdown list automatically reflect any updates made in the source sheet, maintaining real-time accuracy. 

You can only set them up in table view. However, you can view and select them from every other view, including board, timeline, and more.

When to use linked dropdown columns?

Use linked dropdown columns whenever you need to enforce data consistency and ensure that dropdown options across multiple sheets remain perfectly in sync with a single, reliable source. They’re ideal for:

• Centralizing lists: When you have a primary list of projects, vendors, clients, or products that team members must choose from across several related sheets. For example, budget, resource, and task sheets.
• Managing standardized statuses: Linking columns that track standardized categories, such as project status, priority level, or risk rating, ensures that all teams use the same, up-to-date terminology.
• Controlling inventory and assets: When a dropdown needs to reflect real-time information from an inventory sheet, such as a current list of available product SKUs.  

Keep in mind

• You can use linked dropdown columns in forms, reports, and Dynamic View. However, you can’t set them up from there. 

• When you set up a linked dropdown column in a portfolio template or in a Control Center blueprint or when you copy a sheet or folder that contains one, the link in the dropdown column remains intact in the copy and continues to reference the original source.

  Linked dropdown columns work best with templates and blueprints that have enhanced global updates enabled. 

Limitations

Functional limitations

Source columns must be one of the following types: Contact, Dropdown List, or Text/Number.

• Dropdown colors can’t be configured on linked dropdown columns, nor can they be pulled through if configured on a source Dropdown List.
• Only sheets can be used as a source.
• You cannot use a column in the current sheet as a source for another column within the same sheet.

Platform limitations

• You can have up to 20,000 dropdown values propagated from the source column to the target column.
• The sheet supports a maximum of 400 inbound dropdown links, which means that each of its 400 columns could have a linked dropdown connected to another sheet.
• Smartsheet supports up to 250,000 outbound dropdown links, meaning one column in a sheet serves as a source for 250,000 sheets, or 100 columns are used in 2,500 sheets.

Keep in mind that each value in a cell can have a maximum of 255 characters. To enhance readability, consider using wider columns or reducing the character count.

Now that you understand how linked dropdown columns maintain consistency, leverage this feature to ensure your team always works with accurate, real-time data across your solutions.