Power Apps Dropdown control allows the users to select a single item from a list of options.
When space is limited, and a selection must be made from multiple choices, the Power Apps dropdown plays a major role.
In this article, I will explain what Power Apps dropdown control is and how to use Power Apps dropdown control, including the topics below:
- Power Apps dropdown items manual
- Power Apps dropdown values from the SharePoint list
- Power Apps dropdown selected value
- Power Apps dropdown default value
- Power Apps Dropdown Background Color
Power Apps DropDown Control
Dropdown control in Power Apps can display manual items or items dynamically loaded from data sources like SharePoint or Excel. It can display a maximum of 500 items.
Look at the example of dropdown control in Power Apps.
Let’s see some of the key properties of Power Apps dropdown control.
| Properties | Description |
|---|---|
| Items | The data source name that contains items to display in the dropdown control. |
| Value | The field that you want to display in dropdown control. |
| AllowEmptySelection | It takes boolean values, whether the control can have no selected item or a default selected item. “true” indicates allow empty selection and false is opposite. |
| Selected | It represents the selected item in the dropdown. |
| Visible | Whether control needs to be displayed or not. |
Power Apps Dropdown Items Manual
In Power Apps, we can add items manually to the dropdown control. So, users can select the value from a list of options in the dropdown.
Look at the example of adding dropdown values manually.
Let’s start adding values manually to the dropdown control!
1. In Power Apps, from the +Insert tab-> Select Dropdown control.
2. Set the below array in the Items property of dropdown control.
["IT","Finance","Sales","Marketing","Research"]
Now, save the changes and preview the app. The newly added values will appear in the dropdown.
Power Apps Dropdown Values from SharePoint List
In Power Apps, you can dynamically populate dropdown values from the SharePoint list. In this section, we’ll see how to retrieve dropdown values from both a SharePoint list
- Choice field,
- Single line of text field.
I have a SharePoint list named “Product Details” containing the following fields.
| Column Name | Data Type |
|---|---|
| Product Id | Default Title column |
| Product Name | Single line of text |
| Category | Choice [Stationary, Apparel, Electronics] |
| Price | Currency |
Get Power Apps Dropdown Values From SharePoint Choice Field
I want to retrieve the SharePoint choice values [Category] in a Power Apps dropdown control.
1. Add one Dropdown control to the Power Apps screen.
2. Connect the Power Apps application with the SharePoint list from the Data pane in navigation.
3. Provide the formula below in the Items property of the dropdown control.
Choices([@'Product Details'].Category)
Save the changes and preview the app. The SharePoint list choice column values will appear in the dropdown control.
Get Power Apps Dropdown Values From SharePoint Text Field
I want to retrieve the SharePoint text values [Product ID] in a Power Apps dropdown control.
1. Add one new dropdown control and set the formula below in its Items property.
Distinct('Product Details',Title)In the formula, change the Title to your text field name and data source name also. To display some other SharePoint list field values in the dropdown, place the column name in the above formula.
2. Now, save the changes. Then, open the dropdown by holding the Alt key on your keyboard. You’ll see all the SharePoint list text field values in the dropdown control.
Power Apps Dropdown Selected Value
In Power Apps, we can dynamically display the selected value from the dropdown control in the text field.
For example, I have a dropdown that contains meeting names. When I select the values in the dropdown control, the corresponding values are displayed in the text label, as shown below.
Follow the steps below to achieve this!
1. Add one Dropdown control and Text label to the Power Apps screen. Then, provide the formula below in the Items property of the dropdown control.
["Product Launch Extravaganza","Summer Social Media Blitz","Digital Marketing Webinar Series","Brand Awareness Challenge"]
2. Now, put the below formula in the Text property of the text label.
drp_meeting_name.Selected.Value
Now, save the changes and publish them. When you select the dropdown values, the corresponding values will automatically display in the text field.
Power Apps Dropdown Default Value
Here, we’ll examine various examples of how to provide the default value for the dropdown control in Power Apps.
Example 1: Set a value in the dropdown as its default selection. After selecting a different value, click the reset icon to revert the dropdown to its default value.
1. In the Default property of the dropdown control provide the value name like in below.
Default: "Stationary"
2. Now, save the changes. You’ll see the default value in the dropdown control. Add one Reset icon and put the Reset(control name) on its OnSelect property to see the difference.
After selecting the option, click the reset icon, and the dropdown value will reset to its default value.
Example 2: Set the blank or null value to the Power Apps dropdown as a default value.
Follow the steps below to achieve this!
1. In the Onselect property of the dropdown control, provide the formula below.
ClearCollect(Category,{Value:" "});Collect(Category,Choices([@'Product Details'].Category))The above formula creates a collection with choice column values and a blank value as a default option.
2. Then, provide the Collection name in the Items property of dropdown control.
Items: CategoryHere, Category is the collection name.
Power Apps Dropdown Background Color
Here, we will see how to change the background color on the Power Apps drop-down control. The Color property has a Fill option that visualizes the background color.
To find this, select the drop-down control, go to color on the properties panel, and click on Fill.
It allows choosing the standard or custom color for the Power Apps drop-down control. Suppose we want to set a custom color as the background color. To do this, click on Fill > Custom > Select any color.
Also, we can insert a color code in RGBA format on the Power Apps drop-down’s Fill property.
This is how to give the Power Apps drop-down control a custom background color.
Some more Power Apps articles you may also like:
- Link to a Specific Screen in Power Apps
- Navigate Function in Power Apps
- Power Apps Delegation Warnings
- Power Apps Radio Button Control
- How to Use PDF Viewer Control in Power Apps
I hope you found this article informative. Here, I have explained how to use dropdowns in Power Apps, add items manually or from SharePoint lists, display selected values, and set default values.
When you are trying to use the dropdown control in Power Apps, this article can provide guidance.
After working for more than 18 years in Microsoft technologies like SharePoint, Microsoft 365, and Power Platform (Power Apps, Power Automate, and Power BI), I thought will share my SharePoint expertise knowledge with the world. Our audiences are from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, etc. For my expertise knowledge and SharePoint tutorials, Microsoft has been awarded a Microsoft SharePoint MVP (12 times). I have also worked in companies like HP, TCS, KPIT, etc.
