How to create a long dropdown list of countries using content control dropdown list without having to type out each country as a value?

Question

I am using a content control dropdown list in a word document since this is accessible by keyboard-only (for blind users that may not be using a mouse). How do I add a long list of countries as values without having to type out each individual value one by one?

Answer 1

Hello @Ellis, Emma

Welcome to Microsoft QnA!

Although this is a Word Question i have a Solution

Create the list in Excel

https://gist.githubusercontent.com/kalinchernev/486393efcca01623b18d/raw/daa24c9fea66afb7d68f8d69f0c4b8eeb9406e83/countries

1. Open your Excel workbook that contains the list of countries.
2. Press Alt+F11 to open the VBA Editor.
3. Click on Insert from the menu, then click Module. This will create a new module.
4. In the new module page, paste the following code:

Sub PopulateWordDropdown()

    Dim WordApp As Object
    Dim WordDoc As Object
    Dim cc As Object
    Dim rng As Range
    Dim cell As Range

    Set rng = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Range("A1:A200") ' Adjust according to your country list range and sheet name
    
    On Error Resume Next
    Set WordApp = GetObject(, "Word.Application")
    If Err.Number <> 0 Then
        Set WordApp = CreateObject("Word.Application")
    End If
    On Error GoTo 0
    
    WordApp.Visible = True
    
    Set WordDoc = WordApp.Documents.Open("C:\path\to\your\word\document.docx") ' Put the path to your Word document here

    Set cc = WordDoc.SelectContentControlsByTitle("YourDropdownTitle").Item(1) ' Replace "YourDropdownTitle" with the actual title of your content control

    cc.DropdownListEntries.Clear

    For Each cell In rng
        If cell.Value <> "" Then
            cc.DropdownListEntries.Add Text:=cell.Value
        End If
    Next cell

    WordDoc.Save
    WordDoc.Close
    WordApp.Quit

    Set WordDoc = Nothing
    Set WordApp = Nothing

End Sub

Replace "Sheet1" and "A1:A200" with the name of the sheet and the range where your country list is.

Replace "C:\path\to\your\word\document.docx" with the path to your Word document.

Replace "YourDropdownTitle" with the actual title of your content control drop-down.

Press Ctrl+S to save and then close the VBA Editor.

Run the VBA code by pressing Alt+F8, select PopulateWordDropdown, then click Run.

Remember to replace the placeholders in the code with your actual values, and as always, be cautious when running VBA scripts due to potential security risks. Also, ensure that macros are enabled in your Excel settings for this code to run.

This script will open your Word document, clear all existing entries in the drop-down list, populate it with the countries from your Excel list, then save and close the Word document.

Now next time you open the Word File you will have a Working Drop Down List !

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I hope this helps!

The answer or portions of it may have been assisted by AI Source: ChatGPT Subscription, it was tested by me and works as it should

Kindly mark the answer as Accepted and Upvote in case it helped or post your feedback to help !

Regards