The dropdown question gives a list of options for the respondent to choose from, presented in a drop-down menu. You may use it to provide a structured response format and make it easier for respondents to select an answer from a longer list of options.
Examples of commonly used dropdown questions include questions about age range, occupation, and country of residence.
![notion image](https://www.notion.so/image/https%3A%2F%2Fprod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fc7def46e-5b1b-431a-b65a-93222e53bf0d%2F53ba792e-8f05-48fe-bf2e-e43afdd125ac%2FTally_Dropdown.gif?table=block&id=cdc503a5-d0a4-4a9b-9742-234a6318f419&cache=v2)
How it worksDropdown settingsBulk insert optionsRandomize optionsAdd placeholder textAdd a default answerMultiple selectionCustomize the dropdownHow to create a dynamic dropdown
How it works
Type
/dropdown
to insert a dropdown question. Add your question title and simply type the different answer options.![notion image](https://www.notion.so/image/https%3A%2F%2Fprod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fc7def46e-5b1b-431a-b65a-93222e53bf0d%2Fb293720f-b203-44b2-8bb9-0c63c79ea02f%2FDropdown-1.gif?table=block&id=1545cd81-88fb-482a-b050-23c61472b7ad&cache=v2)
By default, respondents can choose one option from the dropdown list. They can also search through the options by typing in the dropdown box.
![notion image](https://www.notion.so/image/https%3A%2F%2Fprod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fc7def46e-5b1b-431a-b65a-93222e53bf0d%2F31f083b7-8618-4190-9d7b-ad9cc7c3c591%2FDropdown-22.gif?table=block&id=390bd7df-5255-45cb-9707-8047fbc14d1d&cache=v2)
Dropdown settings
Bulk insert options
If you have a long list of answer options, you can also bulk insert them by opening the block options and selecting
Bulk insert options
.![notion image](https://www.notion.so/image/https%3A%2F%2Fprod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fc7def46e-5b1b-431a-b65a-93222e53bf0d%2F2ff64fb0-3d34-4988-84ed-7571ba8a3ac6%2FDropdown-8.gif?table=block&id=35b8df96-1a11-4ab2-9f28-ea2b28b0e0b5&cache=v2)
Randomize options
Answer randomization helps avoid biased data by displaying answer options in a random order.
![notion image](https://www.notion.so/image/https%3A%2F%2Fprod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fc7def46e-5b1b-431a-b65a-93222e53bf0d%2Fadb763c1-6889-4906-b969-f7e1c3518bd4%2FDropdown-9.png?table=block&id=8fc7f840-cc50-4a9b-95cc-0c3d1f8e35cc&cache=v2)
Add placeholder text
You can add placeholder text to the dropdown instead of a question title using the
Placeholder
option. Click on the ⠿
to open block options and enter text in the Placeholder
field.![Dropdown with placeholder text](https://www.notion.so/image/https%3A%2F%2Fprod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fc7def46e-5b1b-431a-b65a-93222e53bf0d%2F4dd2a7b3-4d95-4f60-8a8f-bbe7cfe276d9%2FDropdown-4.png?table=block&id=378fa786-3f5c-48a5-970a-63e888b2b3eb&cache=v2)
![Dropdown with a question title](https://www.notion.so/image/https%3A%2F%2Fprod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fc7def46e-5b1b-431a-b65a-93222e53bf0d%2Fd42237f4-341d-429d-ab55-822a15a5265d%2FDropdown-3.png?table=block&id=93e0ed32-9d7e-4ef7-86dd-66f0ff35bcc2&cache=v2)
Add a default answer
Pre-select
an answer in your dropdown question by using the default answer. Open the block settings by clicking ⠿
and enable the Default answer
toggle.![notion image](https://www.notion.so/image/https%3A%2F%2Fprod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fc7def46e-5b1b-431a-b65a-93222e53bf0d%2F1f297339-dc93-4ed1-8a1b-6098b3171022%2FDropdown-7.png?table=block&id=91431599-1131-4544-8402-08eeed877dd5&cache=v2)
Multiple selection
Turn your dropdown question into a Multi-select question and add a minimum or maximum number of answer options.
![notion image](https://www.notion.so/image/https%3A%2F%2Fprod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fc7def46e-5b1b-431a-b65a-93222e53bf0d%2Fd29a55af-eb4c-4305-89ad-50258522e865%2FDropdown-6.png?table=block&id=a0a39be2-428b-4e9a-b87f-82c02dad1f73&cache=v2)
Customize the dropdown
Use our free customization options or custom CSS (available with a Tally Pro subscription) to customize your form and the dropdown question.
![notion image](https://www.notion.so/image/https%3A%2F%2Fprod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fc7def46e-5b1b-431a-b65a-93222e53bf0d%2F7fdc14d1-ebca-4628-b919-739004839251%2FDropdown-5.png?table=block&id=0237312b-1599-4370-9bb8-9b8550fb4254&cache=v2)
How to create a dynamic dropdown
Are you looking for a way to dynamically update the answer options in your dropdown questions from an external source? In this tutorial, we use a combination of Tally and this custom-made Make module to make it happen.