Question: How do I create and manage drop-down lists in Act!?
Product Details:
Product Family: Act!
Product: Act! Pro, Act! Premium, Act! Premium (access via web), Act! Premium Cloud
Version: 2008 and later
Answer:
Note: If you are creating a drop-down list in Act! v17.1 and later, and you intend to use that list with a field that you have not created yet, you can create the drop-down list as part of the process of creating your new field. For information, refer to the following knowledgebase article:
How do I create a drop-down list while creating a field in Act!?
Creating a drop-down list
Depending on whether you are accessing your database via Act! for Windows or via the Act! for web, refer to the appropriate section below:
Act! for Windows
To create a new drop-down list in the Act! desktop client, follow the steps below:
Note: To use a drop-down list with a field, you must link it to the field. For information on linking drop-down lists to fields, refer to the following knowledgebase article:
How to link a drop-down list to an Act! field
Act! Premium (access via web)
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To create a new drop-down list in the Act! Premium (access via web) client, follow the steps below:
Note: To use a drop-down list with a field, you must link it to the field. For information on linking drop-down lists to fields, refer to the following knowledgebase article:
How to link a drop-down list to an Act! field
Editing an existing drop-down list
Depending on whether you are accessing your database via Act! for Windows or via the Act! for web, refer to the appropriate section below:
Act! for Windows
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To edit an existing drop-down list in the Act! desktop client, follow the steps below:
Act! Premium (access via web)
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To edit an existing drop-down list in Act! Premium (access via web), follow the steps below:
Deleting a drop-down list
Note: Deleting drop-down lists cannot be undone. It is recommended that you create a backup of your database before deleting fields. For information regarding database backups, refer to the following knowledgebase article:
How to back up and restore an Act! database
Product Details:
Product Family: Act!
Product: Act! Pro, Act! Premium, Act! Premium (access via web), Act! Premium Cloud
Version: 2008 and later
Answer:
Note: If you are creating a drop-down list in Act! v17.1 and later, and you intend to use that list with a field that you have not created yet, you can create the drop-down list as part of the process of creating your new field. For information, refer to the following knowledgebase article:
How do I create a drop-down list while creating a field in Act!?
Creating a drop-down list
Depending on whether you are accessing your database via Act! for Windows or via the Act! for web, refer to the appropriate section below:

To create a new drop-down list in the Act! desktop client, follow the steps below:
- Click Tools > Define Fields
- Under List Tasks, click Manage drop-down lists
- Under Drop-down list tasks Click Create drop-down list
- Enter a name for the drop-down list and select the type of list
- If desired, add a description for the list
- Choose whether to allow users to edit items in the list and whether to automatically add new items that users enter to the list, then click Next
- Click Add to add a value to the list, enter the drop-down list value under the value column then press Enter, or if desired, press Tab to enter a description for the value, then press Enter
Note: If you already have a list of values in a text delimited file, you can import that list into your drop-down list. For more information about importing drop-down list values, refer to the following knowledgebase article:
How To Export and Import Drop-down Lists for ACT! Fields
- Repeat step 7 as necessary, then click Finish when you’re done
Note: To use a drop-down list with a field, you must link it to the field. For information on linking drop-down lists to fields, refer to the following knowledgebase article:
How to link a drop-down list to an Act! field

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To create a new drop-down list in the Act! Premium (access via web) client, follow the steps below:
- Click Tools > Define Fields
- Under List Tasks, click Manage drop-down lists
- Under Drop-down list tasks Click Create drop-down list
- Enter a name for the drop-down list and select the type of list
- If desired, add a description for the list
- Choose whether to allow users to edit items in the list and whether to automatically add new items that users enter to the list, then click Next
- Type a desired value into the Value field, a description (if desired) for the value in the Description field, then click Add to add the value to the list
- Repeat step 7 as needed, then click Finish when you’re ready to save the drop-down list
Note: To use a drop-down list with a field, you must link it to the field. For information on linking drop-down lists to fields, refer to the following knowledgebase article:
How to link a drop-down list to an Act! field
Editing an existing drop-down list
Depending on whether you are accessing your database via Act! for Windows or via the Act! for web, refer to the appropriate section below:

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To edit an existing drop-down list in the Act! desktop client, follow the steps below:
- Click Tools > Define Fields
- Under List Tasks, click Manage drop-down lists
- Select an existing drop-down list
- Under Drop-down list tasks, click Edit drop-down list
- If necessary, edit the details on the “Enter drop-down list name and type” screen, then click Next
- Add a value to the list by clicking Add, or Delete a value by selecting the value and clicking Delete
- Edit an existing value or description by double-clicking the cell you wish to edit, typing in the changes, and pressing Enter
- Click Finish when you’re done making changes

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To edit an existing drop-down list in Act! Premium (access via web), follow the steps below:
- Click Tools > Define Fields
- Under List Tasks, click Manage drop-down lists
- Select an existing drop-down list
- Under Drop-down list tasks, click Edit drop-down list
- If necessary, edit the details on the “Enter drop-down list name and type” screen, then click Next
- To add a new list value, type a desired value into the Value field, a description (if desired) for the value in the Description field, then click Add to add the value to the list
- To edit an existing list value, select the value from the list, then click Edit…
- Make the desired changes to the value and Description, then click Update
- Click Finish when you’re done making changes
Deleting a drop-down list
Note: Deleting drop-down lists cannot be undone. It is recommended that you create a backup of your database before deleting fields. For information regarding database backups, refer to the following knowledgebase article:
How to back up and restore an Act! database
- Click Tools > Define Fields
- Under List Tasks, click Manage drop-down lists
- Select the drop-down list you wish to delete
- Click Delete drop-down list
- When prompted if you’re sure, click Yes