Drop downs in numbers

Here's an example of how you might calculate the cost of ingredients by looking up the item cost in a separate table and multiplying that by the quantity.

The formula as you would input it in C2, then fill or copy it down the column:

=XLOOKUP(A2,Ingredients::A,Ingredients::B,"not found",0)*B2

Numbers has a Pop-Up Menu data format that is similar to drop downs in Excel. But unlike dropdown in Excel, a Pop-Up Menu cannot automatically retrieve its values from a range of cells (such as you might have in your Ingredients table).

To "populate" a Pop-Up Menu simply select cells containing the various values you want in the menu and choose the Pop-Up Menu data format.

Each cell will then have a Data Format that looks something like this:

Drag to reorder the entries if needed, and make any additions/removals or further edits. Then simply copy-paste the cell down the column (select it, type command-c, select the rest of the cells in the column or wherever you want the Pop-Up Menu, type command-v to paste).

SG