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Drop-down list

User interface element

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
1 min read
Source updated April 24, 2026
Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

A drop-down list (DDL), drop-down menu or just drop-down, also known as a drop menu, pull-down list, picklist, is a graphical control element, similar to a list box, that allows the user to choose one value from a list either by clicking or hovering over the menu. When a drop-down list is inactive, it displays a single value. When activated, it displays (drops down) a list of values, from which the user may select one. When the user selects a new value, the control reverts to its inactive state, displaying the selected value. It is often used in the design of graphical user interfaces, including web design.

01Terminology

This type of control is called a "pop-up menu" on the Macintosh platform; however, the term "pop-up menu" is used to refer to context menus in other GUI systems. The Macintosh also has the notion of "pull-down menus". The distinction is that, when the menu is closed, a pop-up menu's title shows the last-selected item while a pull-down menu shows a static title like a menu in the menu bar. Thus, the uses are different, pop-up menus are used to select a single option from a list while pull-down menus are used to issue commands or in cases where multiple options can be selected.

A drop-down list of search suggestions
A drop-down list of search suggestions

02HTML

In web forms, the HTML elements <select> and <option> are used to display a drop-down menu:

<select> <option>option1</option> <option>option2</option> <option>option3</option> </select>
Watch videos about Drop-down listExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Drop-down list”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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Combo box

A combo box is a commonly used graphical user interface widget. Traditionally, it is a combination of a drop-down list or list box and a single-line editable textbox, allowing the user to either type a value directly or select a value from the list.

List box

A list box is a graphical control element that allows the user to select one or more items from a list contained within a static, multiple line text box. The user clicks inside the box on an item to select it, sometimes in combination with the ⇧ Shift or Ctrl in order to make multiple selections.