Making Data Validation List Searchable

Question

I need some help making a data validation list easier to search/use. I have about 600 supplier names in my data validation list and it makes it really tedious to have to scroll down to find the right one in alphabetical order. Is there any way to make the list searchable? Also, if possible to make searchable it needs to be searchable in each individual cell as a new record is added almost every day with the supplier name (selected from the drop down list) and some other information. I have tried a combo box but it doesn't seem to work or I'm not doing it right. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thank you!

Answer 1

Use an ActiveX combo box and make sure the property MatchEntry is either 0 (match first letter) or 1 (match complete word).

Answer 2

Here is an answer to create a custom UserForm which allows you to search a long list of items:

Auto-Complete with only text and not numbers ComboBox Excel VBA

The following answer shows the possible implementation of a custom UserForm for data validation instead of the built-in data validation:

Multiple data validation criterias

So, if you combine the two you should have a working solution. Let me know if you need any further guidance.