How to Validate Power Apps Dropdown Control?

A few weeks back, I got a task to validate my Power Apps dropdown that they aren’t blank. A warning message will display if the dropdown is blank: “Please Select an Item.”

In this Power Apps tutorial, I will explain how to validate Power Apps Dropdown control using a Button. Also, we will see how to validate a Power Apps dropdown using a text label control with a simple scenario.

Validate Power Apps Dropdown Control Using Button

Now, let us validate the Power Apps dropdown control using a button control.

Example:

I have a SharePoint list named Project Tracker. This list contains the below fields.

On my Power Apps screen, I have added an Edit form connected to the above SharePoint list. The form contains a Dropdown control connected to the SharePoint list choice column. The dropdown has 3 choice values:

1. Completed
2. In Progress
3. Not Started

Now, I’ll validate the Power Apps dropdown control. The Button will be visible when a user selects the dropdown value as Completed. Otherwise, the button will be in disable mode, as shown below.

To achieve it, follow the below-mentioned steps:

• Insert an Edit form -> Set its DataSource property to:

'Project Tracker'

Where,

1. ‘Project Tracker’ = SharePoint Online List

• Insert a Button control -> Set its DisplayMode property code like below:

DisplayMode = If(
    drp_ProjectStatus.Selected.Value = "Completed",
    DisplayMode.Edit,
    DisplayMode.Disabled
)

Where,

1. drp_ProjectStatus = Power Apps Dropdown Name
2. “Completed” = SharePoint Choice Field Value

• Save, Publish, and Preview the app. If a user selects the project status as “Completed,” then the button will be in enable mode, as shown below:

Validate Power Apps Dropdown Using Text Label

Now, let’s check how to validate the Power Apps dropdown using a text label control.

Example:

I have a Dropdown control and Text label control. Whenever the user doesn’t select a value from the dropdown menu, it will show me the warning message “Please Select the Manufacturer,” as shown below:

To achieve it, follow the steps below:

• On the Power Apps Screen, insert a Dropdown control -> Set its Items property as:

[
    Blank(),
    "Sony",
    "Samsung",
    "Apple",
    "Tata Motors",
    "Intel"
]

Where,

1. [Blank(), “Sony,” “Samsung,” “Apple,” “Tata Motors,” “Intel”] = Power Apps Dropdown values

• Insert a Text label control and set its Text and Visible properties as shown below.

Text = "Please Select the Manufacturer"

Visible = IsBlank(drp_Manufacturer.Selected.Value)

Where,

1. “Please Select the Manufacturer” = Power Apps text label value
2. IsBlank() = This Power Apps IsBlank() function tests for a blank value or an empty string
3. drp_Manufacturer = Power Apps dropdown value

• Save, Publish, and preview the app. If the dropdown control is empty or blank, a warning message will appear: “Please Select the Manufacturer.” Otherwise, the warning message will not appear.

This is how to validate a Power Apps dropdown control using a text label.

Moreover, you may also like some more Power Apps articles:

• Display SharePoint Person Column in Power Apps Dropdown
• Convert Text box to Dropdown in Power Apps
• Power Apps Dropdown Values Not Showing
• Set Default Value in Power Apps Dropdown Control from SharePoint list
• Sort a Power Apps Dropdown Control

I hope you found this article helpful. This article taught us how to validate a Power Apps Dropdown control using a Button and text label control.

Preeti Sahu

Preeti Sahu is an expert in Power Apps and has over six years of experience working with SharePoint Online and the Power Platform. She is the co-author of Microsoft Power Platform: A Deep Dive book. As a Power Platform developer, she has worked on developing various tools using Power Apps and Power Automate. She also makes Microsoft 365 videos and shares them on YouTube.