Excel File Lookup vs. Excel Data Range <- which to use?

ShowGo_Shane · Post by **ShowGo_Shane** » Aug 6th, ’25, 00:49

Hello, first of all, Thanks for reading this...
I'm trying to set up a FastKeys shortcut that shows a drop-down list of text, which is stored in an Excel file. The goal is to have a single source of list items in an Excel table, that I can update easily, and have FastKeys always displaying the most recent data.
For context, the text would only be about 25 characters row and the # of rows could grow over time.

I’ve looked into both Excel File Lookup and Excel Data Range, but I’m unsure which one fits this best... or if I’m even on the right track with those options.
Can anyone point me in the right direction?

>> if someone has an example, that would be the best. Just a screenshot of your Excel File Lookup/Excel Data Range form.

Thanks in advance for your time.
-Shane

FastKeys: Excel File Lookup
https://tinyurl.com/29v8yfp8

FastKeys: Excel Table & Environment screenshot
https://tinyurl.com/23kj8nwu

Post by **Tom** » Aug 6th, ’25, 19:02

I recommend you checking the video tutorials and see which macro is the best for the task.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvOWaoYZUMk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aWHrAbuDv0

Unfortunately those macros do not support a dropdown selection.

ShowGo_Shane · Post by **ShowGo_Shane** » Aug 8th, ’25, 01:05

@tom, thanks for the reply. I'll check these out over the weekend.

I swear that I've seen this before in FK. It would open up a list within XLS and display as a selection in a FK drop-down list. I must be mis-remembering. Alternative facts, I guess.

Looking at the videos, this is close to what I'm looking for, with some issue;

I'm not able to get a list like this in FK.

Maybe the reason is that my list isn't organized like this, it's a random list, without consistency. So, it would be tough to search for anything (like "eco") is in this example and return all the results I want to select.

Maybe if I search 2 columns and in Col 1 I have any 3 characters, "XXX", then type that in my search. Maybe that would return the entire table. I should try something like that...
...any input?

PS- How do I insert an image on this forum?

screenshot:

https://tinyurl.com/28h777z7

Post by **Tom** » Aug 11th, ’25, 18:22

Currently the lookup only searches for exact entries. We will think if we can improve this in one of the next updates to allow a smart search as well.

If you need to search for the text in a second column, set the "Column No" to 2.