Excel data validation bug with nvda

[Mujtaba Merchant]

excel version: 25.7

Operating System:

Edition              Windows 11 Pro

Version             24H2

NVDA Version: 2025.3

 

Issue Description:

Data Validation does not apply to selected cells.

 

Steps to reproduce:

1. Select a range of cells using the Go to dialogue box i.e. CNTRL + G

2. Apply data validation to selected cells i.e. ALT + A + V 

3. Select List and specify the range for the list items and hit enter or tab to the OK button

 

Expected behavior:

Data Validation should have been applied to the cells that were selected for it

 

Actual behavior:

Data Validation is only applied to the first cell in the selection

 

Request the group to kindly validate if they are having the same experience, if yes, I will go ahead and file a bug report on GitHub

 

If there is any solution to resolve this, then a bug report would not be needed. Perhaps it has something to do with the UI settings for Excel under the NVDA Settings that needs attention, we have had that act up on us NVDA users earlier.

 

Sincerely,

 

Mujtaba Merchant

Bangalore | INDIA

Sent from iPhone ®

 

 

[Quentin Christensen]

I just tried this using NVDA 2025.3 and:

Windows 11 (64-bit) Version: 24H2, Build: 26100.6584 

 

Office 365 (64-bit) Version: 16.0.19231.20072 

 

And following your steps it is working for me.

1. Press control+g to open go to

2. Type a range of cells, eg B1:C4

3. Press enter.

4. Press alt+a, v to open data validation

5. Select list.

6. Tab to the edit field and type

1,2,3

7. Press ENTER

8. Move around the range of cells (They are still selected so I can press TAB, or you can use the arrows) - NVDA reports submenu on each of them, and you can press alt+down arrow to open it and choose the value 1, 2 or 3.  Or you can type a value and you'll get an error if it isn't one of the ones in the data validation list.

I'm not quite sure which version of Excel you are using, so maybe it is something different with that version / build?

(Also, do try the usual troubleshooting things - restarting / restarting with add-ons disabled, etc).

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Quentin Christensen

Training and Support Manager

NV Access

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[Sean Randall]

I fail to see how this would be an NVDA issue anyway? None of the shortcuts used are screen reader specific. 

Thanks

Sean

On 25 Sep 2025, at 14:14, Quentin Christensen <que...@nvaccess.org> wrote:



To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/nvaccess.org/d/msgid/nvda-users/CAKsDpFhZDmJA-NRqDb40%3DvsFVTb%3D%3D7bC5hA6WTj9R3aTG_3tHA%40mail.gmail.com.

[Mujtaba Merchant]

Dear Quentin,

 

Thanks for your quick and prompt reply! I apologize for the delay in responding back. I've been testing the Data Validation feature in Excel, and I found that it works perfectly fine when I enter the range directly in the Data Validation dialogue box, like 1, 2, 3. However, the issue arises when I reference a range, whether it's in the same sheet or a different sheet, using the format =Sheet Name!cell range. In this case, the Data Validation only applies to the first cell of the selected range, while the rest of the cells show a dropdown but without any values.

 

Dear Sean,

As an NVDA user, I thought it would be helpful to check with the group to see if others are experiencing the same issue. Interestingly, my sighted colleagues were able to apply Data Validation without any issues using the same sheet and laptop. I've even tried it with a new workbook, and the problem persists.

 

If you're able to apply Data Validation successfully using the same version of Excel and NVDA, I'd appreciate any insights you might have on what could be causing this discrepancy. Perhaps there's something specific I'm missing or a setting that needs adjustment.

 

Thanks again for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you or other group members who might have experienced similar issues.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/nvaccess.org/d/msgid/nvda-users/37D7B25D-3CA6-4525-869C-58A08F7B9FD5%40seanrandall.me.