Add, Edit, or Delete Options in a Drop-Down List

The article provides guidance on managing options within dropdown lists, focusing on adding, editing, and deleting list values. It outlines the navigation to the Employee Fields section for standard and custom list fields. Users can add new options by selecting a list field and typing the desired entry. Editing options involves determining whether changes apply to future selections or historical data. Deletion requires ensuring no employees are assigned to the option, followed by confirmation to archive the option while retaining historical data. The article emphasizes that archived options remain visible in reports if included during report creation. Overall, it serves as a comprehensive resource for effective dropdown list management.

Jul 8, 2026
Knowledge

Title

Article Text

How do I add, edit, and delete an option in a dropdown list?

Purpose: To teach you how to manage your options for list fields.

Table of Contents

Employee fields
Add a new list option
Edit a list option
- Change for future but leave history alone
- Change anywhere it is used, including history
Delete a list option
- What happens in reporting if I delete a list value from a dropdown list?

List values allow you to set up the options available for selections and are sorted alphabetically by default, regardless of the order in which they were entered. To ensure they appear in your desired order, consider prefixing each list value with a number or letter to manage the sequence in which they are displayed.

Employee fields

You can manage options for a list field by navigating to Settings > Employee Fields. The first section includes all standard list fields, and the second section includes all custom list fields.

The following are subscribed fields tied to federal guidelines and regulations, and therefore cannot be added to or changed:

Veteran Status
Ethnicity
EEO Job Category
Workers' Comp Classification

Add a new list option

Select to which list field you would like to add options. Type in your new option and click Add. Next time you update this field on an employee profile, you will see the new option in the field's dropdown list.

There are a few things to note about some of the list fields available on the Employee Fields page:

Employment Status: If you have ACA tracking enabled in your account, you will need to select the ACA status when creating a new employment status. Additionally, you can edit an employment status field to add the FTE (full-time equivalent) for the associated employment status. 1.0 is equal to one full-time worker.
Job Title: If you are located in the United States, you can set up EEO categories for each of your job titles. These categories will show up in the EEO-1 report and the EEO Details report.
Location: When adding new locations, you will need to enter the address details for each location. If a location is remote, you can check the box next to "This location is for remote employees," and you will no longer need to enter address details. Instead, the address will appear as "Remote Location."

You can also add new options when updating a list field on an employee profile. Select Add New Option in the dropdown list and add the new option immediately.

Edit a list option

To edit options for a list field, hover over an option and click on the pencil icon. When editing an option, you will need to determine how the change should occur (see below).

Change for future but leave history alone

If you pick Change for future but leave history alone, the edit will only apply to future changes to the field. Historical data for this option will remain as the previous option.

In the example above, I changed the Customer Success option to Customer Experience under the Department field. Then, I selected Change for future but leave history alone. This setting means the Customer Success option will no longer appear as an option for the Department field. However, if an employee had the Customer Success option selected in the past, the option will remain in the list under the Department field for that employee.

Change anywhere it is used, including history

When editing the list value, determine how the change should occur. If you pick Change anywhere it is used, including history, the edit will apply to future changes and past historical data. Historical data for this list value in this field will change to the new list value.

In the example above, historical data listed as Customer Success will now change to Customer Experience. All future changes to this field will have the Customer Experience option in the list, and the Customer Success option will no longer be in the list.

Delete a list option

Select which list field you would like to delete an option from. Hover your cursor over the option you would like to delete and click on the trash can icon.

If you currently have an employee assigned to this option, you cannot delete it. Instead, you will need to update the employee's information before deleting the option.

If there are no employees assigned to the option, you will need to confirm the deletion. Type Delete and then click Yes, Delete Department. The system will then archive the option, meaning its historical data will remain, but the option will not be available for selection.

If you need to add back the option, enter the original name of the option when adding it to the list field. The system will automatically unarchive the option.

What happens in reporting if I delete an option from a list field?

The system will archive a deleted option, and it will remain in the employee's history on their employee profile. The option will still be visible in reporting if it remains in the history.

When you delete a option from a list field, it is no longer an active option. You can filter the report by the archived option when creating or editing the report, but once you run the report, the option will not show since it is no longer active in the account.

In the example above, I am deleting the UX department. The system will archive it, but it will remain in the history for current and previous employees of the UX department.

I ran a historical report with the Department field included, and the report showed employees who were part of the UX department (archived option) in the past.