Forum Discussion
Spurious blank entry at top of a choice column entry
Hello all,
With Sharepoint New Experience, I have created a list with a column, which is of type Choice, and contains a couple of items. When I go back to my list and create a new item, my data item always shows a blank item at the top of the list, which looks a bit, well, daft. Here is a snapshot of it 'in action':
I created the column like this:
I have tried many, many options, also with Chrome and IE11, but I always get the nameless option at the top. It is also the same if I use a drop-down menu; there's a blank entry at the top. There are no extra lines in the 'Type each choice' field.
A google search appears to show that I am the only person in the world with this problem (everybody else appears to want a blank entry. I don't want one!)
What am I doing wrong?
Thanks in advance,
Chris
CuriousCorn I'm having the same issue, just realized it through some users. They are also reporting that when opening an item where there are two choice fields, one goes blank, and in some cases both fields go blank.
Hoping this gets resolved soon.
BTW this is my first time posting a reply.
Thanks for the original.
Adrian
To mitigate the issue in the short term, just select a row and use Edit All which will stop it from jumping when you change a value.
Cheers
Damien
I have now received the final answer on my support case with Microsoft. This has been changed intentionally and is now working by design. The extra blank option is there to stay and will not be removed...….unless many customers want it to change.
The theory on why this extra blank option was added, is to let the user deselect a selection. If no blank option is visible, the user can not deselect an use a blank value. I support his if you allow the field to be empty, but if you do not allow the field to be empty this is just annoying.
I think this extra blank option should be visible if you allow blank values, and NOT be visible if you DO NOT allow blank values.
Any thoughts about this?
This issue appeared in our SPO on 12.11.19 whereas previously the Choice option was not affected. It appears in the Radio Button option and the Drop Down option as a blank line as the top choice. I have not tested against Check Marks.
The experience on the end user make it hard to select an option. The list item will open and immediately close on selection. I'm testing a list within PowerApps to see if I can get it to hide.
Thanks to those who opened a case with Microsoft.
Thanks,
JCrowe
Same issue but in a document library with added columns:
CuriousCorn Getting same issue. IMHO, I think when people had 2+selections, sometimes users would inadvertently select something and you couldn't undo it without deleting the record and re-entering the info. I personally got around by doing something like this: Yes/No/ Not Applicable. I ended up using "Not Applicable" or some other catch all selection in case somebody selected something inadvertently. So I guess Microsoft introduced a "Blank" option in case a user made a mistake. It would be nice if MS told people this ahead of time.
I have a case with Microsoft on this problem. Some other customers have as well. It is now at the product group and they are working on a fix. Guess we will see a solution soon. How long I don't know.
- All, Mine and a few others have reported the issue has been resolved. Don't know if this was intended and undone, or a fix, but either way, hopefully it has also corrected for you guys.
Seems like I am not alone with this issue! I can understand the requirement select a blank entry, but not like this. For me, I specifically don't want the users to enter a blank - I have x pre-defined choices of at least one is valid; 'blank' is not a valid option, as I suppose it is in many other cases.
Well, until this is resolved, I'll have to use another method instead of check boxes and drop-down menus!
Cheerio,
Chris
- Same issue with all my customers tenants (US and Canada)
CuriousCorn I have the same issue too and thought I was the only one as I could find the issue online. I posted here yesterday: https://sharepoint.stackexchange.com/questions/272773/sharepoint-lists-showing-a-blank-option-in-all-choice-fields/
All of my lists have this issue.
- I can see the same in our environment. Does not look great at all when you suddenly have a blank alternative on top of all fields with Choice.
- pretty sure this was an intended change so you can set values back to blank since you couldn’t once you selected an item previously. Not sure I agree with having a blank selection vs just having an x or something by a value. I’ll see if I can get someone from Microsoft to answer “probably after the holidays”.
