Choices (multi-select)

What it is

A Choices column lets a user select more than one option from a list. On the form you open the control, tick the options you want in the flyout, and each selected option appears as a pill that you can remove again.

In a grid or view the selected labels appear as one text value, separated by semicolons. Behind the scenes Dataverse stores the selected option values together in one column, not as separate rows.

When to use it

Use it for a short list of non-exclusive tags, such as supported platforms or skills, where a separate table would be too much.

If exactly one value is allowed, use Choice. If you need to report on or relate to each value (counts, owners, dates per value), model a table and a many-to-many relationship instead.

Licensing and configuration

No extra licence. Create a column with the data type Choices in the table designer, or set Selecting multiple choices is allowed on a choice, and add it to the form in the form designer. Options can be local or global. Microsoft Learn states that only 150 options can be selected for a single column, and that a default value cannot be set.

Pitfalls

• The column has no default value, so business rules or form scripts must fill it if you need one.
• Filtering and grouping on a multi-select column behave differently from a single choice. Test the views and charts you plan to rely on.
• The choice hidden property does not apply to multi-select choices.
• Exports and flows see the semicolon-separated labels or an array of values, so downstream logic must split them.

Try it in the demo

1. Open the first accelerator and find Choices (picklist) and Choices (text) in the Controls tab. Both edit the same column.
2. Open the flyout, tick one more platform and watch the pill appear.
3. Remove a pill with its X.
4. Go back to the accelerator list and see the same column as semicolon-separated text.