New Drop-down List

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Request a Feature Report a Bug

Unplanned

Last Updated: 22 Oct 2026 13:36 by ADMIN

Lee

Created on: 25 Apr 2024 12:13

Category: Kendo UI for jQuery

Type: Feature Request

New Drop-down List

Please create a new widget or modify the existing dropdownlist component to allow the user to make more than one selection. The existing multiselect component is not sufficient in that it cannot be modified to look and operate like the dropdown list. This confuses users and makes the controls in a form feel like they came from two different libraries. The major difference is the placement and appearance of the search. In the dropdown list, the search is inside of the list and always 100% width. In the multiselect the search is invisible and inside the selected values box. Our clients are requesting a new tool where the search in the multiselect looks and operates like the search in the dropdownlist and have gone as far as to ask us to ditch Kendo UI for another library.

6 comments

ADMIN

Neli

Posted on: 22 Oct 2026 13:36

Hello Lee,

Please excuse me for misunderstanding your request. I understand the importance of the scenario you described, and I appreciate you taking the time to clarify it.

I’ve reopened the issue so it can be reviewed in the right context. Your comments will help provide clarity of the expected result.

We encourage everyone interested in this request to vote for it and share additional details about their specific use case to help us better understand its relevance and demand.

Regards,
Neli
Progress Telerik

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Lee

Posted on: 22 Oct 2026 13:21

This is not complete. Neli ignored my and Rumen's comments. The issue is that the kendoMultiSelect does not look the same as the dropdown list when search is added. The DropDownTree has nothing to do with this as that is a completely different behavior involving groups of items. In both, the search box should be in the list. Instead, multiselect puts the search in an invisible box in the main area (where the selected values go) and the dropdownlist puts the search in the list.

ADMIN

Neli

Posted on: 22 Oct 2026 07:32

Thank you for your feedback.

The functionality you are requesting is already available. You can achieve it by utilizing the DropDownTree component.

We are closing this item as Completed. If your scenario is not covered by this approach, please share more details, and we will review it again.

Regards,
Neli
Progress Telerik

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ADMIN

Rumen

Posted on: 03 Sep 2026 11:10

Hi Lee,

Thank you for clarifying, and apologies for the earlier misunderstanding. You are not asking for the DropDownList itself to support multiple selection. Your request is for a multiple selection component that presents filtering consistently with the DropDownList, specifically with a visible, full width search field inside the popup rather than inside the selected values area.

As an existing alternative, the DropDownTree can provide a similar experience. It supports filtering directly in the popup and multiple selection through checkboxes:

Filtering:
https://demos.telerik.com/kendo-ui/dropdowntree/client-filtering

Multiple selection:
https://demos.telerik.com/kendo-ui/dropdowntree/checkboxes

The DropDownTree is primarily intended for hierarchical data, so we understand that it is not an exact replacement for a flat MultiSelect. Your request for greater visual and behavioral consistency between the MultiSelect and DropDownList remains valid, and we will keep it available for consideration based on customer interest.

Regards,
Rumen
Progress Telerik

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Lee

Posted on: 27 Aug 2026 13:27

I feel like you misinterpreted what Im asking for based on your response. Im jist asking that the multi select and the dropdown list have their inconsistencies fixed so that they both look and work the same.

ADMIN

Angel Petrov

Posted on: 27 Aug 2026 12:58

Hello,

The dropdownlist is by design a single value component. For multi value the multiselect should be used. If there are custom requirement that the multiselect can not support I suggest opening a support ticket and describing them there. Maybe we can provide some solution that fits the application needs.

Regards,
Angel Petrov
Progress Telerik

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