Fast search menu size

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Posted on by Vainius

Hello all,

Is there a solution for larger search menu or any plans to make it scaleable?

Our item codes are quite long and there is a lot of manual input (modular sales items), so the current system would be really nice if the menu was larger.

Our IT partner said it is not possible to do - maybe there are any plans that I did not found about MS increasing it in future potentially? Preferably it would be the size of at least half the screen.

Is there a way to petition for this kind of change or to re-program this function? I already know how to add additional columns, but I cannot move the main basic ones.

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Dynamics 365 Business Central

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Martin Dráb 239,735 Most Valuable Professional on at

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Which D365 app is it about? Business Central?

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Vainius 47 on at

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Yes, it is BC 365.

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Martin Dráb 239,735 Most Valuable Professional on at

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Moved from Integration, Dataverse, and general topics forum to Small and medium business | Business Central, NAV, RMS forum.

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Grigorios Mavrogeorgis 2,544 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hi,

Your partner is mostly correct — the standard BC lookup dropdown cannot really be resized natively because this behaviour comes from the web client UI itself.

However, there is one workaround many users miss.

At the bottom of the lookup dropdown you should see:

“Select from full list”
(in your screenshot: “Pasirinkti iš viso sąrašo”)

This opens the full lookup page instead of the compact dropdown, and it is much easier to work with when you have long item codes or descriptions

Also worth mentioning:

if this is a recurring usability issue, it is technically possible to create a custom lookup page through an AL extension with a different layout or wider fields. So it is not completely impossible — just not supported directly in the standard UI.

You can also check the BC Ideas portal (aka.ms/bcideas) because I have seen similar requests there before. Microsoft does review highly voted usability suggestions for future releases.

✅ Tick the checkbox below to mark the answer as verified, if it helped resolve your question.

Regards

Gregory Mavrogeorgis

Work: GMSOFT Limited
Blog: Inside Business Central
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/gregorymavrogeorgis

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YUN ZHU 101,995 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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As far as I know, this is not possible. If you want it wider, you can select it on the new page that pops up.

For example,

More details:

Dynamics 365 Business Central: How to create a Lookup, Drop-Down, or Option list (Single and Multi select)

https://yzhums.com/5985/

Hope this helps.

Thanks.

ZHU

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Yash_Mistry 512 on at

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Hello,

Yes, you can use the “Select from Full List” option in the dropdown to open the complete list page, allowing you to select the required items from there.

Hope this helps resolve your issue.
If this solution was helpful, please consider marking it as Verified Answer.

Thanks,
Yash Mistry

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Nimsara Jayathilaka. 5,128 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hi

In standard Business Central, it is natively impossible for users or AL developers to customize, resize, or scale the standard Fast Search drop-down menu dimensions, as these specific layout controls are strictly locked and managed by the underlying web client platform core.

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OussamaSabbouh 17,676 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hello,

there is no supported setting/AL property to make that lookup dropdown “half screen” or freely scalable; Microsoft only documents controlling which fields appear in the dropdown through the table fieldgroup(DropDown; ...), and users can resize columns in lists/dropdowns, but not redesign the popup size/layout itself. So your partner is basically right: you can add fields, make hidden fields visible on the underlying lookup page, and resize columns, but you cannot move the standard/base fields or force the dropdown window to a much larger custom size in a supported way. Practical workaround: use Select from full list / lookup page for a larger view, or customize the lookup page/field group so the most useful item identifier appears earlier. For a product change request, use Microsoft Ideas: https://aka.ms/bcideas
Regards,

Oussama Sabbouh

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Vainius 47 on at

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Thank you all for your inputs. I see the need to open full lookup menu as additional time cost when we have to select up to ~20 items per order by hand due to their innate compatibilities/incompatabilities. I will look into the suggestions provided and submit. As it stands our old 2005 local version of NAV was faster and more convenient to use for sales orders...

I will make sure to list his as an idea in the BC portal.

Thank you all!

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Vainius 47 on at

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I will be closing this question as answered, I have also created a ticket for this inquiry.

Microsoft Idea

Thank you all

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