Q: How to Use Excel Spreadsheet as Numbers Template
Just bought a MacBook Air 13 with Numbers, and want to use an Excel spreadsheet I have as a template to turn it into a Numbers spreadsheet. I know that my Mac can read the Excel spreadsheet, but have no idea how to turn it into Numbers. Hope someone can provide some direction. If it makes any difference, it is an expense tracking spreadsheet. If there are good pre-made apps that would do that, would like to get pointed to them, too.
I am disappointed to read that Numbers does not have the Excel freeze pane feature, but hope I can get Numbers to do something halfway similar. My "features" needs are sufficiently few that I don't see buying Excel for the Mac just to get that (and I particularly don't want any other of the Office suite programs).
Thanks for some direction!
Posted on Aug 29, 2016 1:49 PM
johnfromplattsmouth wrote:
I know that my Mac can read the Excel spreadsheet, but have no idea how to turn it into Numbers.
Have you tried launching Numbers, choosing File > Open and navigating to the .xls or .xlsx document to open it? Depending on the formulas used, that is successful with many Excel documents.
it is an expense tracking spreadsheet. If there are good pre-made apps that would do that, would like to get pointed to them, too.
In Numbers go to File > New in your menu and choose the 'Personal Budget' template. It is good at tracking expenses and also is a good example of how to put Numbers to work.
Numbers has its own table-centric style and it's best not to just think of it as an Excel clone. Excel 2016 for the Mac, by the way, is excellent too and would be a good choice if you were working with large datasets. For personal projects I think you'll find Numbers has its charms and will make some things easier than what you may have been doing in Excel.
SG
Posted on Aug 29, 2016 5:56 PM


