'enter' key moves highlighted cell location

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Level 1

66 points

'enter' key moves highlighted cell location

OK, this might seem like the most trivial question but a search doesn't return any postings about this....

When I type a number (data) into a cell and hit the 'enter' key, the selected cell moves down to the one immediately below the cell that I just entered a number into. Is there an option to keep the selected cell as the one that I just entered data into?

mini, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Mar 18, 2009 7:00 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

PeterBreis0807

Level 8

41,241 points

Mar 18, 2009 8:37 PM in response to James Merwin

see p73 +Adding and Editing Table Cell Values+ of the Numbers09_UserGuide.pdf downloadable from under the Help Menu.

" *Adding and Editing Table Cell Values*
You can add, change, and delete the content in cells.

*Here are ways to add and edit values:*

• If the cell is empty, select it and then type a value. “ Selecting a Table Cell” on page 51 describes how to select cells.

• To replace specific content already in the cell, select the cell and then select what you want to replace by double-clicking; hold down the Shift key and select more content if you want to replace more. Type to replace the selected content.

•To replace everything in the cell, select the cell and then begin typing.

If “Return key moves to next cell” isn’t selected in the Table inspector, you can also
select the cell and then press Return or Enter, which selects everything in the cell, and
then start typing. "

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Answer 2

Badunit

Level 7

30,588 points

Mar 18, 2009 9:41 PM in response to Badunit

Command-Return is the "shortcut" listed in Help/Keyboard Shortcuts to do what you are asking. After trying a more few combinations after my last post (control-return also seems to work), I decided to look and see if it had anything listed and it did.

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Answer 3

Badunit

Level 7

30,588 points

Mar 18, 2009 9:12 PM in response to James Merwin

I am guessing you would like to enter a number in a cell and have the rest of the spreadsheet update using that value, then do it again with another value, etc. but what you are seeing is that you need to hit enter/return for the change to take and it has the undesired side effect of moving you to another cell.

Try Shift ENTER. (not shift return)

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Answer 4

James Merwin Author

Level 1

66 points

Mar 18, 2009 7:46 PM in response to Badunit

I tried that earlier and it didn't do what I was hoping it might. All it did was allow multi-line entry into a cell. When that box is checked in the Inspector, both 'return' and 'enter' keys enter the data into the cell and move the selected cell to the one below. When it's deselected in Inspector, the 'enter' key allows multi-line cell entry but the 'enter' key still behaves as before... enters the data and moves the selected cell to the one below. What I'm trying to accomplish is simply keeping the selected cell as the one that I just entered the data into.

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Answer 5

Badunit

Level 7

30,588 points

Mar 19, 2009 6:41 AM in response to James Merwin

James Merwin wrote:
SHIFT ENTER works. No other keyboard shortcut does and I think I tried them all.

Strange that the others don't work too. I've tried command-return, control-return, and shift-enter and they all seem to do the same thing for me. I've tried it on two different computers (one iMac, one Mac Pro).

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Answer 6

James Merwin Author

Level 1

66 points

Mar 19, 2009 6:26 AM in response to Badunit

SHIFT ENTER works. No other keyboard shortcut does and I think I tried them all. Thanks everyone. Frankly, I think this should be the default mode instead of requiring a key combination. It would distinguish the functionality of the ENTER key from the RETURN key.

Message was edited by: James Merwin

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Answer 7

Badunit

Level 7

30,588 points

Mar 18, 2009 7:40 PM in response to James Merwin

Open up the Inspector. In the Table Inspector is a checkbox for how the Return key works. If you change it from the default, Return will put a carriage return in the cell when you hit it. If that's what you are looking to do, try Option-Return to do that (versus changing the default action of the key).

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Answer 8

Barry

Level 9

60,023 points

Mar 19, 2009 3:42 PM in response to James Merwin

"SHIFT ENTER works. No other keyboard shortcut does and I think I tried them all. Thanks everyone. Frankly, I think this should be the default mode instead of requiring a key combination. It would distinguish the functionality of the ENTER key from the RETURN key."

As a long time AppleWorks user, I agree. Time to "Provide Numbers Feedback" (in the Numbers menu).

Regards,
Barry

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