Can't download Numbers - Catalina 10.15.5

Hi there,

Numbers is available to install through App Store.

Your App Store application should show it available to download.

Don't worry, if you need accounting software there are alternatives which might be more secure. I've just lost nearly fifteen years of Numbers for some reason but luckily I have online banking software from my bank so I have data since 2017 to be going on with. The danger with Numbers is it's on your computer Hard Disk, in your Dock, in your phone, in the iCloud Desktop, on your Desktop and you have to remember the pathways of all your documents so if you delete or move one and then delete it, it's gone from everywhere. My Desktop was untidy, so I created a new folder and put everything on my desktop in it including the last two years of Numbers data. I could still open the Numbers spreadsheets from the Dock and iCloud. I inadvertently deleted the Desktop folder as it was 99% temporary stuff and out went the Numbers including Numbers going back to 2007 (not sure why they were included). I've still got some Numbers from 2016 to 2019.

Ewan Lamont wrote:

I've just lost nearly fifteen years of Numbers for some reason...

My Desktop was untidy, so I created a new folder and put everything on my desktop in it including the last two years of Numbers data....

I inadvertently deleted the Desktop folder.

You are condemning Numbers for not being secure when the problem was you deleted your own file? That is the definition of user error. I agree that having everything accessible from all your devices makes it awfully easy to inadvertently delete things from "everywhere" when you thought you were just clearing things off your phone, for instance. But, in the case you described above, you created the file on your computer, you moved the file into a folder on your computer's desktop, and then you deleted the folder from your computer's desktop.

You did not mention if you emptied the trash. Maybe it is still in the trash and you can put it back on your desktop.

One thing to note in all this is that OS X is smart enough to track files when you move them around. After moving the file, the reason you were still able to open it "from the dock and iCloud" without getting a "file missing" error is that OS X tracks where you moved it. In the past, you would have had to track it down yourself, cursing all the while that you don't remember where you put it and why doesn't the computer keep track of it.

Also, backups are a real and necessary thing. You should be making frequent backups of your files. For critical files, I make copies and save them separately (I add a date to the filename so I know when it was). I do that just in case the main file gets corrupted. For really critical files, I may "print" a PDF of them or actually print a real hard copy for my file cabinet. For irreplaceable files, I have off-site storage (in case of fire or theft) in addition to my other measures. With Numbers and Pages files I sometimes export to Excel and Word, just to have a version that is compatible with more mainstream software, just in case.

OK, clever Apple. So where are things? When you create an alias shouldn't deleting the alias just be that? You delete the alias. I had an alias for my spreadsheets on the Desktop; Numbers is on the Hard Disk. I am sick of it and now don't need it but I have found a version of most of my older spreadsheets on my external Hard Drive but there have been problems accessing that with the Catalina update although luckily I have not lost access as it seemed I had a few weeks ago.

Now I don't know where stuff really is.

If a file is on your hard drive and you right click on it to "Make Alias", the alias made that way can be deleted without the file being deleted.

I don't use iCloud for my documents so I cannot speak with authority about it. I assume if the "alias" was made as described above the same rules would apply. But I also understand that a "file" you see on your computer is a local copy of (or a pointer to) the file on iCloud and is treated as one and the same file. It is not an alias. You delete the file on your computer and it gets deleted from iCloud. You delete the file from iCloud and it gets deleted from your computer.

Any chance that Numbers is already installed (maybe by old iLife, a non-App Store source or another user)?

Could you please check in Finder > Go > Go to Folder > Type: /Applications and search if Numbers exists.

If so, try to move it on Bin and check if you are able to download it from App Store.

Regards,

Kostas

Try signing out of the App Store then signing back in.

App Store > Store (Menu) > Sign Out

Then:

App Store > Store (Menu) > Sign In