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MAC NUMBERS: How to?

Not sure how to catagorize this, But here's what Id like to be able to do:


  1. Have a spreadsheet with vendors on the left most header column
  2. have months (12) accross the top header
  3. enter tasks in the month columns for vendors as appropriate.

So far I know how to do this, what I'd like to know is: "is there an easy way to have a master list such as this for the whole year, but have other sheets showing just (say) 1/2 year each. The purpose is to keep the sheet printing to one page per half, using the data from the "master" (full year)sheet, but not needing to copy/paste it.


Not sure if I'm being clear, but thanks for listening. . .

iMac 27″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Mar 30, 2021 3:33 PM

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Question marked as Apple recommended

Yes, very possible.


The absolutely easiest way would be for your other sheets to have an exact copy of the master table then hide the columns you don't want to see on those sheets. Below I made a condensed version with both tables in the same sheet so I could post it here easier.


  1. The formula in cell A1 of Table 1-1 is =Table 1::A1&""
  2. After entering it into cell A1, Copy it, select every cell in the entire table, and Paste
  3. This formula turns everything into text. You may have to justify the text in some cells/rows/columns so it looks like it did in your original table.
  4. Lets say column B was the first half of the year and column C the second half. All you need to do is hide column C and you have a table showing just the first half. I did not do that in the screenshot.
  5. If you want several of these tables, do steps 1-3 then select the entire table, Copy, and Paste it into other sheets.


This is a very simple formula that will provide you a "display" copy of the master table. The copy should not be used for calculations/analysis because the formula turns numbers (and everything else) into text. It all looks the same but they don't always act the same.


There are more clever ways to do what you are requesting but this is a pretty simple way if it does what you need.

Posted on Mar 30, 2021 5:54 PM

3 replies
Question marked as Apple recommended

Mar 30, 2021 5:54 PM in response to ChuckBrotman

Yes, very possible.


The absolutely easiest way would be for your other sheets to have an exact copy of the master table then hide the columns you don't want to see on those sheets. Below I made a condensed version with both tables in the same sheet so I could post it here easier.


  1. The formula in cell A1 of Table 1-1 is =Table 1::A1&""
  2. After entering it into cell A1, Copy it, select every cell in the entire table, and Paste
  3. This formula turns everything into text. You may have to justify the text in some cells/rows/columns so it looks like it did in your original table.
  4. Lets say column B was the first half of the year and column C the second half. All you need to do is hide column C and you have a table showing just the first half. I did not do that in the screenshot.
  5. If you want several of these tables, do steps 1-3 then select the entire table, Copy, and Paste it into other sheets.


This is a very simple formula that will provide you a "display" copy of the master table. The copy should not be used for calculations/analysis because the formula turns numbers (and everything else) into text. It all looks the same but they don't always act the same.


There are more clever ways to do what you are requesting but this is a pretty simple way if it does what you need.

Question marked as Helpful

Mar 31, 2021 6:40 AM in response to ChuckBrotman

The reason for the &"" at the end is to deal with blank cells. If you use =Table 1::A1 without the &"", any blank cells in Table 1 will show up as zeros in the other tables. The &"" at the end causes Numbers to treat the input as text, transferring what is displayed in the cell to the other table. This can change the actual values in cells, though, which is why this method is for display only.


If cell A1 has the value 1.234 in it and you have the cell formatted to one decimal place so it displays as 1.2, the formula =Table 1::A1 will bring over the entire 1.234 formatted the same as the original cell with one decimal place displayed (unless you change the formatting to something else). =Table 1::A1&"" will bring it over as 1.2 formatted as text, the rest of the number will be gone.


If cell A1 has the value 1.234 in it and you created a custom format to display it as the text "greater than one", the formula =Table 1::A1 will bring over the entire 1.234 formatted the same as the original cell but you can format it back to a number and the 1.234 will display. =Table 1::A1&"" will bring it over as "greater than one" formatted as text and the number will be gone.


An alternate formula that brings over the actual values in the cell just like the formula =Table 1::A1 but without turning blanks into zeros is =IF(Table 1::A1="", "" ,Table 1::A1) . This makes a more direct copy of the contents of the table but is not required if all you want is a table for display or printing.

MAC NUMBERS: How to?

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