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Regarding Excel in window and number in Mac OS shortcuts and differences to operate in speed sheet and tables

I need to know the differences in operations Excel of Ms windows and numbers in Mac OS and operations of tables/ spread sheet / ..... like filter options finding data in tables sorting them. I need guide regarding operations of Numbers app in manner of handling data.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.14

Posted on May 28, 2021 11:14 PM

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Posted on May 29, 2021 4:58 AM

That is a tall order. I am not aware of any document that describes all the differences and similarities item by item. But there is a Numbers User's Guide online:


https://support.apple.com/guide/numbers/welcome/mac



A few differences are

  • Numbers is not a "clone" of Excel. It is a very different application and is not intended for collaborating with others who use Excel. It will import Excel files and export to Excel format but the file will get reformatted in the process.
  • Excel can handle much larger spreadsheets. Numbers will slow to a crawl with large spreadsheets. Excel also has some powerful features numbers does not have, if you are a power user not a causal user.
  • Excel has monolithic worksheets, the entire "sheet" is a grid of cells that goes on and on. Numbers uses smaller tables placed on a blank "sheet". I much prefer the Numbers way because you can change row and column sizes of the different tables separately and arrange them however you like on the sheet.
  • They share a lot of the same functions but not all. When importing and exporting from/to Excel, some formulas may get dropped (replaced with their current value), some features may get dropped, and some things may get formatted differently.
  • Numbers does not run on Windows.
  • Numbers is its own world. It is a proprietary format that only Apple supports. I am not aware of any other non-iWork app that will import a Numbers file. Excel files can be opened in several/many other apps from different sources.
  • Excel is very old-school. It is still very much like the spreadsheet it was 30 years ago. That is good for backward compatibility (which is important) but it looks and feels ancient.
2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 29, 2021 4:58 AM in response to Poojapooja

That is a tall order. I am not aware of any document that describes all the differences and similarities item by item. But there is a Numbers User's Guide online:


https://support.apple.com/guide/numbers/welcome/mac



A few differences are

  • Numbers is not a "clone" of Excel. It is a very different application and is not intended for collaborating with others who use Excel. It will import Excel files and export to Excel format but the file will get reformatted in the process.
  • Excel can handle much larger spreadsheets. Numbers will slow to a crawl with large spreadsheets. Excel also has some powerful features numbers does not have, if you are a power user not a causal user.
  • Excel has monolithic worksheets, the entire "sheet" is a grid of cells that goes on and on. Numbers uses smaller tables placed on a blank "sheet". I much prefer the Numbers way because you can change row and column sizes of the different tables separately and arrange them however you like on the sheet.
  • They share a lot of the same functions but not all. When importing and exporting from/to Excel, some formulas may get dropped (replaced with their current value), some features may get dropped, and some things may get formatted differently.
  • Numbers does not run on Windows.
  • Numbers is its own world. It is a proprietary format that only Apple supports. I am not aware of any other non-iWork app that will import a Numbers file. Excel files can be opened in several/many other apps from different sources.
  • Excel is very old-school. It is still very much like the spreadsheet it was 30 years ago. That is good for backward compatibility (which is important) but it looks and feels ancient.

May 29, 2021 8:47 AM in response to Poojapooja

Poojapooja wrote:

filter options finding data in tables sorting them.


Filtering and sorting are similar in the two apps.


Some other miscellaneous thoughts.


Numbers does not have Pivot Tables (highly useful for working with a lot of data!) but it does have a powerful feature called Categories, which is similar in some respects to Excel's Subtotals.


The latest versions of Numbers can handle much larger datasets than they could in the past, but Excel is still the spreadsheet tool of choice for very large datasets.


Numbers does not support most so-called "array functions" though workarounds (often less compact but still efficient) are usually possible.


Numbers gives you more assistance than Excel in entering formulas.


Excel can be scripted with VBA. Numbers can be scripted with AppleScript or Javascript for Automation.


Both apps sync well with their iPad versions. Excel is better for online collaboration though Numbers can do that too.


You can lock down parts of an Excel document so other users can't make changes there. Not really possible in Numbers.


SG

Regarding Excel in window and number in Mac OS shortcuts and differences to operate in speed sheet and tables

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