Merged cells unmerge after adding row above

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Arnold888 Author

Level 1

4 points

Merged cells unmerge after adding row above

Does anyone else have this problem? Anyone know the solution?

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Merge 2 adjacent cells then merge the 2 below

Set the data format of the top one to 'Number' and type a number in it (which justifies right)

Control-click on the top one and add a row above

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For some reason, as the merged cells with the number move down, the number moves to the left cell because the cells are no longer merged.

On a small example like this you can just merge the cells again. But since updating to Monterey (I think) this has made my bigger spreadsheets unusable.

MacBook Pro

Posted on Dec 7, 2021 9:58 PM

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Answer 1

Barry

Level 9

60,023 points

Dec 8, 2021 12:34 PM in response to Arnold888

What happens if, instead of using control-click on the upper merged cell, then add a row above it, you do this:

(Steps 1 through 4 are the setup steps from Badunit's post above.)

1. Merge two adjacent cells. C5 and D5
2. Merge two adjacent cells below them. C6 and D6
3. Set C5/D5 format to Number and type in a number. it aligns to the right of column D
4. Leave C6/D6 format as Automatic
5. Click a cell in row 4 that is not adjacent to the merged cell in C5/D5 to select that cel, release the mouse button, then press option-down arrow to insert a new row below row 4.

I've not tried this, as the version on Numbers on this machine is significantly older than the one on yours, and may behave differently.

Regards,

Barry

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Answer 2

SGIII

Level 8

37,550 points

Dec 8, 2021 7:35 AM in response to Arnold888

So that makes two of us who can reproduce it (though I didn't get a crash running MacOS 12.0.1).

One more reason to avoid merging cells when the same visual effect can be achieved in other ways.

Merged cells can also cause unexpected results with some formulas.

SG

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Answer 3

SGIII

Level 8

37,550 points

Dec 7, 2021 11:27 PM in response to Arnold888

I can reproduce similar behavior here.

You could report the behavior to Apple via Numbers > Provide Numbers Feedback in your menu.

However, I recommend avoiding merged cells whenever possible.

A similar visual effect can almost always easily be achieved without merging cells.

SG

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Answer 4

Badunit

Level 7

30,456 points

Dec 8, 2021 7:30 AM in response to Arnold888

I can reproduce it

Merge two adjacent cells. C5 and D5
Merge two adjacent cells below them. C6 and D6
Set C5/D5 format to Number and type in a number. it aligns to the right of column D
Leave C6/D6 format as Automatic
Right click on C5/D5 and Add Row Above

The number moves over as if it is in row C. It is unselectable. I tried deleting the content but Numbers crashed instead.

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Answer 5

SGIII

Level 8

37,550 points

Dec 8, 2021 4:04 PM in response to Arnold888

Arnold888 wrote:

my spreadsheets are mostly for presentation of numbers rather than complicated formula sheets

By merging cells you are actually making the tables much more complicated.

For presentation purposes you could consider turning off Wrap Text in Cell and adjust spacing. It's just a little more work.

Tough to tell the difference:

SG

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Answer 6

Arnold888 Author

Level 1

4 points

Dec 8, 2021 7:39 AM in response to SGIII

Maybe there are valid reasons for not using merged cells, but my spreadsheets are mostly for presentation of numbers rather than complicated formula sheets, and this is only a recent change, which suggests a bug to me. I have given feedback to Apple.

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Answer 7

Arnold888 Author

Level 1

4 points

Dec 8, 2021 5:56 PM in response to SGIII

I would agree if you could do that for numbers. You can only do that for numbers if you set the data to text, but then you can't use any formulas. And if you're expanding columns to the width of numbers, you're stuck with a very rigid format. Much easier to set the whole sheet to columns of, say, 0.5cm, giving you a clean slate you could add anything to, anywhere you wanted. That's how it used to be. Well, I guess it still is. The problem comes when you add rows. I have a spreadsheet where I add 20 or so rows at the top and add the current month's figures. I can no longer do that so guess I will have to put the latest figures at the bottom, which means I have to scroll down to get whenever I want to see them.

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