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Can't do sums

Hi everyone,

I've been looking for a solution already weeks ago without any results. I tried to change the Cell format to currency, number, etc: it doesn't work. It doesn't even seem to affect anything. I always get 0 in the sum. Why is that? And also, why are my number on the left and not on the right of their columns like everyone else?!


Thank you so much for your help

MacBook Pro

Posted on Dec 20, 2022 1:36 AM

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Posted on Dec 23, 2022 2:35 PM

There is a way. Change the region for the file to a place that uses 1.23 format, reformat the cells to numeric, change the region back.


  1. File ->Advanced->Language & Region
  2. The language field will start out as System-yourlanguage. Change that to just your language.
  3. Set the region to a place that uses 1.23 format
  4. Select all the cells/columns that need to be reformatted as numbers and reformat into a numeric format.
  5. Change the language field back to what it was, which should be at the top of the list that is presented to you.

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9 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 23, 2022 2:35 PM in response to Lucaborsato

There is a way. Change the region for the file to a place that uses 1.23 format, reformat the cells to numeric, change the region back.


  1. File ->Advanced->Language & Region
  2. The language field will start out as System-yourlanguage. Change that to just your language.
  3. Set the region to a place that uses 1.23 format
  4. Select all the cells/columns that need to be reformatted as numbers and reformat into a numeric format.
  5. Change the language field back to what it was, which should be at the top of the list that is presented to you.

Dec 23, 2022 2:43 PM in response to Badunit

If you need to import more of these files in the future, instead of opening/importing the CSV file do this:

  1. Create a new document and set the region to one with 1.23 format.
  2. In the new document, drop the CSV file from Finder onto the default table (Table 1) and it will import it into that table and hopefully the numbers will be correctly formatted.
  3. You can change the region afterward or work with it like it is.


You might be able to save a "1.23 region" blank document as a template so you can select it vs having to recreate one each time.

Dec 24, 2022 12:22 AM in response to Badunit

That worked as well, many thanks! I was just wondering: when I do this technique the width of the columns is by default which means that the height is unnecessarily big compared to the .csv file that is opened on its own instead of drop & drag. Is there a way to automatically change their size so it's more compact?

I've made a screenshot so what I'm saying is clearer :)

Dec 23, 2022 11:12 AM in response to SGIII

Hi, I downloaded the .csv file from Bandcamp, it's the sales report and it opens as 1.00 7.00 etc. If I would have to rewrite everything as 1,00 7,00 it would take me days... Is there no way around it? Is numbers only made for American people? lol

I installed the American keyboard but the file still opens with "."


Thank you for your answer!

Dec 24, 2022 7:04 AM in response to Lucaborsato

After all that I see a much better way to do the import that does not require any region changing. I wish I'd thought of this first.


When you open the CSV with Numbers, click where it asks about adjusting the table then click on Advanced Settings and put a period for the decimal separator. It will convert the periods in the numbers to commas and correct the problem.


Correcting an already imported CSV still requires the originally posted bunch of steps.

Can't do sums

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