Unable to move or navigate a row after a drag attempt

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Level 1

9 points

Unable to move or navigate a row after a drag attempt

What is going on here (I tried moving a row)

The line with left column value 234.2.4.2.4.1.1 was being dragged from below the line with 24.2.4.2.4.1.5. I tried dragging it up, but it didn't drop. Instead, if I click on this row, and I tap the up/down arrows, nothing happens. If I instead tap on one of the other rows, e.g., 234.2.4.2.4 and use the arrow keys, it goes to the other rows but not 234.2.4.2.4.1.1. It seems like the drag/drop is stuck in a transition state. How can I resolve this?

Posted on Dec 13, 2025 6:18 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

SGIII

Level 8

37,550 points

Dec 14, 2025 8:46 AM in response to victor99

victor99 wrote:

OK, but what can you do with it? When this happened, there was no undo. I would have been happy to just delete it. How would I do that? I had no idea it was possible to create a new sheet by dragging. Maybe if I read up on how that is supposed to work.

I had no idea either when I first observed the behavior. There is no substitute for just trying different things to understand what is going on.

I suggest you select a row or rows in a test table and drag them onto the canvas. You'll probably end up with a separate table. (In Numbers, these are called tables, not sheets; sheets are the "tabs" which contain a canvas on which you place tables, charts and other objects.)

Now select the cells in that new table and try dragging them back into the original table. If you do it right they should pop right back into place.

Selecting and dragging moves cells. Selecting and option-dragging copies them.

To delete an unwanted table, click in it, then click the concentric circles "bulls-eye" icon to its upper left and hit the delete key.

If you are new to Numbers be sure to have a look at the User Guide at Help > Numbers Help in your menu.

SG

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Answer 2

victor99 Author

Level 1

9 points

Dec 13, 2025 7:29 PM in response to victor99

I resolved this by reverting to an older saved version, then copy/pasting items from this spreadsheet. I'd still like to know what is going on here. It was acting like the row with 234.2.4.2.4.1.1 was a separate sheet, but displayed on top of the one it was dragged from. If I dragged the = icon, it added more rows. I couldn't figure out anything to do with the circle icon. More importantly, I couldn't simply finish dragging the row to where I wanted it. It was originally after the row with left column 234.2.4.2.4.1.5 (so with last digit 6 - I renamed the 6 to a 1 then tried moving it up - that's when the problem happened).

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Answer 3

SGIII

Level 8

37,550 points

Dec 14, 2025 3:48 AM in response to victor99

From your screenshot you did indeed end up creating a separate table. That easily happens when you drop location is not precise enough. With a little practice you'll find that dragging and dropping gets easer.

SG

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Answer 4

victor99 Author

Level 1

9 points

Dec 14, 2025 7:08 AM in response to SGIII

OK, but what can you do with it? When this happened, there was no undo. I would have been happy to just delete it. How would I do that? I had no idea it was possible to create a new sheet by dragging. Maybe if I read up on how that is supposed to work. I can't picture ever wanting to do that on purpose. Maybe there's a way to disable that feature?

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Answer 5

victor99 Author

Level 1

9 points

Dec 14, 2025 9:40 AM in response to SGIII

I'm not new to Numbers. But I never heard of this feature. I just tried as you suggested, and I was able to move it around and delete it, but I've not been able to merge it with the original table.

For some reason, quite a few of my Numbers documents are now missing. They are not in trash either. Weird - nothing really important, but I lost a spreadsheet I'd been updating several times a day for more than half a year. I'll need to start that again.

The last time I had a significant amount of data simply disappear was when I took an iPad to Guatemala and there was no internet service for a couple weeks. I kept a journal while there in the Notes app or something. When I got back to the world of internet, the documents got synced to nonexistence. Very frustrating.

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