Auto-fill student data in Numbers on Mac using a formula

In Numbers on my Mac Book Air: I have a Numbers table listing students, divided into Columns where, in order, I have: Surname, First Name, Year, Classroom (so 4 columns). This is a table that lists all the students I see (I work in Student Services in a Primary School).


I've created another sheet where, as I see a student, I add the same details as above, but have an extra column where I add comments after seeing them. What I'm wondering is, can I add a formula to the "Surname" cells so that the other cells automatically fill in with First Name, Year, Classroom (this information taken from the first Sheet)?


MacBook Air, macOS 27.2

Posted on Nov 2, 2026 4:57 PM

Reply
2 replies

Nov 2, 2026 11:29 PM in response to Vaughan Willis

Hi Vaughan,


The XLOOKUP function is your friend.


Enter Dates and Surnames into the blue columns



Formula in C2 of the table "List of Students Seen" is

XLOOKUP($B2,Student list for Term 2 2025::$A,Student list for Term 2 2025::B,"Not Found",0)

Fill down and fill right.


Just in case there is more than one student with the same Surname, identify them as Smith 1 and Smith 2 and so on.


Regards,

Ian.

Auto-fill student data in Numbers on Mac using a formula

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