How do you fix the error "The font .AppleSystemUIFont is missing"

I'm on the "not solving the issue" train. The one spreadsheet I mainly use has a bunch of pages, tables within pages, and a lot of cross-linking, which I don't care to copy and reintegrate. I'll just keep acknowledging the message until Apple fixes Numbers, or OS X, or whatever.

Further to my previous post, and to clarify when copying tables and sheets works to resolve this problem, and when itdoesn't:

Like dpzim, I also have spreadsheets with multiple sheets(pages) and multiple tables within sheets, also with lots of cross linking.

I found that if I created a new spreadsheet and copied & pasted the sheets (and thus all the tables within that sheet) one by one from the faulty spreadsheet to the new spreadsheet, I resolved the font problem.

But this only works if the cross-linking between tables is within a sheet, and not across sheets.

By moving sheets rather than tables, all the cross-links between tables within that sheet are retained. But sadly, this doesn't help if you have cross-linking from a table in one sheet to a table in a second sheet - you can only copy one sheet at a time, and any formula references to cells outside that sheet are resolved to values as part of the paste process.

Thanks, two4five. It really sounds like it is simply a bug in the code that generates an occasional error message that, while mildly irritating, causes no apparent real issues with Numbers.

two4five wrote:

By moving sheets rather than tables, all the cross-links between tables within that sheet are retained. But sadly, this doesn't help if you have cross-linking from a table in one sheet to a table in a second sheet - you can only copy one sheet at a time, and any formula references to cells outside that sheet are resolved to values as part of the paste process.

Exactly my point, thanks for writing up the additional detail.

[SOLUTION]

I had the same issue and have discovered a solution. I noticed that others in this thread also had another issue that I suffered with too, namely tables that had some kind of issue (causing crashes when I tried to delete them, or were unable to be copied, etc). Anyway, all issues are cured by a simple 'export-then-import' cycle as follows:

1. Make a copy of the file you're having issues with
2. [Using the OS X i.e. desktop version of Numbers] Open the file containing the issues
3. Select, File > Export To > Numbers '09
4. Save your Numbers '09 version somewhere temporary for now (like your desktop)
5. Open the temporary Numbers '09 version of your file
6. Hit command-S (i.e. save)
7. Select 'Upgrade' from the dropdown sheet
8. Marvel at the fact that everything is now as it should have been! [Verify this by closing the file and re-opening it, noting there are no more warnings or issues]
9. Finally, once you're happy that everything is fully working with the new (temporary) file, simply delete or overwrite the old original [drag drop onto it if you haven't changed the name].

Numbers '09? Really? I certainly do not have that older version around anymore.

You don't need the Numbers '09 app, just export to and import from that 'format' using the current version of Numbers

To clarify: Step 7 won't happen until you enter data in the spreadsheet (at least that was my experience). That's when the Upgrade option appears.

Thanks!

Thanks for that idea. It works. However, I want to add that Numbers 09 and Numbers 3.x files aren't entirely compatible, especially in the time/duration area. So it might be a good idea to check whether your formulas still work after this. If you have line breaks and tabs inside your formulas, they get stripped. (Also, the file size increases a lot, not sure what's happening there.)

That error message pops up usually after I duplicated a file. And I have the impression that it only affects files that were created as Numbers 09 files originally. But I'm not sure about that...

Anyway, all issues are cured by a simple 'export-then-import' cycle

Yep, export/import in Numbers '09 format did the trick for me. While not the specific fix to the root cause that I was trying to be patient for, it preserved all the weird stuff I do and got rid of the problem without resorting to ignoring it. Thanks, timecode.

fixed my issue - thanks timecode 🙂

Really curious, how did you find this solution? Pretty odd behavior here.

I can't believe this bug hasn't been fixed yet. It's such a silly bug given anybody with the latest version of MacOS has the apple system ui font installed. It's like the wrong error message is being displayed.

I wish Numbers got more attention from Apple. I know there was an update recently, but it feels like an orphaned product.

Michael Loader wrote:

I wish Numbers got more attention from Apple. I know there was an update recently, but it feels like an orphaned product.

It's a silly (but harmless) bug. As for Numbers 3 feeling like an orphaned product I'm not sure where you got that idea! It's incorporated a lot of changes since 3.0. A partial list is here.

SG

Timecode's solution worked for me. Thanks!

And thanks to Linc Davis for redirecting me here.

Only thing is I lost the "date created", this has now changed to the date copied, of course.