My forward slash key produces a '+' instead of a ' / '

On your iMac, open system preferences > keyboard > input sources and make sure you're using the US English keyboard. Also take a look at the shortcuts and text tabs to make sure that there isn't a key swap set up. Finally, if you are comfortable doing so, click the 'restore defaults' button on the shortcuts tab to get the keyboard back to where it should be.

MrKanzi wrote:

I come back today and it's working as it should.

I'm surprised by that. My Numbers produces ÷ when I hit slash for a formula. Also see

Divide Symbol In Numbers 3.x looks like a plus

I don't have El Capitan in front of me at the moment but this is how it looks in 10.9…

You need to find the last checkbox to enable the menu item. After that use the menu to show the keyboard viewer which looks like this (it matches your keyboard layout & updates as you press keys)…

Search the System Preferences for 'keyboard viewer', it seems to take me right to that setting.

MrKanzi wrote:

I do have the check box for keyboard viewer and it is checked but can't see keyboard viewer in the menu bar.

For reference here is what the menu looks like on 10.9, yours should be similar with it enabled.

Some older OS's had it under the 'flag icon' of the keyboard selection menu so it may have moved around.

Is this a wireless keyboard? If so, let's try resetting it: system preferences > bluetooth > turn bluetooth off. Also switch off the keyboard. Count to 30 seconds or so (stand up, stretch...)

Turn the keyboard back on, and then restart bluetooth.

The 'hatch' key is probably the 'hash' key (a.k.a octothorpe or pound)…

#

That is alt+3 on UK keyboards.

I'd recommend you try Keyboard viewer when the 'Input source' is in your preferred language. Open the Keyboard tab of System Preferences > Keyboard and enable the option to show the character & keyboard viewer in the menu bar.

Now open the Keyboard viewer from the menu bar & press various modifier keys, you will see the on screen keyboard update & display what the output will be for the other keys. You should be able to find the correct combination by trying various cmd, alt, shift, ctrl combinations etc.

MrKanzi wrote:

a keyboard layout is seen in the preferences window when i select the Input Sources tab.

Exactly what is the name of the layout you see in the Input Sources tab? You should normally only have one, called US or ABC, if you are writing English. If you are writing something else, you should tell us.

Having + in place of / sounds like a French or Belgian keyboard.

MrKanzi wrote:

I'm English and changed my keyboard layout in the Input Sources tab to British.

I think you are perhaps mistaking the ÷ (division) sign for the + sign. Numbers does not use the / sign for division, it converts that key automatically to ÷ when writing formulas. You should get the results for division and not for adding.

"Tom could be right with his last thought, the division icon does look a little like the plus sign but are my new specs so bad???"

Hi MrK'

If this is happening in the formula editor, Tom is definitely correct. Numbers 4 (also Numbers 3) replaces the slash with the division sign ( ÷ ) automatically when / is typed in a formula. It also replace the multiplication operator ( * ) with a multiplication sign ( × ) when typed in a formula. These substitutions should not be made in text entered outside the formula editor.

And your specs are probably as good as those of the many people who have previously asked this question. 😁

Regards,

Barry

PS: On the U.S. (and Canadian English) keyboard layouts, shift-3 is # and option-3 is £. I suspect the two 'pound' sign positions are flipped on the English keyboard.

B

hi Barry,

Do you know of any way to suppress this confusing behaviour? I have used many spreadsheets, all of which do not substitute "/" and "*" and that is exactly the way I like it. Is there an option in Numbers for it to behave in the "conventional" manner?

Thank you.