I can no longer paste tab delimited text from Pages into Numbers

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Level 1

12 points

I can no longer paste tab delimited text from Pages into Numbers

I used to be able to do this easily, but in the newest version of Numbers, I can no longer paste tab delimited text from Pages into Numbers. All the text goes into one cell.

Before, if I had created tab delimited text in Pages, I was able to copy that very easily and paste it into Numbers. Each piece of text would go into its own cell. The text in the next tab would go into the next cell. Each lines tabbed text would be one row. At the paragraph mark, a new row would start.

Now, everything is globed into one huge cell. Useless.

I am using iPad Pro, the latest iOS.

[Re-Titled by Host]

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Jun 16, 2018 7:18 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

DaveC1950

Level 1

4 points

Aug 5, 2018 1:09 AM in response to Bart Voorzanger1

I have been experimenting with the problem and found something that works. I have text which is tab-delimited for the cells along a row, returns for the new rows. I found if I click once on the first cell and do command-option-shift-V it will paste each tab-delimited field into a new cell, like it always used to. A dialog box also comes up (from where? - I can't see any menu item or preference item linked to it), asking whether cell data should be comma delimited, tab delimited or other similar options. All of this seems to be undocumented. The functionality is there, but nobody thought of informing us users.

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Answer 2

PTakeshige Author

Level 1

12 points

Aug 9, 2018 1:09 AM in response to PTakeshige

I called Apple here in Japan. This work around only works on a desktop. It will not work on the iPad versions of PAGES and NUMBERS. I have a different workaround for that.

#1

Desktop version

I called APPLE and got passed around to a couple of experts until I got a really senior expert. They seem to know about this as they had a workaround.

First to explain what I have to do. I have to gather some Hindi and English sentences from an online site where I do volunteer work and I need to end up with 3 columns in a spreadsheet format:

#1 A Hindi sentence in its Hindi script,

#2 A Roman alphabet version of that sentence,

#3 A translation into English.

These sentences are all jumbled and I have to edit them in PAGES, putting them into the order listed above.

But they have to finally go into a spreadsheet format and that is why I use a tab between sentence.

Before the latest update I could copy those sentences out of PAGES and paste them into NUMBERS Perfectly.

Each sentence would go in its correct column. But they no longer do that AFTER the update. All of the sentences will be pasted Higley Piggly into one column.

This is what they had me do after the call to the Apple help-desk:

-Edit all the sentences, put in tabs between the sentences where I want the different columns to be.

-Copy all the sentences and paste them into the TEXT EDIT application on the iMac.

-Go to Info for that file and change the file ending from .txt to .csv

-Copy the text in the TEXT EDIT file and paste into NUMBERS.

The 3 sentences will now be pasted into 3 columns in NUMBERS.

#2

iPad workaround

I work on my iPad a lot, so I have tried this with some success:

Edit the sentences as usual in PAGES.

Copy all the sentences and paste them into Google Drive Spreadsheet application.

Again copy all those sentences that are now in DRIVE and paste them into Numbers.

All of the sentences should go in the proper columns.

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Answer 3

Yellowbox

Level 7

21,939 points

Jun 16, 2018 7:29 AM in response to PTakeshige

Hi PTakeshige,

In Pages, select and copy.

In Numbers, click once in a table cell and paste (rows 1,2,3).

Click twice in a table cell and the cursor enters that cell. Then you get what you don't want (row 5).

Regards,

Ian.

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Answer 4

Yellowbox

Level 7

21,939 points

Jul 13, 2018 12:24 AM in response to PTakeshige

Hi PTakeshige,

A clunky workaround. Instead of tabs, separate sentences by paragraph marks.

Select and Copy in Pages.

In Numbers, click once in a cell and Paste

Menu > Table > Transpose Rows and Columns

Tested in Pages 7.1 and Numbers 5.1

Regards,

Ian.

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Answer 5

Jul 14, 2018 4:19 AM in response to Yellowbox

A similar problem occurs in Numbers for OSX, but there at least, after pasting the tabbed text (which is put into one cell as well, unless it contains comma's, which are then used as separators!), you get the option to adjust the way your text is treated: select the tab, deselect the comma, and you get the result you want after all, but with a lot of extra work. There is no option in Preferences to change all that.

I tried Numbers on my iPad, but it is completely useless for now. Apple does get a lot of things right, but this at least is an example of a seriously botched job.

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Answer 6

Aug 7, 2018 9:11 PM in response to DaveC1950

I stumbled on this the other day too.

You have to have the correct content on the clipboard when you paste, to kick off the contextual dialogue box which looks like and behaves like nothing else in Pages/Numbers. I do support and have long had to maintain studios so pay close attention to what I do and how the software reacts, but I am still uncertain exactly what specific arrangement of text and breaks kicks this off. The dialogue box appears to suggest it handles several variations of data deliniation, but I could only get one to bring up the UI. It certainly is not in your face and Apple's awful sometimes-opens Help does not mention any of this.

That is the problem with relying on Contextual User Interface. It is invisible unless you have all the right ducks in a row and then it happens too fast for the user to register what kicked it off and why.

How do you know what the right ducks in a row are with no clues, not the ducks, nor the row?

It is like having to work out the combination for a safe you don't know exists, where it is, where Apple put the tumblers, nor how they work and what they do.

The current programmers on both Mac and iOS really need to go back to Apple's UI guidelines. How about using the software? They don't appear to check their own work (why would you? it's Apple Perfect) so are apparently unaware of just how repeatedly wrong they are getting it.

I have observed that every step that Microsoft takes to improve their User Experience in Windows, Apple takes one or even two to make macOS worse. It will not be long before they cross paths, if they haven't done so already. Apple is living off past goodwill, and depleting it rapidly.

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Answer 7

Jun 19, 2018 6:25 AM in response to PTakeshige

I suffer the same problem in IOS Numbers since last update. And the same happens in Pages tables. It seems to have a change in the software that causes this bug since last update.

Tab delimited items in a list should be pasted in consecutive cells in a row, with a single paste order in the first cell, as it was in previous versions.

Other spreadsheets work fine.

Apple, please, fix it !!!

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Answer 8

Jun 19, 2018 11:14 AM in response to PTakeshige

I have noticed the same problem. My Workflow doesn't work any longer - everything is pasted into one cell. I have tested with some other text separated by tabs - same result, all into one cell. Numbers on macOS still works as expected.

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Answer 9

Jun 16, 2018 7:46 AM in response to PTakeshige

I do not use Pages and Number on iOS devices. I cannot reproduce the problem you are reporting on mac OS.

I created a table with values in Pages. I selected the table, then copied the table

Then I switched to Numbers single clicked a cell, then pasted the data. It pasted properly... one cell in the pages table is placed in the corresponding cell in a Numbers table

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Answer 10

PTakeshige Author

Level 1

12 points

Jul 12, 2018 10:37 PM in response to Wayne Contello

Actually, I do not have a table in Pages. I am not trying to make a table in Pages and then put that into Numbers. What I have is tab delimited text in Pages. Three sentences with tabs in between. I want to copy a bunch of these sentences and then paste them into Numbers so that sentence #1 goes into the first column, sentence #2 goes into the second column and sentence #3 goes into the third column. This worked fine before the update. I can no longer do this. All the sentences go into one column. At the paragraph sign/mark, the next sentence is dumped into the next cell below.

I can not figure out a way to overcome this issue. Even looking at help files at Apple does not help.

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Answer 11

PTakeshige Author

Level 1

12 points

Jun 16, 2018 3:15 PM in response to Yellowbox

Hello

I did not have this problem until the latest update. I think something has changer.

I am typing up language course material for my review that I am studying into this format: FOREIGN WORD/tab/ Roman spelling of word/tab/TRANSLATION/ HIT paragraph for a Flashcard app. It has to be tab delimited text in order to go into the Flashcards app onto the proper “side“of the card. A new card is made after each paragraph mark. The editing is complex and has to be done in Pages or word processing app. Then pasted into Numbers as a final check.

On the iPad, tapping with my finger, it is not possible to tap just once and to get the PASTE command to appear. I have to tap twice. Once to select the cell, the second time to get the PASTE command. This worked before. I could tap twice, the PASTE command would appear, and all the text would go into their separate cells row after row.

Now I either get each row crammed into one cell with 3 tab delimited text segments all in the first cell or in the worst case all the rows crammed into one Cell.

As a test and a workaround to see if my text to be pasted was crippled or not, I tried pa sting it into Google Spreadsheets. It worked FINE. All 24 rows and all the text segments went into their proper Cells. I could copy that and paste it into NUMBERS which seems like a waste of time.

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I can no longer paste tab delimited text from Pages into Numbers

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