Add checkboxes and other controls in Numbers for iCloud
You can add checkboxes, star ratings, or other interactive controls to cells. You might want to do this to see how changes in a cell’s data impacts formulas, charts, or your data overall.
For example, star ratings are useful for ranking items in a list which can then be sorted, and sliders can help you see how possible variations in data effect a particular calculation.
Add checkboxes or star ratings
You can add checkboxes to cells to create checklists. A cell with a checkbox has a numerical value of either 1 or “true” (selected) or 0 or “false” (unselected), so you can refer to checkbox cells in formulas that require numeric or Boolean (true or false) values.
You can also add a zero to five star ratings to a cell. If you use a star rating in a formula, the rating is interpreted as its numerical value (0 to 5).
Select an empty cell or range of empty cells.
Click Data at the top of the Format sidebar on the right, then click the Data Format pop-up menu and choose Checkbox or Star Rating.
Do one of the following:
Add a checkmark to a checkbox: Click the cell.
Set a star rating: Click a cell, then type the number of stars (0 to 5) you want to display.
Add pop-up menus
You can add a pop-up menu to a cell, then specify the options that appear in the pop-up menu. If the menu options are numeric values, such as dates or durations, you can create formulas that refer to pop-up menu cells.
Select a cell or range of cells.
If the cells already contain values, those become options in the pop-up menu.
Click Data at the top of the Format sidebar on the right, then click the Data Format pop-up menu and choose Pop-Up Menu.
Depending on what's in the cells you selected, the following pop-up menu items are created:
All cells are empty: Placeholder options (“Item 1,” for example).
Numbers or text: The actual values (or results of formulas) or text.
Checkboxes: The checkbox state is added as text, “true” for checked, or “false” for unchecked.
Star ratings: Numeric equivalents for the star rating, from 0 to 5.
Repeated values: A single pop-up menu option.
To edit any of the options in the pop-up menu, double-click it in the Data sidebar.
To add another option to the pop-up menu, click the Add button (it looks like a plus sign) below the pop-up item list.
Specify what should appear in the cell if no option has been chosen from the pop-up menu:
Leave the cell blank: From the pop-up menu, choose “Start with Blank.”
Display the first item in the pop-up menu: From the pop-up menu, choose Start with First Item.
Delete an item: Click the item, then click the Delete button (it looks like a minus sign).
Add sliders or steppers
You can add a slider or stepper to a cell to allow you to vary the value in the cell and see how the variation affects formulas or charts. You specify the range of variation and the slider increment for the cells’ values.
Select a cell or a range of cells.
Click Data at the top of the Format sidebar on the right, then click the Data Format pop-up menu and choose Slider or Stepper.
Do any of the following:
Set the value displayed at the start of the slider’s or stepper’s range: Enter a value in the Minimum field.
Set the value displayed at the end of the slider’s or stepper’s range: Enter a value in the Maximum field.
Set the number of units between each stopping point on the slider or stepper: Enter a value in the Increment field.
Format the cell content as a number, currency, percentage, fraction, or scientific: Choose an option from the Format pop-up menu.