Numbers User Guide for Mac
- Welcome
- What’s new
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- Get started with Numbers
- Intro to images, charts, and other objects
- Create a spreadsheet
- Open or close spreadsheets
- Personalize templates
- Use sheets
- Undo or redo changes
- Save your spreadsheet
- Find a spreadsheet
- Delete a spreadsheet
- Print a spreadsheet
- Change the sheet background
- Touch Bar for Numbers
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- Use iCloud with Numbers
- Import an Excel or text file
- Export to Excel or another file format
- Reduce the spreadsheet file size
- Save a large spreadsheet as a package file
- Restore an earlier version of a spreadsheet
- Move a spreadsheet
- Lock a spreadsheet
- Password-protect a spreadsheet
- Create and manage custom templates
- Copyright
Layer, group, and lock objects in Numbers on Mac
You can work with and arrange the objects on a sheet in a number of ways:
Layer (or stack) objects to create the appearance of depth
Group objects to more easily move, resize, or rotate them as a single unit
Lock objects to avoid inadvertently moving, modifying, or deleting them
Layer objects
Drag an object so it overlaps with one or more other objects.
In the Format
sidebar, click the Arrange tab at the top of the sidebar.With the object selected, do one of the following:
Move the object one increment at a time: Click Forward or Backward.
Move an object to the very front or back of the stack: Click Front or Back.
You can select multiple objects to layer them all at once.
Tip: You can open the Arrange controls in a separate window that you can move anywhere. Choose View > Show Arrange Tools (from the View menu at the top of your screen, not from the View menu in the toolbar). You can also add buttons to the toolbar for Forward, Backward, Front, and Back.
Group or ungroup objects
Group objects: Select multiple objects, then Control-click one of the objects and choose Group from the shortcut menu.
Ungroup objects: Control-click the group, then choose Ungroup from the shortcut menu.
Tip: You can add buttons to the toolbar for grouping and ungrouping objects.
Lock or unlock objects
When an object is locked, you can’t move, delete, or modify it in any way until you unlock it.
Click an object to select it or select multiple objects.
Do either of the following:
Lock: Choose Arrange > Lock (from the Arrange menu at the top of your screen).
Unlock: Choose Arrange > Unlock.
Alternatively, select one or more objects. In the Format sidebar, click the Arrange tab, then click Lock or Unlock (near the bottom of the sidebar).
Tip: You can add buttons to the toolbar for locking and unlocking objects.