Collaborate on a shared spreadsheet in Numbers on iPad
Whether you’re the owner of a shared spreadsheet or you’ve been invited to collaborate, after you open the spreadsheet, you can see the changes made by others in real time, quickly jump to where people are editing, and more.
Accept an invitation to collaborate
When you tap a link to a shared spreadsheet, where the shared spreadsheet opens (for example, in Numbers on iPad or Preview) depends on a number of factors, such as the access and permission set by the owner, the version of Numbers and iPadOS installed on your device and whether you’re using iCloud Drive.
Before you open the invitation link, make sure your device meets the minimum system requirements for collaborating.
Tap the link in the email, message or post you received, then follow any instructions that appear.
If the email address or phone number used to invite you isn’t associated with your Apple ID, you can follow the instructions that appear to add that email or phone number to your Apple ID.
Note: If you don’t want to associate another email address with your Apple ID, you could instead ask the owner of the shared spreadsheet to invite you again using an email address or phone number that’s already associated with your Apple ID.
Collaborate on a shared spreadsheet
Open the shared spreadsheet.
Tap Recent at the bottom of the spreadsheet manager to see all shared spreadsheets and find the one you want. If you can’t find the shared spreadsheet, tap the link in the invitation you received, and if asked, sign in with Apple ID.
If you can’t open the spreadsheet, see Accept an invitation to collaborate.
Edit the spreadsheet.
Edits you and others make to the spreadsheet appear in real time. Cursors and selections of text and objects appear in different colours to indicate where others are currently editing.
If there are conflicts, a dialogue appears and you can choose the version you want to keep. If you keep more than one, the most recent remains the shared version.
Edit while offline
If the Collaboration button changes to a cloud with a diagonal line through it, your device is offline.
You can continue to work on the spreadsheet and the next time you’re online, changes are uploaded to iCloud automatically.
After you reconnect, you can see the latest activity in the shared spreadsheet.
Here are a few things to keep in mind while editing a shared spreadsheet when you’re offline:
If you’re not sure whether your changes have synced, you can check their status. In the spreadsheet manager, tap
in the top-right corner of the screen.If other participants who are online delete objects or sheets that you’re editing, the edits you made to those objects are no longer in the spreadsheet when you go back online.
To learn more, see the Apple Support article About collaboration for Pages, Numbers and Keynote.
Opt out of a shared spreadsheet
If you no longer want to have access to a spreadsheet that was shared with you, you can remove yourself from the participant list.
In a shared spreadsheet, do one of the following:
If the spreadsheet is open: Tap
in the toolbar, then tap Manage Shared Spreadsheet.If the spreadsheet is closed: In the spreadsheet manager or Files app, open the Numbers folder in iCloud Drive. Touch and hold on the spreadsheet then tap Manage Shared File.
In the participant list, tap your name, then tap Remove Me. You’ll see an alert confirming you want to remove yourself.
Tap Continue to confirm.
Removing your name from the participant list removes the spreadsheet from your iCloud Drive. If you later want to access the spreadsheet again, you can use the original link to open it.
Note: Not all Numbers features are available for a spreadsheet that’s shared with others. See the Apple Support article About collaboration for Pages, Numbers and Keynote.