Add text in Numbers on Mac
To add text to a sheet, you can replace placeholder text, or add a text box or shape, then type text in them.
Tip: If you have a Mac with M1 or later, you can use Writing Tools with Apple Intelligence to summarise selected text with a click, proofread your work, and create different versions of the same text to help you find the right wording and tone. You can also use ChatGPT with Writing Tools to compose and refine text. Select the text you want to refine, Control-click the text, click Writing Tools, then choose an option. To learn more about Apple Intelligence, see the Mac User Guide.
Replace placeholder text
Double-click placeholder text, then type your own.
If the template has placeholder that you want to remove, click the text once to select its text box, then press the Delete key on your keyboard.
Add a text box
Go to the Numbers app
on your Mac.Open a spreadsheet, then click
in the toolbar.A text box is added to your sheet (you can change how the text looks later).
Drag the text box to where you want it.
If you can’t move the box, click outside the box to deselect the text, then click the text once to select its text box.
Type to replace the placeholder text.
By default, the font size automatically changes to fit inside a text box you add using the Text Box button. To manually adjust the font size instead, first select the text box, then choose Format > Shapes and Lines > Reset Text and Object Handles (from the Format menu at the top of your screen). You can also resize the font by making the text box larger or smaller.
To resize the text box, drag the selection handle on the left or right side of the box.
To delete a text box, click it (a blue outline appears around it), then press the Delete key on your keyboard. If the blue outline doesn’t appear, click outside the box to deselect the text, then click the text once to select its text box.
Text boxes are objects that can be modified like most other objects; you can rotate the text box, change its border, fill it with a colour, layer it with other objects and more. See Intro to objects in Numbers on Mac.
Set a default text box for a spreadsheet
Every Numbers template comes with a default text box style, so when you add a text box to a spreadsheet and type text in it, the box and the text use this style. You can modify this default style — change the font, font colour, colour fill and so on — then make it the new default style for the spreadsheet. Your default text box style applies only to the spreadsheet where you create it.
Go to the Numbers app
on your Mac.Open a spreadsheet, add a text box to your spreadsheet, then change it however you want.
You can change the font and font size, add a border to the box and so on.
Click the text box to select it.
Choose Format > Advanced > Set as Default Text Box Appearance (from the Format menu at the top of your screen).
You can change the default text box style whenever you want, and it won’t affect any text boxes already in the spreadsheet.
If you want to apply the same design changes to other text boxes that already exist in the spreadsheet, you can save the default text box style as an object style, then apply the object style to other text boxes.
Add text inside a shape
Double-click the shape to make the insertion point appear, then type your text.
If there’s too much text to display in the shape, a clipping indicator 
appears. To resize the shape, select it, then drag any selection handle until all the text is showing.
You can change the look of text inside the shape just like any other text in your sheet.
Add a title to a sheet
To add a title to a sheet, add a text box and type a title in it.
Go to the Numbers app
on your Mac.Open a spreadsheet, then click
in the toolbar.Click the text box, then type your title.
Drag the text box to where you want it.
To add a caption or label to an object, see Add a caption or title to objects in Numbers on Mac.