See the latest activity in a shared spreadsheet in Numbers on Mac
You can easily get updates on what’s happened in a shared spreadsheet. The activity list captures when anyone you’ve invited to your spreadsheet does any of the following:
Makes edits, including adding, editing, resizing, moving, and pasting (but not style changes).
Adds comments and replies to comments.
Joins a collaborative spreadsheet for the first time.
Manages the spreadsheet, like changing the password or restoring a spreadsheet.
You can also get notifications about different activities.
View activity in a shared spreadsheet
You can view a list of activities for a shared spreadsheet, so you can see what’s happened since the last time you visited the spreadsheet.
In a shared spreadsheet, do one of the following:
Choose View > Show Activity Pane (from the View menu at the top of your screen).
If you don’t see this option, you may need to exit a mode or close a sidebar.
Click
in the toolbar, then click the Show All Activity button.A detailed list of changes appears in a sidebar. The most recent edits and comments appear first. Activities related to people joining or managing the file are listed at the bottom.
Do any of the following in the Activity sidebar on the left side of the screen:
Click the disclosure arrow to see more detailed changes, such as edits made by one participant in several different places.
Click a highlighted activity to show where the change was made and to mark all new updates as read.
Tip: To see a quick activity summary when you open a shared spreadsheet, click
in the toolbar, then view recent updates under Latest Activity. If nothing has changed since your last visit, a message lets you know that you’re all caught up.To close the Activity sidebar, do one of the following:
Click
, then click the Hide All Activity button.Select View > Hide Activity Pane.
Drag the right edge of the Activity sidebar to the left until it disappears.
Here are some things to keep in mind:
The activity list includes activities made in the spreadsheet within at least the last 30 days, including your own. It highlights only the latest activities by others.
Newly added participants can see the entire collaboration history in the activity list (going back at least 30 days).
In a public spreadsheet (a spreadsheet with access set to “Anyone with the link” and permission set to “Can make changes”), participants marked “Guest” in the activity list and in notifications haven’t signed in to iCloud.
Any comments attributed to “Somebody” were made by participants who made their comments and then opted out of the spreadsheet.
See participants at work in the spreadsheet
You can see what participants in a shared spreadsheet are doing in real time. In the spreadsheet, each participant appears as a cursor or highlight in a specific color, which matches the color next to their name in the participant list.
To see what participants are doing in real time:
In a shared spreadsheet, click
in the toolbar.Do any of the following:
Follow someone’s edits: In the participant list, click on a participant’s name to jump to where they are working in the spreadsheet.
Show or hide activity (cursors or selections in different colors): Click Activity Settings below the participant list, then select or deselect the checkbox next to “Show participant cursors.” You can also choose View > Show Participant Cursors or View > Hide Participant Cursors (from the View menu at the top of your screen).
A number next to indicates how many participants (not including you) have the spreadsheet open.
Manage activity notifications
When you collaborate on a shared spreadsheet, you can choose to be notified when someone joins, edits, or comments on the spreadsheet.
In a shared spreadsheet, do one of the following:
Choose File > Activity Settings (from the File menu at the top of your screen).
Click
in the toolbar, then click Activity Settings.
Turn notifications on or off to see when someone joins, edits, or comments.
You can also show or hide participant cursors and activity highlights.
Click Done.
If you aren’t getting notifications, you may need to allow notifications for the Numbers app:
macOS Ventura 13 or later: Choose Apple menu
> System Settings, click Notifications. (You may need to scroll down.) Click Numbers on the right, then turn on Allow notifications.macOS 12 or earlier: Choose Apple menu
> System Preferences, click Notifications & Focus, then click Notifications. Click Numbers in the list on the left, then turn on Allow Notifications.