Numbers User Guide for Mac
- Welcome
- What’s new
-
- Get started with Numbers
- Intro to images, charts and other objects
- Create a spreadsheet
- Open or close spreadsheets
- Personalise 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
-
- 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

Add objects to cells in Numbers on Mac
You can paste images, shapes, lines, charts and equations into table cells. When you paste an object into a cell, it’s added as an image fill (background) in the cell. You can change how the object fills the cell, or add text that appears in front of the object.
Note: If you paste a shape that contains text, only the text is pasted into the cell.
Add an object to a cell
Go to the Numbers app
on your Mac.
Open a spreadsheet, select an object in your spreadsheet (or another document), then choose Edit > Copy or Edit > Cut (cut removes it from its original location).
Click the cell where you want to add the object.
Choose Edit > Paste.
You can add text to a cell after you add an object to it, but you may not be able to arrange the text with the object exactly as you like.
Resize an object in a cell
By default, Numbers scales the object to fit in the cell, but you can adjust the size.
Go to the Numbers app
on your Mac.
Open a spreadsheet, click the cell, then click the Cell tab in the Format
sidebar.
Click the disclosure arrow next to Fill.
Click the “Scale to Fit” pop-up menu and choose another option.
Delete an object from a cell
If a cell contains both text and an object, you can delete the object without deleting the text.
Go to the Numbers app
on your Mac.
Open a spreadsheet, click the cell, then click the Cell tab in the Format
sidebar.
Click the disclosure arrow next to Fill.
Click the Image Fill pop-up menu and choose No Fill.
You can also add tickboxes, star ratings, sliders and pop-up menus to table cells. See Add tickboxes and other controls to cells.