Numbers for macOS offers sophisticated options for printing spreadsheets, charts, and other items created in the numerically minded app. In producing this output, you might want to remove page numbers or customize a header or footer with additional detail. Peruse all of the options in Numbers’s menus and inspectors, and you find nothing. Where has Apple hidden it?
In the Print dialog, of course! I don’t know if this is unique, but it’s certainly unusual. In Pages, hover over the top or bottom of the page, and you can modify what appears in headers and footers and control details about size and whether they appear in the Document inspector’s Format tab.
In Numbers, instead, choose File > Print, hover over the top or bottom of any previewed page, and an outline of the header or footer area appears. You can click into any of the three cells, delete the contents, type new text, and format using the Print dialog’s Text inspector at the right of the window.
IDGYou can control Numbers headers and footers only through the Print dialog.
Numbers offers three special items you can add via the Insert menu: Page Number, Page Count, Date & Time. For instance, if you want to have each page numbered with the current number and the count of all pages, you can insert Page Number, type “ of ”, and insert Page Count.
Insert a Date & Time and the current date and time is shown. Click the inserted text, and a small format pop-down menu appears in which you can choose which date and time format you want and pick another date to show than right now.
Use the Print Setup tab at the upper-right corner of the page to increase or reduce the size allocated to the Header or Footer.
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Author: Glenn Fleishman, Senior Contributor
Glenn Fleishman’s most recent books include Take Control of iOS and iPadOS Privacy and Security, Take Control of Calendar and Reminders, and Take Control of Securing Your Mac. In his spare time, he writes about printing and type history. He’s a senior contributor to Macworld, where he writes Mac 911.