How to use Numbers’ keystrokes for cell editing and autofill

The Numbers spreadsheet app puts numeric power into your fingertips, but you might not be aware of some of the most common ways to use the keyboard to your advantage.

When you type in a cell, Numbers automatically presents a list of matching options based on the first characters you type from all other entries in the same column in the table. These three keyboard actions can help work with suggestions:

• Use the down and up arrows to select one of these existing entries, or click in the drop-down list.
• Press the right arrow to accept what you typed and ignore suggestions, otherwise you can accidentally choose a suggestion.
• Press Esc instead of clicking or using the arrow keys to revert the cell’s contents to what it held before you accepted a suggestion.

If you find these suggestions unhelpful or distracting, go to Numbers > Preferences > General and uncheck “Show suggestions when editing table cells.”

Three other useful keyboard shortcuts relate to editing within a cell:

• If you navigate with arrow keys to a cell, press Option-Return to edit the contents of the cell. The insertion point is placed at the end of the cell’s contents.
• Press Return to accept your edits.
• Press Esc to exit the editing mode without applying any of your changes.

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