Add text

To add text to a sheet, you can replace placeholder text, or add a text box or shape then type text in them.

Replace placeholder text

If the template has placeholder text that you want to remove, click the text once to select its text box, then press Delete on your keyboard.

Add a text box

  1. Click the Text button in the toolbar.

    A text box is added to your sheet (you can change how the text looks later).

  2. 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.

  3. Type to replace the placeholder text.

  4. 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 Delete 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 color, layer it with other objects, and more. For more information, see Objects overview.

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 color, color 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.

  1. Add a text box to your spreadsheet and change it however you want.

    You can change the font and font size, add a border to the box, and so on.

  2. Select the text box.

  3. 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

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.

  1. Click Text button in the toolbar.

  2. Click the text box, then type your title.

  3. Drag the text box to where you want it.

SEE ALSOUse accents and special charactersChange the font or font sizeApply a paragraph style