Simple additions in Mac Numbers

[evennewerbie]

Getting desperate having spent hours every day for days to do this simple thing.

New to Numbers but at first it seemed to go well and looked good.

Having created a table for finances I want to do the simple thing of just adding up a column!!

As far as I can make out I did everything below and then everything a bit like below in 100 different orders of execution.

I select a column, I select a cell for the result, sometimes the system selects the cell by itself. I select + in toolbar and then SUM.Nothing happens. Or sometimes the right formula appears SUM E2:E26. This is correct and does not include the result cell. I click the green tick which seems to be the only thing you can do and nothing happens. Sometimes the formula appears below the table, it is nothing that responds to clicking on. Also tried putting the formula in manually myself. I have never got that sum of my column or anything.

What am I probably doing wrong?

Below are the instructions I am trying to follow.

Quickly sum, average, or count a range of cells
You can quickly find the sum, average, minimum, maximum, count, or product of a range of cells.

1. Do one of the following:
   
   • Select the range of cells you want to include in your formula. Numbers chooses a result cell based on your selection.
     
     
   • Select a cell to display the result of the formula. You can’t insert a formula in a header cell.
     
2. Click
   
   in the toolbar, then choose a formula.
   
   
3. If you want to change the range of cells, double-click the result cell. The cells used in the formula are highlighted, and the formula editor appears. Do any of the following:
   
   • Resize the selection of cells: Drag the colored dot in the top-left or bottom-right corner of the range of selected cells.
     
     
   • Move the selection: Click the range of selected cells, then drag up or down to change which rows are used, or drag right or left to change which columns are used. Moving the selection doesn’t change the number of cells selected.
     
     CAUTION: Make sure the selection doesn’t include the result cell—this causes an error in the cell.
     
4. Click
   
   to save your changes.
   
   If you click
   
   , you exit the formula editor without saving your changes.
   

 

[Lufbrarunner]

Enter =sum(E2:E26) into the required cell.

 

[evennewerbie]

Enter =sum(E2:E26) into the required cell.

I had done that before and I now have done it again several times and all that happens whether I press the green tick or Return all it gives me is 0 In the cell which is wrong.

 

[Lufbrarunner]

It works for me. I just put some data into cells E2 down To E26 the clicked into E27 and typed =SUM(E2:E26) and hit return, Voila.

I don't usually use Numbers, I prefer Excel.

 

[evennewerbie]

I just created a new table separately for experiment, I put a few numbers in a column, I pressed + and SUM without even troubling to specify rows ( which was what I was hoping to do without having to remember the formula) and it added them up correctly. I returned to my financial sheet, did the same thing again, the result was always 0. Previously there were gaps, cells with no numbers in the column. In case this was the problem I had to filled them up with a 0 in each cell but it made no difference.

Know that we know this can work even in my hands, what could be the problem?

 

[Lufbrarunner]

The problem may lie in another area of your spreadsheet.

 

[evennewerbie]

Yes. The question would then be what can commonly happen that makes it behaving like this?

The table was created relatively slowly, having to chase up all the data. Now it is all there I could in a relatively short time make another one from scratch. But as a general thing creating tables and then recreating them is not what you want to have to do it with a software.

 

[indago]

Quite simple: put some numbers into a column: like 20 into D5, D6, D7, D8. That totals 80. Then, select a cell that you want the total to appear in, and go to the menu and select INSERT and scroll down to FORMULA and select SUM. A formula will appear, and where it says VALUE, enter D5:58 and hit the RETURN key twice. The number 80 will appear in the cell that you had selected.

 

[honestone]

Quite simple: put some numbers into a column: like 20 into D5, D6, D7, D8. That totals 80. Then, select a cell that you want the total to appear in, and go to the menu and select INSERT and scroll down to FORMULA and select SUM. A formula will appear, and where it says VALUE, enter D5:58 and hit the RETURN key twice. The number 80 will appear in the cell that you had selected.

Oops! I think you mean "A formula will appear, and where it says VALUE, enter D5:D8 and hit the RETURN key twice".

 

[evennewerbie]

Yes that is quite simple. I have been doing that every which way and it doesn't work.
And there is an even simpler thing (maybe you are talking about a different version of Numbers). And that doesn't work either.

The simpler thing is that in my version of Numbers you don't even need to insert the formula, it just gives you the option SUM (several options like average, but SUM is the first). I click that and it outputs into the box the number 0 which is definitely wrong. However below the screen appears the correct formula, in the form you mention.

Then as I already mentioned in #1 I have many times inserted the formula manually and the result is the same.

To be exact again as mentioned in #1 this does work on a new table of figures. It just doesn't work on my existing financial table.

As final order to execute the calculation I am using mouseclick. You say double return – but all that does for me is add two new rows!

Now as on my table I actually only have two columns of figures to add and the rest of the table is other non-numerical information, I was going today to just recreate the columns of figures separately and sum them. I could still do that. It was offputting when earlier today I tried to do this using dictation which had really usefully worked to create me the first table. But then that didn't work either :headbang: though it did yesterday, and I have started another thread on that.

 

[indago]

Oops! I think you mean "A formula will appear, and where it says VALUE, enter D5:D8 and hit the RETURN key twice".

Yes, you are correct. I reread that twice and didn't catch that mistake.

 

[indago]

Getting desperate having spent hours every day for days to do this simple thing.

New to Numbers but at first it seemed to go well and looked good.

Having created a table for finances I want to do the simple thing of just adding up a column!!

As far as I can make out I did everything below and then everything a bit like below in 100 different orders of execution.

I select a column, I select a cell for the result, sometimes the system selects the cell by itself. I select + in toolbar and then SUM.Nothing happens. Or sometimes the right formula appears SUM E2:E26. This is correct and does not include the result cell. I click the green tick which seems to be the only thing you can do and nothing happens. Sometimes the formula appears below the table, it is nothing that responds to clicking on. Also tried putting the formula in manually myself. I have never got that sum of my column or anything.

What am I probably doing wrong?

Below are the instructions I am trying to follow.

Quickly sum, average, or count a range of cells
You can quickly find the sum, average, minimum, maximum, count, or product of a range of cells.

1. Do one of the following:
   • Select the range of cells you want to include in your formula. Numbers chooses a result cell based on your selection.
     
     
   • Select a cell to display the result of the formula. You can’t insert a formula in a header cell.
2. Click
   
   in the toolbar, then choose a formula.
   
   
3. If you want to change the range of cells, double-click the result cell. The cells used in the formula are highlighted, and the formula editor appears. Do any of the following:
   • Resize the selection of cells: Drag the colored dot in the top-left or bottom-right corner of the range of selected cells.
     
     
   • Move the selection: Click the range of selected cells, then drag up or down to change which rows are used, or drag right or left to change which columns are used. Moving the selection doesn’t change the number of cells selected.
     
     CAUTION: Make sure the selection doesn’t include the result cell—this causes an error in the cell.
4. Click
   
   to save your changes.
   
   If you click
   
   , you exit the formula editor without saving your changes.

It says here, in your instructions: "Select the range of cells you want to include in your formula."

Don't do that. The selection is made when you enter the range in the formula.

 

[evennewerbie]

By experimentation I found what the problem was which I don't suppose the helpers would have guessed so it might be useful furniture for back of mind if anyone else has the same problem.

I bought my notebook and Italy where I am using it at the moment. It is an Italian keyboard which is best for my purposes come on although most stuff I use it for is in English. You can switch between languages. I don't know if there is an explicit way of doing this for Numbers.

The convention for. commas and decimal points is exactly opposite in Italian from what it is in English. So a thousand and twenty four point eight six is 1.024,86 instead of 1,024.86 and it was not recognising the numbers that were in my table, although it recognised and added up a column of whole numbers!

 

[honestone]

That is definitely bizarre! I always thought that from a Mathematics perspective, the notation was universal. But, I guess not, fro whatever reason.