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Windows Excel allows me to paste a body of text and in the bottom right corner of the pasted content, a menu prompt will pop up that can initiate the "Text Import Wizard" to import delimited text into columns (text separated by commas or spaces, for example). In Numbers, such an option doesn't exist that I know of.

Second, how can I import text (including numbers) as text? With windows I can do both of these functions with the Text Import Wizard and with Numbers I can't do either.

The only solution I've found to the first problem is to download a custom workflow that I found in this Apple Community thread: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8293955

And a less elegant solution is also discussed here but it's much more clunky: How can I do text-to-columns in Numbers?

Regardless, I still haven't found a way to import numbers as text.

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  • Have you tried putting quotes around the numbers you want as text?
    – Natsfan
    Oct 15, 2020 at 3:10
  • That seems like it's creating more problems. How do I add the quotes? How do I remove them when I'm done? Perhaps I don't understand but this seems like it's creating more problems.
    – Justin
    Oct 15, 2020 at 3:14
  • You can import a text file into numbers by just dragging it over the Numbers icon.
    – Natsfan
    Oct 15, 2020 at 3:20
  • I am trying to import text to column--not simply importing a text file. I can just copy and paste if I need to do that.
    – Justin
    Oct 15, 2020 at 4:20

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Not sure which version of Numbers you are using but one can adjust import settings from a text file in both Numbers v6.1 and v10.2 and it works resonably well in my experience.

Just open the text file using Numbers and a popup menu will emerge saying "Table data was imported. Adjust Settings" as soon as the file is opened. This menu disappears after a few seconds but you can adjust the same settings using an option in the sidebar menu as well as described in the Apple support webpage titled "Import an Excel or text file into Numbers on Mac".

As for your second question, sorry that I don't know in general how.

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