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In Windows, List separator (, as shown in my system) is a parameter that we could set:

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I'm trying to find this setting in my Mac, but I could not find it. Here is the only thing I could find:

enter image description here

It seems that this separator is used to separate arguments in Excel functions.

Does anyone know how to set the list separator in Mac?

PS: I'm using Mac OS Big Sur 11.4

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  • See superuser.com/q/447492/738512
    – Solar Mike
    Jul 27, 2021 at 9:57
  • 1
    @SolarMike It's not the same question.
    – SoftTimur
    Jul 27, 2021 at 11:10
  • Well, I use excel and "," and ":" work fine - as long as you know how to use the functions.
    – Solar Mike
    Jul 27, 2021 at 11:18
  • could you give some examples of lists where the list separator is use?
    – historystamp
    Jul 31, 2021 at 5:04
  • Where do you not get what you want in macOS? i.e. Where are llist wrong is macOS.
    – historystamp
    Jul 31, 2021 at 5:05

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It seems that this separator is used to separate arguments in Excel functions.

Yes, it is used to delimit arguments in Excel functions and as the default field separator when saving Excel spreadsheets as CSV files.

However, it is only used if "Use system separators" is set in Excel's advanced options (which it is by default). And this setting can be overridden with Excel's own settings.

I'm not actually aware of any other (office) applications that actually use this system setting. (Although no doubt there are.) AFAIK, LibreOffice Calc uses only its own internal settings (Tools > Options > LibreOffice Calc > Foruma > Separators > Function).

Does anyone know how to set the list separator in Mac?

AFAIK there is no explicit setting for this in MacOS. It is instead deduced from the "Decimal" setting under "Number separators" (and "Currency"?) in the regional settings. ie. If a comma is used as the "Decimal" number separator (as in your screensheet) then a comma cannot be used as the "list separator" in Excel, so will instead default to a ; (semicolon). If instead a dot (.) is used as the "Decimal" separator, then a comma can be used as the "list separator".

This answer to a related question on Superuser.com suggests that it is dependent on both the "Decimal" settings of "Number separators" and "Currency", although it's not clear to me why "Currency" would be significant here (at least not for the function argument delimiter).

Further reference:

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