How do I find a hidden table in Numbers on macOS Sequoia 15.3.2?

I posted this problem in January 2025:


Cannot find table in Numbers - Apple Community


But I can no longer update it.


I thought that the problem might be because I’m stuck in an old version of macOS Venture 13.7.1 due to my old Mac.  So, I bought a new Mac mini with Sequoia 15.3.2.  But the problem persists.


I know this table exists somewhere because I have cells that have formulae that reference a cell in the hidden table I'm searching for.  But when I click on the reference in the formula, it does not show the table.  Normally, doing this will show the table.


I’ve tried the following:


  • zooming out to search for the table
  • hiding rows of existing tables
  • moving tables around to see if the hidden table is hidden underneath
  • Send tables to back, to see if the hidden table is hidden underneath


I still cannot find this hidden table.


Can anyone help?


[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Mac mini

Posted on Mar 21, 2025 7:58 AM

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Mar 21, 2025 11:58 AM in response to curt0

Does your document have only one sheet?


The table in question could be on any sheet in the document.


For better or worse, if the table has a unique name, then Numbers shows references to the table by name only, omitting the sheet name, which may make tracking down the table harder.

You might try adding another table to your main sheet with the same name as the rogue table. As soon as two tables have the same name, Numbers will include the Sheet Name in the cell references, i.e.:


Table 1::A1 <= Cell A1 on the only table called 'Table 1' anywhere in the document.

Sheet 2::Table 1::A1 <= There are two tables called 'Table 1' in the document, use the one on Sheet 2

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Mar 21, 2025 4:52 PM in response to curt0

Right click on the Sheet tab (or click its disclosure triangle). The table should be in its list of tables. Click on the table name and it will take you directly to that table and the table will be selected. With the table selected, click on the Arrange tab in the sidebar and see where it is on the sheet. Set the position of the table to some positive X,Y close to 0,0 by either dragging it or typing in some position coordinates.

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Mar 22, 2025 10:06 AM in response to Badunit

Thanks for your input.

As mentioned in Cannot find table in Numbers - Apple Community , I tried that.

If I click on any table on the list, Numbers takes me to and shows the table, except for the hidden table. When I click on the hidden table on the list, nothing happens. Nothing moves. No table is selected or highlighted.


I do not see the Arrange tab or sidebar. How do I show these? I'm using Numbers 14.3.

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Mar 21, 2025 2:00 PM in response to Camelot

Thanks for your reply.

No, it has several sheets. I searched in every other sheet by:

  • clicking on the down-arrow on the sheet tab to see the list of tables
  • moving the tables around to see if my hidden table was underneath

I could not find the hidden table.

I think the table's name is unique. I could not add another table to the same sheet with the same name. I added a new table to the same sheet, but when I tried to change the default "Table 2" name to the same name as the hidden table, Numbers would not allow me. Whenever I typed in the name of the hidden table, it reverted back to "Table 2". But once I typed in a different name than the hidden table, Numbers accepted that name. This implies that the hidden table exists in the same sheet.


In a different sheet, I added a new table and was able to give it the same name as the hidden table. Now there are two tables, in different sheets, with the same name in the same document. Then I went back to the first sheet, doubled clicked on the cell with the formula that references the hidden table. The reference did not include the sheet name. It showed just the table name and cell name, such as Hidden_Table::A1, not Sheet 1::Hidden_Table::A1, even though Hidden_Table is not unique to the document because Hidden_Table exists in Sheet 1 and Sheet 2.


Is there anything else I can try?

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Mar 22, 2025 4:31 PM in response to curt0

Hmm. Use the Script Editor app to run the script below then post the results. Maybe something in the table's properties will give a clue or provide a possible solution. Change the name of the sheet and table to yours then run it. Capitalization matters, the names must be exactly the same as in your document.


tell application "Numbers"
	tell document 1 to tell sheet "Sheet 1" to tell table "Table 2"
		return properties
	end tell
end tell

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Mar 23, 2025 2:41 AM in response to curt0

Just a wild guess.


I was able to make a table completely disappear by setting all the borders to same color as the sheet background and all the text to that color too.


I did that by activating the right pane with View > Inspector > Format and going to the 'Border' section under the Cell tab and setting them to 'None', then going to the 'Text' tab and setting the text color to match the background. I also unchecked 'Title' under 'Table Options' in the 'Table' tab.


If you happen to click directly on the hidden table (or choose it from the dropdown in the sheet name "tab") then you will see column letters and row numbers but nothing else. Possibly easy to miss.


To reveal the hidden table, I clicked on the canvas of the sheet (i.e., not in any table) and changed the background color in the right pane. I could then see the text in the table.


Perhaps you tried to "hide" a table in that manner and forgot?


The only other thing I can think of is that if the document had its origin in Excel then there may be strange behavior as a result of that.


And, of course, I assume you have restarted your Mac. That can clear up a surprisingly wide range of strange behaviors.


SG


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How do I find a hidden table in Numbers on macOS Sequoia 15.3.2?

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