How do I create drive path hyperlinks to external files in Numbers for Mac?

There are no direct links from Numbers to files in the file system.

But you can link to a file via a Shortcut as explained here.

I typically store the file a service like Dropbox that permits copying of a per item link. Then I paste that item link into a Numbers cell. Clicking the hyperlink opens the document.

SG

> I don't see why Apple hasn't provided this function into Numbers, Pages and Keynote. It seems like something power users would want. I'm not a coder, but how difficult could it be!!

It's not a software developer competency, nor a power-user constraint/consideration, it's a security one.

What you might consider a 'power user' feature is the exact same thing that malicious actors use to exploit their victims. For years Windows earned its insecure reputation in part because of this.

You want [your spreadsheet app] to be able to open an arbitrary file? Sure thing!

You want [your spreadsheet app] to be able to send an email? or copy a file to a server? No problem!

You want [your spreadsheet app] to run a macro automatically when a spreadsheet is opened? You're on!

Now, on their own none of these 'features' are significant problems, and could be useful in certain circumstances, but when a bad actor links them together so that as soon as you open a spreadsheet, without any notification or interaction with the user, it grabs some system file(s) off disk (like the old /etc/passwd or Windows' equivalent) and emails it to some server in some foreign adversarial country... well, now you have a problem.

All you have to do is distribute your spreadsheet (or presentation) to unsuspecting users - post it on a forum, or email it to a billion users with a 'Budget update' subject line or some such. Guaranteed some number of people will open it.

And this is not hypothetical. This is the actual modus operandi of a malware exploit from some years back.

Granted, Excel (and Microsoft in general) have gotten better over the years, (for example, IIRC, macros no longer auto-run without user notification), but for every good software engineer there are 10 malicious ones looking for exploits. Restricting access to the file system (especially system-level files) is one way to inhibit those bad actors from being successful.