Still can't copy and paste from Numbers to Pages

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Level 1

37 points

Still can't copy and paste from Numbers to Pages

Cant copy anything in Numbers (text in a cell or cells, or tables) and then paste it into Pages. This has been a problem for years for me and is still a problem. I checked some of the solutions earlier on here - select whole table in Numbers and paste into new table in pages etc . Nothing works except paste it into TextEdit or Notes (which works for tables, cells and text kind of as it should!) and then re-select re-copy and paste into Pages - which works but seems ridiculous.

Using Sonoma 14.7.4 Pages 14.3 and Numbers 14.0 currently but has been problem for years.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.7

Posted on Aug 28, 2025 10:42 AM

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Answer 1

VikingOSX

Level 10

122,052 points

Aug 28, 2025 11:33 AM in response to tommybanana

I have been showing users how to do this for years with most responding that the procedure just works.

Select the entire table by selecting the first cell (e.g. A1), press the shift-key, and then select the last cell (e.g. F6) from a table such as the following in Numbers v14.4 on Sequoia v15.6.1:

Copy the selected table to the clipboard.

In Pages v14.4, you insert a default blank table. Click once to select cell A1, and then apply a simple paste into that cell. Pages will automatically adjust rows and columns of the receiving table to fit the pasted Numbers table contents. Since a Pages table is restricted by the margins, it may make extremely narrow columns if you attempt to do this with a Numbers table with excessively wide columns or too many columns.

Animation:

The Pages and Numbers versions that I have used should make no difference on Sonoma with your application versions being older. I did this when I was running Sonoma and it worked the same.

I recommend that you update Sonoma to 14.7.7 via the System Settings > General > Software Update panel. It may show the current Sequoia v15.6.1 if your Mac is compatible, but further down on that page you may see Another update is available with a More Info… link. When you click that, it will allow you to select and install Sonoma 14.7.7 and not Sequoia. If it offers a newer Safari on that panel, then choose it too.

You should have the same versions of Pages and Numbers. To accomplish the last compatible versions of Pages and Numbers for macOS Sonoma, you want to do the following:

Launch the Mac App Store
1. If not already, sign into the Mac App Store with the same Apple ID used to previously install Pages and Numbers.
2. Press cmd+0 (Zero) to open the Previous Purchased panel.
  1. If Pages and Numbers offer any form of download symbol, click that.
  2. Do not click Cancel on any subsequent dialog. The last dialog will ask if you want to install the last compatible version of Pages and Numbers for Sonoma. Do that.
Quit the Mac App Store application
At this point, both Pages and Numbers should be the same version

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