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How Do I Output a Text File From Numbers?

I have a membership list in Numbers. I would like to include some of the information in an email but not in Numbers format (most recipients are non technical and not Mac users). So I would have to send it as text. How do I create a text file of some or all of the contents of a Table?

I need to discuss the membership list contents from my Numbers database with fellow committee members who are Windows users or have very little computer knowledge. I would be doing this via email.
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Len Gould

Comments: 2 Responses to “How Do I Output a Text File From Numbers?”

    2 years ago

    Copy and paste is all you should need. Try opening up a text file in TextEdit, then copying and pasting the cells from Numbers to TextEdit.

    If you are using Plain Text in TextEdit, you get a plain text document which could be a bit of a mess depending on the data in the table. Try it and see. But there is only so much that can be done in a plain text document to make a table look good.

    If yo do Rich Text in TextEdit, you can get real tables and it looks much better. Windows users should have no problem viewing them.

    You should also just be able to paste the table into the body of an email message. Then you can judge if the results look good enough to send. This way your non-computer-savvy users don't have to figure out how to open a file, they can just view the data right there.

    Another option is to export the document to a PDF from Numbers and send the PDF. This will be just as good as sending them a paper copy of the spreadsheet, with all formatting intact. If you think they can handle a PDF, I would do that.

    If the data fits on a single sheet of paper inside the PDF, you could also open it in Preview, and then export as an image file. Then you can include the image in the email message. They should be able to see it as part of the message then. So you get all of the formatting and styling, but a very simple file format viewable in the message or outside of it.

    Len Gould
    2 years ago

    Thanks very much Gary. I was getting desperate greatly appreciate your work.

    Copy and pasting to TextEdit did the trick. Pasted with "Paste and Match Style" and text was able to be inserted into an email.

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