How can I make cell borders editable again in Numbers?

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Level 1

4 points

How can I make cell borders editable again in Numbers?

I tried to modify border settings for a cel, but all five 'widgets' are greyed-out and cannot be modified. I tried on other cells in the sheet, but no change in behavior. I created a new sheet in the spreadsheet, and borders work there. I quit and relaunched Numbers, no change.

Date Format, Fill, and Conditional Highlighting all work, when I select the cel in question.

macOS: 14.7.6

Numbers: version 14.4 (7043.0.93)

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Cel > Borders not modifiable on one sheet

MacBook Pro 14″

Posted on Jun 6, 2025 8:35 AM

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Answer 1

bob7 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 6, 2025 9:38 PM in response to SGIII

Yes, I first selected the cel. I thought that was understood when I wrote: "I tried to modify border settings for a cel" (although I didn't specifically say that I had selected it first), but I truly appreciate your help!

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Answer 2

bob7 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 7, 2025 9:21 AM in response to SGIII

I'm running a macOS (14.7.6) only one major version behind macOS 15. According to Apple.com official, macOS 14.7.6 is a supported OS for the version of Numbers I'm running, except for: "Improved copy and paste with Freeform.* Requires macOS 15.4 or later". (I have a vital app that won't run in macOS 15, and am working on replacing it with another app, at which point, I will upgrade to macOS 15.)

I just tried restarting; no help. But a good suggestion to try.

I duplicated the sheet; same results. I then created a new sheet, copied the (original) table contents; pasted into the new sheet, and borders functionality works. Unless there are circumstances in my (original) sheet that—by design—precludes being able to edit borders, and that isn't carried forward into a new sheet after copying and pasting content (highly unlikely), it appears there may be some corruption in the sheet. (I'm going to keep using the current sheet until I have time to do all the fiddly work of precisely setting the various columns widths to what they are now.)

Thanks, especially for helping motivate me to try these extra troubleshooting measures.

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