Align and position objects

Use alignment and spacing guides to help you place objects precisely on a sheet. When guides are turned on, they appear as you drag an object on a sheet in alignment with, or equidistant to, another object. You can turn the guides off and on as needed.

Alignment guidelines over two objects

You can add your own guides to a sheet and position them wherever you want. These guides remain visible while you’re working.

You can also specify an object’s location using its x and y coordinates.

Turn on alignment guides

  1. Choose Numbers > Preferences (from the Numbers menu at the top of your computer screen), then click Rulers.

  2. Select any of the alignment guides:

    • Center guides: Indicate when an object’s center aligns with another object’s center or the center of the sheet.

    • Edge guides: Indicate when an object’s edges align with another object’s edge or an edge of the sheet.

    • Sizing Guides: Indicate when an object matches another object’s size in a particular dimension (for example, height).

    • Spacing Guides: Indicate when three or more objects are placed equally apart in a line.

You can also change the color of the alignment guides. Click the color well next to Alignment Guides in Rulers preferences, then choose a color.

Show rulers

You can show or hide rulers to help you position and align objects on a sheet. Do any of the following:

  • Show or hide rulers: Choose View > Show Rulers or View > Hide Rulers (from the View menu at the top of your computer screen). You can also use the keyboard shortcut Command-R.

  • Change the ruler units: Choose Numbers > Preferences (from the Numbers menu at the top of your computer screen), then click Rulers. Choose a unit of measure from the Ruler Units pop-up menu.

  • Show size and position coordinates when moving objects: Choose Numbers > Preferences, then click Rulers. Select the size and position checkbox.

Add persistent alignment guides

You can add your own alignment guides to a sheet to help you create a specific layout. You can add as many as you like and position and adjust them to suit your needs. Alignment guides are unique to each sheet in a spreadsheet.

To add persistent alignment guides to a sheet, you must have rulers showing.

Do any of the following:

  • Add a horizontal guide: Drag down from the top ruler.

  • Add a vertical guide: Drag to the right from the left ruler.

  • Move a guide: Drag a guide to reposition it.

You can also change the color of the alignment guides. Choose Numbers > Preferences, then click Rulers. Click the color well next to Alignment Guides, then choose a color.

Remove, hide, or clear all persistent alignment guides

Do any of the following:

  • Remove a horizontal guide: Drag it to the top of the sheet.

  • Remove a vertical guide: Drag it to the left of the sheet.

  • Hide all guides: Choose View > Guides >Hide Guides (from the View menu at the top of your computer screen).

    To show all guides, choose View > Guides > Show Guides (from the View menu at the top of your computer screen.

  • Clear all guides: Choose View > Guides > Clear All Guides on Sheet (from the View menu at the top of your computer screen).

Align an object using x and y coordinates

  1. Select an object.

  2. In the Arrange pane of the Format inspector, enter x and y values in the Position fields.

    The x value is measured from the sheet’s left edge to the object’s upper-left corner.

    The y value is measured from the sheet’s top edge to the object’s upper-left corner.

Align objects along an edge of the sheet

You can align all of your objects with the edge of the sheet.

  1. Select an object, or Shift-click to select multiple objects.

  2. In the Arrange pane of the Format inspector, choose an option from the Align pop-up menu.

    If two or more objects are selected, the objects align to the object most in the direction you selected. For instance, if you align three objects on the left, the object that is most left doesn’t move, and the other object aligns to it.

Equally space objects

You can position the objects so there is equal spacing between objects on a horizontal or vertical axis.

  1. Select three or more objects.

  2. In the Arrange pane of the Format inspector, choose an option from the Distribute pop-up menu:

    • Evenly: Objects are spaced equally along both the horizontal and vertical axes.

    • Horizontally: Objects are spaced equally along a horizontal axis.

    • Vertically: Objects are spaced equally along a vertical axis.

Move an object one point at a time

You can nudge an object to move it by single-point increments.

  • Select an object, then press an arrow key.