Quick tour

This tour shows the shape of a Numlex sheet. Every line you type is checked; anything Numlex cannot parse stays quiet instead of guessing.

Lines and answers

Each line is an independent calculation. The answer appears in the column on the right — live, as you type:

30 + 567 × 2            1,164
15% of 4572             685.8
$240 + 10% tip          $264.00
sqrt(144)               12

No formula bars, no cell references, no syntax to learn beyond ordinary math notation. The complete grammar lives in the Syntax Reference.

Sections and totals

A # heading starts a section; a standalone total line sums the section’s eligible answers:

# Household
Groceries               86.40
Power bill              42.10
total                   128.50

A previously computed total is never re-counted by the next one. The exact eligibility rules are in Sheet language. The Total footer at the bottom of the sheet can be hidden if you prefer a cleaner column.

Reusing answers

Double-click any answer (or type an operator on a new line) to insert a live token — a small bubble that always shows the current value of its source line. Change the source, and every token that references it updates. See Linked answers for the guide and Answer tokens for the full rules.

Conversions in the same sheet

Units, currencies and weather sit next to plain arithmetic:

250 km to m             250,000 m
34 C° to F°             93.2 F°
$500 to EUR
weather in London

See Units, currencies & weather, and the Unit catalog and Currency reference for the full lists.

Where your data lives

Sheets are stored on your Mac in ~/Library/Application Support/Numlex. Import and export any sheet as a .nlx file. See Sheets & files and Privacy & network.

Next steps

• Natural calculations — everyday forms in more detail.
• Variables & functions — names and built-in functions.
• Dates & times — calendar arithmetic, clocks, timezones, timestamps, Timespan, timecode and work calendars.
• Finance & investments — compound interest, loans, tax and inflation.
• Tags, subtotals & statistics — tagged rows, section subtotals, aggregates and the footer statistic.
• Export & print — PDF export and native printing.
• Syntax Reference — the complete language reference.
• Settings & appearance — the eight Settings categories, in order: General, Notebook, Editing, Numbers, Dates & Times, Constants & Units, Styling and About. Notebook, not General, owns sheet behavior and Floating Total controls; View → Minimal Mode (⌘⇧M) temporarily hides the sidebar and Floating Total, and Auto-convert single units is an optional Numbers setting.