junglejim
Level 1 (11 points)
Mac OS X

Q: Open recent in both Numbers and Pages suddenly empty.

Just today when I open Numbers and Pages the Open Recent command is empty. I have been using Both for several years and this started today. I saved and closed several files that had changes in them and in numbers it stays empty. Again this is new. I used numbers about a week ago and there were files there then. No os changes

 

 

Running Mac BOOK pro with os 10.11.5  numbers 3.6.2 Pages 5.6.2

OS X El Capitan (10.11.2)

Posted on Jun 15, 2016 4:15 PM

by becky_s22,Solvedanswer
becky_s22 becky_s22
Community Specialists
A:

Hello junglejim,

 

Welcome to Apple Support Communities! 

 

It looks like you're having problems opening recent documents in Pages and Numbers because the "Open Recent" lists are now empty. I know how convenient it is to use the "Open Recent" option to quickly get to documents you’ve been working on so I can understand why the menu suddenly being empty would cause you concern. 

 

If you're sure that you didn't accidentally select the "Clear Menu" option at the bottom of the "Open Recent" lists, there are a couple of other things we can explore to narrow down why this happened. The first would be related to an external hard drive. If you had a hard drive connected to your Mac where you were saving your Number and Pages documents to and you disconnected the drive, it can cause the "Open Recent" list to no longer show those saves items. 

 

Another possible cause could be your Mac settings. Follow these steps:

 

  1. Open up System Preferences on your Mac by clicking on the little  logo in the upper-left corner of your screen.
  2. Select "General".
  3. Near the bottom, select the drop-down next to where it says "Recent items". If "Recent items" is set as "none" instead of a number, it can cause you to no longer show recent documents in Numbers and Pages. 

 

Although your documents aren't showing in "Open Recent" currently, you can still locate those documents if you have them saved on your Mac, an external hard drive, or iCloud Drive. If you’ve not been saving your documents as you work on them, I highly recommend you start doing so going forward to help avoid data loss. In case you aren't familiar with iCloud Drive, here are some great resources for it: 

 

iCloud Drive. Any kind of file. On all your devices.

iCloud Drive FAQ - Apple Support

 

Once you’ve made sure that "Recent items" in System Preferences isn't set at "none", your next step would be to open and/or create a few documents in Numbers and Pages, close and reopen Number and Pages, and check to see if those documents you just opened and created are showing in "Open Recent" to make sure it's working as expected now.

 

Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.

 

Have an awesome rest of your day! 

Posted on Jun 16, 2016 10:16 AM

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junglejim

Q: Open recent in both Numbers and Pages suddenly empty.

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  • Helpful answers

  • by becky_s22,Solvedanswer

    becky_s22 becky_s22 Jun 16, 2016 10:16 AM in response to junglejim
    Community Specialists
    Jun 16, 2016 10:16 AM in response to junglejim

    Hello junglejim,

     

    Welcome to Apple Support Communities! 

     

    It looks like you're having problems opening recent documents in Pages and Numbers because the "Open Recent" lists are now empty. I know how convenient it is to use the "Open Recent" option to quickly get to documents you’ve been working on so I can understand why the menu suddenly being empty would cause you concern. 

     

    If you're sure that you didn't accidentally select the "Clear Menu" option at the bottom of the "Open Recent" lists, there are a couple of other things we can explore to narrow down why this happened. The first would be related to an external hard drive. If you had a hard drive connected to your Mac where you were saving your Number and Pages documents to and you disconnected the drive, it can cause the "Open Recent" list to no longer show those saves items. 

     

    Another possible cause could be your Mac settings. Follow these steps:

     

    1. Open up System Preferences on your Mac by clicking on the little  logo in the upper-left corner of your screen.
    2. Select "General".
    3. Near the bottom, select the drop-down next to where it says "Recent items". If "Recent items" is set as "none" instead of a number, it can cause you to no longer show recent documents in Numbers and Pages. 

     

    Although your documents aren't showing in "Open Recent" currently, you can still locate those documents if you have them saved on your Mac, an external hard drive, or iCloud Drive. If you’ve not been saving your documents as you work on them, I highly recommend you start doing so going forward to help avoid data loss. In case you aren't familiar with iCloud Drive, here are some great resources for it: 

     

    iCloud Drive. Any kind of file. On all your devices.

    iCloud Drive FAQ - Apple Support

     

    Once you’ve made sure that "Recent items" in System Preferences isn't set at "none", your next step would be to open and/or create a few documents in Numbers and Pages, close and reopen Number and Pages, and check to see if those documents you just opened and created are showing in "Open Recent" to make sure it's working as expected now.

     

    Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.

     

    Have an awesome rest of your day!