How do I: Turn Off Auto Blank Page on Start-up?

Question

How do I: Turn Off Auto Blank Page on Start-up?

This happens with every word processor and spreadsheet I know of. How Do I turn off the "feature" that opens a blank page when I launch the program? 9-times-out-of-10 I plan on editing an existing document, I am completely capable of clicking the icon for a new page when I need one. It only wears on me early in the morning, especially Mondays, but sometimes Tuesdays.

apple, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on May 21, 2009 7:14 AM

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Answer 1

May 21, 2009 7:27 AM in response to dammittakethealias

dammit,

Are you using Pages 09? My Pages 09 app opens with a dialog asking me what I want it to do.

I can choose from Recent Docs, Existing Docs and New from Template. I get no automatic blank document on starting Pages and I see no way to cause that to happen.

Jerry

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Answer 2

Brie Fly

Level 5

7,925 points

May 21, 2009 8:22 AM in response to dammittakethealias

9-times-out-of-10 I plan on editing an existing document,

Why are you even opening the application independently? Just open the file you wish to edit in a Finder window, and the application will launch for you.

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Answer 3

Jun 3, 2009 10:27 AM in response to dammittakethealias

I never remember where stuff is, or specifically what I named it (multiple versions), so I rely on "open recent" in PAGES.

PAGES is in the dock, I click and go.

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Answer 4

KOENIG Yvan

Level 8

41,807 points

Jun 3, 2009 10:47 AM in response to Jerrold Green1

Jerrold Green1 wrote:
dammit,

Are you using Pages 09? My Pages 09 app opens with a dialog asking me what I want it to do.

I can choose from Recent Docs, Existing Docs and New from Template. I get no automatic blank document on starting Pages and I see no way to cause that to happen.

It seems that the asker's preferences are set to "start with a blank document".
If I am right, he made a choice (because it's not the default setting) and know it is bored by the consequences of its choice 😟

Yvan KOENIG (from FRANCE mercredi 3 juin 2009 19:46:28)

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Answer 5

Jun 3, 2009 10:59 AM in response to dammittakethealias

Going on Yvan's suggestion, I have never used it, go to:

+Menu > Pages > Preferences > General > For New Documents: Show Template Chooser+

Which is probably not going to make you much happier as you have to get rid of the the Template Chooser that pops up every time before you can *Open Recent*.

Peter

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Answer 6

KOENIG Yvan

Level 8

41,807 points

Jun 3, 2009 11:37 AM in response to PeterBreis0807

Hi peter, you read wrongly.
The described setting is the one described by Jerrold before my own message.

I was pointing the contradiction between the fact that a user which made a choice (not the default setting) now complains upon the consequences of its choice.

I am at ease to point that because I choosed to set my preferences to "open the blank template". But as I try to be coherent I don't rant against the collateral effects of my choice.

Yvan KOENIG (from FRANCE mercredi 3 juin 2009 20:37:34)

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Answer 7

Walt K

Level 4

2,940 points

Jun 3, 2009 11:42 AM in response to dammittakethealias

Depending on how “recent” the item is, you might find it in the Recent Items under the Apple Menu.

Walt

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Answer 8

Jun 4, 2009 7:05 AM in response to KOENIG Yvan

I never chose to "open blank" so back off. In my original post, I asked how do disable it, not how it became activated. Uppity Euros.

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Answer 9

KOENIG Yvan

Level 8

41,807 points

Jun 4, 2009 10:39 AM in response to dammittakethealias

I repeat that "open Blank" is not the default behavior.
So, if your copy behaves this way it's that YOU set the preferences this way.

The default setting is:

display the templates chooser.

Yvan KOENIG (from FRANCE jeudi 4 juin 2009 19:39:46)

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Answer 10

fruhulda

Level 6

15,161 points

Jun 4, 2009 11:47 AM in response to dammittakethealias

You can't disable it. I just ignore it and open the wanted document and let the blank one sit behind. We should ask for the possibility to open the app without getting a template chooser or a blank document

http://www.apple.com/feedback/pages.html

is the link. You can in the menu under Pages choose Provide feedback

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Answer 11

Jun 4, 2009 1:24 PM in response to KOENIG Yvan

Okay, so now that we are back at the beginning of this thread. How does one disable auto-opening a blank document (either open blank OR template chooser) when PAGES launches? I don;t see why you dwell on the current setting.

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Answer 12

Peggy

Level 8

41,601 points

Jun 4, 2009 2:52 PM in response to dammittakethealias

How does one disable auto-opening a blank document (either open blank OR template chooser) when PAGES launches?

You can't. You will always get a new document or the template chooser depending on what you have set in the preferences. I suggest you leave feedback for the Pages team regarding this. You can find it under the Pages menu > Provide Pages Feedback. That takes you to the same page as this link.

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Answer 13

Jun 5, 2009 6:22 AM in response to dammittakethealias

For those who read this thread, the answer is "you can't".

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Answer 14

Jun 5, 2009 9:17 AM in response to dammittakethealias

Why don't you go to Pages menu -> Preferences, then "For New Documents:" choose "Show Template Chooser". When that opens, in the bottom left hand corner, you get the "Open Recent". Then you can pick the recent file you want and not open a new document.

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Answer 15

Jun 5, 2009 10:03 AM in response to dammittakethealias

After fruitlessly searching for an answer to this issue, it's satisfying to see the topic appear again, a day after I posted a rather frustrated query.

I took Peggy's advice and left feedback. Given the number of people who have looked at this question already, perhaps this poster and I are not the only ones who would wish for different behavior.

Maybe with more feedback encouragement, we can look forward to being able to again "Open Nothing". Like Arlo said, "And friends, they may think it's a movement."

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