Pages won't open after update

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Pages won't open after update

I have a MacBook Air with macOS Mojave 10.14.5. Yesterday I updated Numbers, Pages, and Keynote. The new versions of Numbers and Keynote work fine, but whenever I click on Pages (according to the App Store, the new version is 8.1) - whether the app itself or on a Pages document - the app icon will bounce twice, the dot will briefly appear beneath it to indicate that the app is open, and then it will disappear and the app will be closed. I then get a notification about Pages closing unexpectedly and what do I want to do, etc. (I have now reported to Apple three times.) I tried restarting but it made no difference. Should I just use Time Machine to revert to a previous version, or is there a quicker fix? Also, shouldn't the problems with an app after updating all have to do with *anything* but actually starting up? Like, isn't that the absolute *first* thing that the developers would check...?

MacBook Air 13", macOS 10.14

Posted on Jun 26, 2019 10:26 AM

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Answer 1

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nelhstutor Author

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Jun 28, 2019 11:32 AM in response to nelhstutor

So, after chatting online with about five Apple Support Advisors without success, I talked with a Senior Advisor on the phone who had me go to the ~/Library/Containers folder and remove the com.apple.iWork.pages file and then re-launch the app. This finally resolved my issue.

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Answer 2

nelhstutor Author

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Jun 26, 2019 10:36 AM in response to Peggy

Thanks for the suggestion, but that doesn't work either. It was clear that the app was trying to open differently than before, but once again, the dot appears, then disappears, then the dialogue box about the app closing unexpectedly, etc.

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Answer 3

nelhstutor Author

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Jun 27, 2019 4:02 PM in response to nelhstutor

Is seriously no one else having this problem? I just tried deleting the app and reinstalling it, and that also did not solve the issue. I have hundreds, if not thousands, of Pages documents that are vital to my job, and the app won't even open, even though my other apps (including Keynote and Numbers) all open fine. Is there no solution to this?

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Answer 4

Jun 28, 2019 3:58 AM in response to nelhstutor

Ensure that Pages v8.1 is quit from its application menu.

Click once on your Desktop to get the Finder's attention. Then press shift+command+G (Go To Folder) and copy/paste the following into that dialog:

~/Library/Caches

and press Go. You are looking for the Pages cache bundle that is named com.apple.iWork.Pages. It may or may not exist. Drag that to the Trash, empty the Trash, and relaunch Pages v8.1, again with the shift key depressed. That Pages cache bundle contains sqlite3 databases that may have become corrupted and contributed to its misadventure.

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Answer 5

nelhstutor Author

Level 1

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Jun 28, 2019 9:03 AM in response to VikingOSX

Thanks for this additional suggestion. I tried it and it did not work. I did spend over an hour chatting with an Apple Support Advisor yesterday, and we figured out that the problem is related to my account, not the App itself or the computer as a whole, since I was able to create another user account and launch Pages successfully on that account. (This also has given me an emergency avenue for working with Pages until this issue gets resolved.) She then advised me to restart the computer in SafeMode to see if that resolved the issue. It didn't. So...back to Apple Support with my case number today. The saga continues.

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Answer 6

Peggy

Level 8

41,661 points

Jun 26, 2019 10:31 AM in response to nelhstutor

It's quite possible that you had a document open when you last quit Pages & that document is corrupt. Try holding down the 'shift' key while starting Pages to bypass any open documents.

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Answer 7

Jun 26, 2019 10:46 AM in response to nelhstutor

Press and hold the shift key while launching Pages 8.1. Then attempt to open the last document. If this works, you would not need to use the shift key unless Pages crashed, or hung in the future.

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Answer 8

nelhstutor Author

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Jun 27, 2019 4:00 PM in response to VikingOSX

This is the same suggestion as above, which did not work.

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Answer 9

Jun 28, 2019 11:53 AM in response to nelhstutor

I usually recommend removing the com.apple.iWork.Pages folder in Containers as a last resort. None of this should occur, but apparently, it was your turn for grief. Hopefully, it won't happen again.

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Pages won't open after update

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