Pages 11.2 - Find and Replace Not Working

I stated how Pages v11.2 actually works for me on macOS 11.6 by attempting to reproduce the OP's results and cannot using their very text example, or actually testing on other documents of my own. You are not alone in using Pages for years, and I simply cannot reproduce the lack of Find/Replace results here.

I agree. This worked for me too. (And I too had tried lots of other things, and have used Page, and "Find" and "Find & Replace" for years.)

This seems to be a bug an Apple should fix it.

If you write with Pages, you need this function.

I have the same issue since I updated to Pages version 11.2 (7032.0.145). This is a bug and I hope Apple fixes it soon.

I have restarted, rebooted etc. and still does not work. :(

On MacBook Air - Big Sur 11.6

I had the same problem - tried rebooting, restarting pages etc with no effect. Having read the whole thread (which is a clear indication that the problem IS real), I took a deep breath, closed the document in pages, closed pages, re-opened pages and then re-opened the document.... and, much to my surprise, it works again! Amazing. Thanks for the pointer.

no luck for me. I restarted computer. open and closed Pages, opened a new document, etc. basically tried everything suggested in this thread but still no ability to find text. On one try it stated "Not found", but other times even "Not found" is not indicated. I did not find anything in the Library folder, like a Preferences file, that might be corrupted.

This was extremely helpful, but having WAY too many open documents in Pages (including over a dozen Untitled documents), I tried just closing the document I needed to use Search & Replace in and then reopening that document. It worked, but only for that document, of course. Most of my open documents don't need to be searched in, so this was a real time-saver. Posting this in case it helps anyone else with my problem.

After reading this very helpful thread, I quit Pages (I only had one document open) then reopened that document and the Find function worked. But this is clearly something Apple should fix and quickly. The reports of this bug go back several weeks and that is too long to let this important feature go unfixed.

I have had the exact same problem. Nothing I tried made Find and Replace work again, until I saw some previous posts - closing all open documents before quitting Pages seems to fix the bug.

Searching my Pages documents is a big part of my workflow, and I was paging through the documents every day to find what I need these last few days, which is very time-consuming and not very Apple-like.

I'll just add to the obvious... Apple has not fixed this evidently common problem, which seems quite odd for a company that prides itself on customer support.

On my note, it's a complete waste of my time to have to -- several times a day -- quit Pages and then re-open all documents to re-enable an essential function.

Apple Support: Have you read this thread. Shame on you!

Applications : Pages... delete or remove (not sure how I did it but there is plenty of information as to how to delete an app). Once deleted, you go to the App store and then it is easy to obtain.

By the way, it is possible, it will misbehave at first, but persevere !

I had the same problem. I solved it by making a new document with the same content (with Command + A, Command + C in the original document and Command + V in the new document). The Find feature worked normally on the new document.

The recommended solution appears to work only on a very limited basis - very few documents open and then only for a short time.

The problem has gone away and reappeared twice for us with the same document. Closing any one document and reopening it will allow Find, F&R, Spellcheck, etc to work again. After a bit of time though they no longer work and the document must be again closed and reopened.

ALL of the other stuff (rebooting, etc.) in the recommended solution is unnecessary and makes no difference.

We typically use Find several times per day and are often working on numerous documents at a time. This is a basic function that really needs to be fixed.

I'm currently running MasOS Big Sur, 11.6

The trigger is related to what you were doing the last time you shut down your computer, and as far as I can tell, nothing to do with what you are currently doing.

Specifically,

if you leave a a pages document up and running so that it is available immediately after you boot up your computer,

you will get this error.

It has, as far as I can tell, nothing to do with other applications you might have been running, etc.

The simple solution is close out any Pages that are on the screen when you shut down. Next time you log in you'll have to bring that page back up, but the find function should work.

Bill

Folks,

I have been following this and similar discussions for quite a while now. There are many good tips to help people solve this problem. And in most cases it can be remedied quite easily.

So far so good.

What I have never (seldom?) read is the word "bug". For me the issue at hand is clearly and outright a bug, software that does not work. Even if there is a simple fix it is still a bug.

So please, you all, helpers and folks being helped: Report this to Apple, give them feedback. The current state of Pages (and the other apps in the iWork suite) is inferior and has been so for many many moons (actually years). They have all the means to make things "insanely great". Let's help them by letting them know!

Just my 2 cents.

---markus---