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Greyed out pages

A document I created on my iPad now is greyed out and I cannot open. Tried going through finder and still no luck. Other documents in pages are pictures I have taken that will not allow me to open also. Please help

iPad (5th gen) Wi-Fi

Posted on Jan 28, 2022 6:43 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 28, 2022 7:16 AM

If using the in-App file browser within Apple’s native PagesNumbers and Keynote Apps, only the files relating to that App are directly accessible; other files within the filesystem are visible - but are deliberately shown with Grey file icons; this indicates that the file-type cannot be opened from within the current “active” App. 


If you wish to edit, move or delete any of the files with grey icons, then you should use the Files App - which allows access to all files within the filesystem. 


Given that the respective file browser UI’s are otherwise identical in appearance, it is easy to forget which file browser you are currently using (in-App, or Files) at any one time - but there is a visual indication that, when you’re “tuned in”, everything should become a little more obvious…


  • When you are looking at the file browser within the Numbers App - the sidebar, title and buttons/links are coloured green. 


  • For Pages - the sidebar, title and buttons/icons are orange.


  • For Keynote - the sidebar, title and buttons/icons are Blue - with the entire page having a black background. 


  • For the Files App, from which all files can be directly accessed, the title bar and sidebar all have black text.


I sincerely hope this knowledge will aid your understanding of precisely what you can see - and when. This strategy in differentiating files by App is intended to avoid accidental deletion or changes to files that, ideally, should be stored with the App that is most appropriate for the document type.


5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 28, 2022 7:16 AM in response to Veritasmom

If using the in-App file browser within Apple’s native PagesNumbers and Keynote Apps, only the files relating to that App are directly accessible; other files within the filesystem are visible - but are deliberately shown with Grey file icons; this indicates that the file-type cannot be opened from within the current “active” App. 


If you wish to edit, move or delete any of the files with grey icons, then you should use the Files App - which allows access to all files within the filesystem. 


Given that the respective file browser UI’s are otherwise identical in appearance, it is easy to forget which file browser you are currently using (in-App, or Files) at any one time - but there is a visual indication that, when you’re “tuned in”, everything should become a little more obvious…


  • When you are looking at the file browser within the Numbers App - the sidebar, title and buttons/links are coloured green. 


  • For Pages - the sidebar, title and buttons/icons are orange.


  • For Keynote - the sidebar, title and buttons/icons are Blue - with the entire page having a black background. 


  • For the Files App, from which all files can be directly accessed, the title bar and sidebar all have black text.


I sincerely hope this knowledge will aid your understanding of precisely what you can see - and when. This strategy in differentiating files by App is intended to avoid accidental deletion or changes to files that, ideally, should be stored with the App that is most appropriate for the document type.


Jan 28, 2022 12:49 PM in response to Veritasmom

Okay, so you are attempting to open it again in Pages? I'm not a user of Pages, so I don't know that it would be a problem to open a document that you created with it. How old a file is it that you originally created? Is it possible that it was with an older version of Pages? I know there have been problems with opening files in different versions of Pages before. But someone that knows more about Pages in iOS should look at this.

Greyed out pages

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