When I try to open my Pages '09 templates with Pages 12.1 on my M1 MacBook Air, I get an error message that says "Untitled" can't be opened right now. Pages couldn't read the file..."
The weird thing is that if I highlight the file in Finder and press the space bar, it gives me a preview of the file.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.6
Pages v11.1 stopped at macOS Catalina, and v11.2 was for Big Sur and Monterey. If you know for a fact that you have Pages v11.2 on a Time Machine backup prior to the update to Pages 12 and 12.1, then you could remove Pages v12.1 and restore Pages v11.2 from the TM backup. Use the /Applications/Time Machine application for this purpose, and switch to the Application folder on the backup as you go back in time. By single-clicking the Pages application icon and pressing option+cmd+i, you can tell which version is on the backup.
Pages v11.1 stopped at macOS Catalina, and v11.2 was for Big Sur and Monterey. If you know for a fact that you have Pages v11.2 on a Time Machine backup prior to the update to Pages 12 and 12.1, then you could remove Pages v12.1 and restore Pages v11.2 from the TM backup. Use the /Applications/Time Machine application for this purpose, and switch to the Application folder on the backup as you go back in time. By single-clicking the Pages application icon and pressing option+cmd+i, you can tell which version is on the backup.
There are features found in Pages '09 templates that were incompatible with Pages v5 in Oct 2013, and remain incompatible with all versions of Pages thru v12.1. These will not open. You cannot get Pages 11.2 on Big Sur after Pages v12.* was released.
You can boot your Mac into Safe Boot mode, and try again to open that Pages '09 template in Pages v12.1. Then reboot normally, and try again. If it does not open in either boot state, then game over.
If you have an older Mac that still has a working Pages '09 application on it, open that template there, and export to Word, then take that Word document and open it in Pages v12.1.
When you install Pages v5 thru 12.1 for the first time, any Pages '09 templates that can be converted will be automatically placed among your newer Pages version templates. There can be features in Pages '09 templates that Apple never implemented in Pages v12.1 and that will block attempts to directly open these older templates.
You may not realize it, but Apple's Preview can open Pages '09 and later documents for viewing, and that is the library that Quick Look is using to display your older Pages templates. It has nothing to do with Pages v12.1 itself.
Thank you. Before Pages 12 was released in spring 2022, I was able to open all the Pages '09 templates on my M1 Macbook Air with what was then the current version of Pages, which I think was Pages 11.
Thank you. I think this problem started when I installed Pages 12.
Is there a way for me to download Pages 11?
Good idea. Thank you for your help!
Pages 12.1 on M1 MacBook Air won't open Pages '09 documents
