Wordcount keeps disappearing

I'm writing a novel in Pages and the word count keeps disappearing. I need to keep closing and reopening my document to get it back (the View menu displays the "word count" as visible even when it's not showing).


The document is 350 pages long and 145k words. This only happens on the Mac version, not on the IOS versions. It was fine until I hit 200 pages. Separating the document into shorter sections is not feasible. I have no crazy formatting or images. Just text with the occasional italic or bold font.


Anyone have a similar problem or know why this is happening?

Mac Studio, macOS 14.5

Posted on Jun 9, 2024 10:00 AM

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5 replies

Jun 9, 2024 12:57 PM in response to Lita Kaufman

So, I tripled the content in my original document by adding a section and redundantly pasting 179 pages. Now, I have a document with 537 pages / 146,145 words and the word count panel has not vanished. Closed the document, quit Pages, and reopened it. Same page and word count as before closing the document.


If the issue were triggered by an excessive word or page count, I would have observed it here. I am also using Grammarly for macOS without any coincidental issues either.


Do you have any anti-virus software installed, or so-called "mac cleaner" applications? Does the issue persist after closing your document, quitting Pages, and a reboot? Where does this particular Pages document reside?



Jun 9, 2024 10:28 AM in response to Lita Kaufman

I have a Pages document that is 179 pages and 48,175 words. If I select 1 word, then that is the reported word count. As soon as I click away from that selected word, the word count reports 48, 175 again. If I press shift+cmd+W, then the word count panel disappears. Clicking that shortcut again causes the correct word count to reappear.


However, at no time does the word count panel just arbitrarily disappear in any Pages document. Not in this version of Pages, nor any previous version on prior operating systems. If the reason for your experience is not here, then I have no idea why it is happening.


Pages v14 on Sonoma 14.5.

Jun 9, 2024 1:10 PM in response to Lita Kaufman

Thank you for trying to help, it's appreciated. No - no anti-virus garbage. Just an M1 Mac Studio and Sonoma and the most current version of Pages. This isn't the first time this has happened, but the last time, I had chalked it up to the older (2013 era) Mac Pro and it's ancient processors. I guess I'll just keep closing and reopening and deal with it. Better Pages than anything else.


FYI, wordcount appears on all of my other docs just fine. It just disappears on the behemoth whenever I switch between docs.

Jun 9, 2024 1:41 PM in response to Lita Kaufman

I just opened two separate Pages documents and then merged them into two tabs. I noticed that one document showed a page count and the one I mentioned above continued to show its word count. This suggests to me that Pages stores the individual count setting in the document, not in Pages Settings.


Still cannot explain your particular document's behavior and the periodic count panel disappearance.

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Wordcount keeps disappearing

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