Pages 09 - spellcheck / proofreader not working

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AC1977 Author

Level 1

4 points

Pages 09 - spellcheck / proofreader not working

Hey,

Spell check has stopped working on Pages 09. It doesn't check the text and doesn't launch when directly clicked on. This is the same for proofreader too. I have gone through forums and tried all the answers I found including copying and pasting text from text edit, deleting my pages preferences in the library, selecting text and changing the language in inspector, relaunching etc. Nothing seems to work. Its like this entire side of the package is not working. I can't figure it out and need to get this up and running for a paper. Could revert to word, but I bought pages 1 month ago and am loath to revert if at all possible. Any assistance gratefully welcomed.

Kind regards

Andrew

MacBook Pro, iOS 5.1.1

Posted on May 22, 2012 12:32 PM

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Answer 1

Peggy

Level 8

41,601 points

May 22, 2012 2:45 PM in response to AC1977

This problem is commonly due to corrupt preferences but, as you say you've tried that, it could be a problem with the application itself, although that is extremely uncommon. To determine if it's a problem with the application try running Pages in another user account. If it works there the problem would not be with the application but something in your account. If it is your account, I'd try deleting the com.apple.iwork.pages.plist file again. This is located in HD > Users > (your account) > Library > Preferences.

If you're using Lion, go to Finder & hold down the Option key while clicking on the Go menu & your users Library will appear about halfway down the list.

If it doesn't work in another user account the next step would be to uninstall & then reinstall Pages/iWork '09. You need to delete the trial & then reinstall from the boxed DVD or the Mac App Store. The files to delete are the iWork ’09 folder from the main HD > Applications; the iWork ’09 folder in HD > Library > Application Support & the individual iWork application plist files found in HD > Users > (your account) > Library > Preferences for each user.

Yvan Koenig has written an AppleScript that removes the files. You can find it on his box.com account in for_iWork'09 > other_iWork'09 items > uninstall iWork '09.zip.

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Answer 2

AC1977 Author

Level 1

4 points

May 23, 2012 1:18 AM in response to Peggy

Many thanks Peggy,

I both ran the programme in other user accounts and fully uninstalled it and redownloaded it from the app store. Neither solved the problem I'm afraid. I retried deleting preferences and this had no effect either. The spell check section of the programme doesn't appear to exist - the normal box doesn't open when you click on 'check spelling', no words are marked when 'check spelling as you type' is selected. The proofreader tools don't launch either.

It looks like its not a runner, I wonder if apple give money back on duff apps?

Kind regards

Andrew

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Answer 3

May 23, 2012 5:42 AM in response to AC1977

Hi Andrew

I searched this forum and found two possible causes:

1) Spell check stopped working for one user when they opened a Microsoft Word document and saved it as a Pages document. They worked around the problem by copying everything in the document and pasting it into a new Pages document.

2) Turning off the Language settings turns off the spell check (ie there's no language to spell check?). See https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2668277?answerId=13213858022#13213858022

Cheers.

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Answer 4

AC1977 Author

Level 1

4 points

May 23, 2012 6:02 AM in response to Dale Gillard

Hi Dale,

I'm afraid I tried both those approaches several times, using new docs, and copy and pasting into and out of text edit. I also tried using the language settings as you suggested. Still no change - the spell check and proofreader dialogue boxes don't even open.

Thanks for your time though.

Andrew

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Answer 5

AC1977 Author

Level 1

4 points

May 23, 2012 6:06 AM in response to AC1977

Not that it helps I have just noticed that the check spelling function does not work for any mac software on my computer - ie safari, text edit, keynote, numbers. The only packages that it does work for are Microsoft Word and Vectorworks (CAD package)

Really baffled now.

Kind regards

Andrew

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Answer 6

fruhulda

Level 6

15,161 points

May 23, 2012 10:16 AM in response to AC1977

Try installing the system again. If you have Snow LEopard or above it is enough yo just install again on top of everything and do the updates.

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Answer 7

May 25, 2012 4:09 AM in response to AC1977

Andrew,

I was having the same problem, and discovered the asnwer on a different thread. Check and change the language settings for the document you are working on. Open the inspector, select all the text for the whole document, go to TEXT, then MORE. Then check the language drop down. My guess is, it will indicate, "none." Choose the language you are working with, and you should be set.

As I read in the other post, this tends to happen when we copy and paste text from other word processing apps like MS Word or Google Docs. In the doc I was working on, I had, in fact, copied and pasted a paragraph from a previous MS Word doc I had written several years prior. When I edited that paragraph, Pages was not spell checking only that paragraph.

Give it a shot!

DJC

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Answer 8

AC1977 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 11, 2012 9:40 AM in response to fruhulda

Many thanks - the re-install solved it. The same problem occured with several colleagues and we worked out what the problem was - we had all installed mackeeper, and it appears to have overzealously cleaned up some useful dictionaries. Many thanks for the advice to all.

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