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Level 1

67 points

"The index.xml file is missing"

I am unable to open a Numbers file. I get the "The index.xml file is missing" window. I see that this has happened a lot on Pages and some on Numbers. Trying all the recommendations posted here and other places, none of them work. I could open the file with Numbers 2.1. I pulled an older copy of the file from Time Machine and tried to open it with Numbers 2.1, but I get the same result. How very odd. I've also tried Numbers 1.0.3, to no avail.

Using "Show Package Contents" I can see this:

I've tried unzipping the index.zip fike, does not help.

I hope someone has some suggestions. Thanks in advance.

Posted on Nov 1, 2013 12:22 PM

42 replies

rexlast

Level 1

4 points

Jan 14, 2015 3:19 AM in response to Dutchboy777

My solution if it's useful is to download the latest version of Pages 5.1.1. Then use Finder to locate your pages file and right click on it. Open With 5.1.1 and it should work. Nul points to Apple for that.

Rex Last

aperr156

Level 1

0 points

Feb 2, 2015 10:38 AM in response to Dutchboy777

This happened to me too after I updated to Yosemite but if you are desperate to get your files back ( I put a lot of time into those files so I was!), you can open them in preview then take screen shots of them (command,shift 3 for full screen or 4 for a selection). You can then print them or re-type into a new spreadsheet. The resolution may not be great but they are readable...

gp066

Level 1

0 points

Feb 15, 2015 2:43 PM in response to Dutchboy777

I've just got this message for the first time (Yosemite 10.10.2, Numbers 3.5.2) and it was on a couple of files I had been working on. Right clicking on the file and forcing it to open with the this version of numbers (which is the default anyway) got the files to open again! I know that makes no sense but it's working for me.

Mar 14, 2015 4:35 PM in response to rexlast

I just spoke to an Apple adviser, after getting the error message below while working with Pages 5.5.2"

"The index.xml file is missing"

His "fix" was really simple: "Close Pages 4.3."

I have pages 5.5.2 on my Mac. I had just created a file using 5.5.2, closed it, and when I tried to reopen it, I got the above error message..

I also have page 4.3 on my Mac. It was also open.

The Apple adviser explaned that if I closed 4.3, I could double click on the 5.5.2 file and it would open as usual. It worked!

He explained if both 4.3 and 5.5.2 are open, my Mac will try to open 5.5.2 with the older 4.3 app - which won't work.

rusto

Level 2

220 points

Apr 14, 2015 9:03 AM in response to gp066

Uninstalling/Reinstalling Numbers 3.5.2 did the trick for me when I got the "index xml file is missing" error this morning.

Apr 24, 2015 2:58 AM in response to rusto

This just worked for me: I opened the file in Preview, used "Move to …" from the file menu to move it out of iCloud to my HD, quit Numbers 3.52, then reopened the file using the Finder. Fingers crossed.

Jul 9, 2015 10:38 AM in response to Dutchboy777

All this is very interesting (how to fix the problem) but how do you KEEP IT FROM HAPPENING AGAIN????? I don't want to have to jump through hoops because I'm having this problem with numbers or pages!

SGIII

Level 8

35,324 points

Jul 9, 2015 12:41 PM in response to peggydobro

peggydobro wrote:

how do you KEEP IT FROM HAPPENING AGAIN?????

Basically, the idea is to be sure to open those documents with the latest version of Numbers or Pages, not the previous versions of the apps (which are still on your Mac, in a subfolder within the main Applications folder). The latest versions of the apps are in the main Applications folder, not the subfolder. It can help to make sure any icons you have on the Dock point to the latest versions.

Yellowbox

Level 7

20,383 points

Jul 9, 2015 4:37 PM in response to peggydobro

Hi Peggy,

Numbers '09 and Pages '09 are in a sub folder called iWork '09 inside your Applications folder. Drag them to the Dock to create icons.

On my dock I have Numbers '09, Numbers 3, Pages '09, Pages 5

They will all run at the same time. Just be sure which version you use to open a document.

Wayne has written a User Tip for working with the old and new versions of iWork.

Need newer version of Numbers to open file

Regards,

Ian.

Aug 7, 2015 6:04 PM in response to rexlast

This helped me! I was having issues opening the file and getting the same message as everyone. Thanks for sharing!

Dec 2, 2015 12:22 AM in response to Dutchboy777

I recently started getting this for both local Numbers documents and ones in iCloud. It turned out that it was an older version of Numbers that was launching. When I launched it with the latest I have (3.5.1) they opened fine. Presumably the format changed that the older Numbers doesn't realize it it looking at an updated format.

Jan 15, 2016 9:16 AM in response to Jim Hoagland

So, how does one correct the problem, for once and all? Even if a document is created with the latest Numbers version, the message still pops up and the document must be opened with "right click>open with>latest numbers version."

Thanks.

Jan 27, 2016 6:36 AM in response to JayMiller3

This solution works but I agree that Apple needs to fix this ONGOING problem.

SGIII

Level 8

35,324 points

Jan 27, 2016 7:29 AM in response to colleenfromon

colleenfromon wrote:

This solution works but I agree that Apple needs to fix this ONGOING problem.

Not sure this is a "problem".🙂 As with many apps on many platforms (not just the Mac) you need to use the latest version of the app to open documents created by that latest version. Do that, and all is well.

Feb 20, 2016 11:27 AM in response to Jim Conley

This worked for me too! I did the following:

I opened a Numbers file already on my HD using Preview,
moved that file to another location on my same HD,
quit Numbers,
quit Preview,
opened Finder and opened the Numbers file using Finder.

Since then I have been able to open normally. What's strange is that I had a copy of the same Numbers file on my Desktop. Before I did the fix, I could not open it. After the fix, it could the Numbers file on my desktop as usual. Odd that simply moving one Numbers file corrected the problem for multiple Numbers files.

"The index.xml file is missing"