Q: My Numbers program changed yesterday while I was working on a document and now I can't open it.  I get a message telling me I need a newer version to open the document.  All the others seem to open OK.  I HAVE NOT PURCHASED THE NEW VERSION.  What happened

sailor,

Youi need to pay close attention to which version of Numbers you are using. It's possible that you got the new version in an Update All action. Once you open a Numbers document in version 3, version 2 is no longer able to open it because the file struction has been modified.

Use Spotlight to search for Numbers. Choose the Numbers - Applications result. That's the new one and the only one that will reopen a document that has been edited in Numbers 3. Spotlight will identify Numbers 2 as Numbers - iWork.

Jerry

Don't delete the old version! The new versions of the iWork apps are shadows of the former versions & many users chose to continue with the old. As Jerry said, just make sure which version you are using. Once a file has been changed by the new version, you may not be able to successfully revert it to the iWork '09 format as unsupported features will be dropped & can't be recovered.

Hi Sailor,

It is pretty amazing you got a new version without even knowing it.

In System Preferences > App Store you can turn off the automatic updates by unchecking "Install app updates" as I've done here:

If you're using Numbers across platforms and displaying dynamic output on the iPad or doing data entry there, you'll be *much* happier with Numbers 3.0 than the old version. If you're doing a lot of traditional printing of heavily formatted documents, the old version is much better.  For most day-to-day uses in between it's a toss-up.  The new version, despite its flaws, is a powerful application that can enhance productivity in ways the old version can't.

For more on the differences between the two, see the features gained, features lost, and workarounds threads, plus Apple's support document on features to be reintroduced in the coming months .

SG

Jerry, I have the same problem as sailor:  can't open my most recent numbers document though am not aware of having installed an update.  I went ahead and un-checked "install app updates" after reading a message from SG. But I still have the problem of not being able to open a couple of important documents.  Not sure from your message if there is a "fix" for this, other than purchasing the new version.  If I do so, will I still be able to open documents created with numbers 09?  And, would you please explain further about opening numbers -applications and numbers - iwork on spotlight?  I don't quite get how to do that.  Thanks much. 

If you had the old version on your Mac you do not need to purchase the new version. It's a free download.

Once you've installed the new version it will be in your Documents folder. The old version will be in a subfolder within Documents named iWork '09.

The icons are similar. Here the old version is on the top, the new version on the bottom. They can both run at the same time.

A document opened in the new version is converted to the new format.  The old version cannot open that format. Only the new version located in Applications, not the subfolder, can open it. However you can export a document back to the old format via File > Export to > Numbers '09...

SG

Thank you! Your solution worked beautifully.  i was able to export the new data into Numbers 09, plus I now have icons for each version on my dock, just in case.    Huge relief!

All Creatures.