Pages won't open document

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Level 8

41,241 points

Pages won't open document

We are getting an increased number of users all with files that refuse to open in Pages 5, particularly Pages 5.1.

I have gone over several of them and been unable to correct the problem, only able to open the Document.iwa sub file in the package to look at the mix of text snippets and I presume .xml.

Apple reportedly has also examined these and been unable to rectify them.

To aid some kind of resolution I ask that users who have had the problem post here, detailing the last things they did with the file and whether there is anything particular to the files that may be leading to the problem.

Particularly relevant would be where and how the files were last saved.

Are they being transferred or backed up to iCloud?

Are you using 3rd party syching or backup solutions like DropBox?

Are they being re-edited on iDevices, iWork for iCloud beta or back and forth from Word .doc?

Were there any preceeding warnings or difficulties of any kind with the document?

Or anything else you can think of.

Thank you,

Peter

Posted on Mar 19, 2014 5:37 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Cabana boy

Level 1

4 points

Oct 22, 2017 8:04 AM in response to PeterBreis0807

I had this problem running Pages 6.3 with documents saved to my iCloud desktop. Apple Support told me to shut down my computer, and upon restart, hold down Option, Command, P, and R all together as it restarts. It fixed my problem. See How to reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

Mark

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Answer 2

Feb 7, 2018 1:44 AM in response to PeterBreis0807

Hi Peter.

Thanks for your reply.

I did not change the extension when I renamed the file on my Mac.

When in Pages in iOS I can see the document with its new name. But when I click to open nothing happens.

When in the Files app in iOS I can see the file with its new name. When I click on it it launches the Pages app and successfully opens the document where I can continue to edit it.

Hope this helps.

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Answer 3

Nov 30, 2017 10:13 AM in response to novasuecia

Sierra installed and Pages upgraded - the file can now be opened. Thanks again!

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Answer 4

PeterBreis0807 Author

Level 8

41,241 points

Jan 2, 2018 4:19 PM in response to Tim Holloway

What version of Mac Pro? surely you can install Sierra and High Sierra unless it is really ancient.

Sounds like you have a version conflict between your iPad Pages files and your Mac software. The latest version of Pages on Mac is 6.3.1 and probably your iPad is using that format as well, which Pages 5.6.1 can’t open.

Apple has managed to build in massive incompatibility into its Office Software of choice.

Peter

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Answer 5

Sep 9, 2017 1:19 PM in response to cathyshaughnessy

Cathy,

We probably need some more information to figure out what's going on, such as:

What version of Pages are you running? (Check in Pages > About Pages.)
Do you know what version of Pages the problem documents were created with?
In what format are these documents you're trying to open? You've said Word, which could be .docx or .doc, but then you've mentioned PDF also. Did you create your resume in Pages, then export it as a PDF? If so, do you still have the original Pages document?
If the document is a .doc or .docx, does it open in TextEdit?

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Answer 6

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,422 points

Nov 21, 2017 8:53 AM in response to Max Burbidge

If you are emailing a Pages document from iOS, then it will be attached as filename.pages.zip file. When you receive it in your Mac email, save that zipped attachment to your Desktop. In the Finder, double-click it to uncompress, and then open it with Pages normally.

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Answer 7

PeterBreis0807 Author

Level 8

41,241 points

Nov 29, 2017 1:12 AM in response to novasuecia

Are you saving to Google Drive?

At one point Pages 5 was not happy with 3rd party servers, I can't remember which version fixed the problem.

We are up to Pages 6.3.1 now.

Peter

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Answer 8

Jan 2, 2018 4:02 PM in response to PeterBreis0807

I have also been using an iPad and Pages to write - both updated to latest versions - iPad Air 2 64gb running 11.2.1, PAGES VERSION 3.3.1. I can open pages docs on this. However, I am having the same issues on my Mac Pro 4.1, I'm using OSX 10.11.6 (the latest version possible on this Mac Pro, I believe) and Pages 5.6.1.

I can no longer save documents as Pages docs on Mac - I get the error - 'The file "untitled" couldn't be opened' at the end of the saving process. I have tried exporting them in a different format but this doesn't work either. It will also not open any documents from iCloud, though I can seem to open some documents saved on the Mac which were not made on the iPad or were created a while ago. The only way I can open it from the Mac Pro is by using the iCloud via Safari and open with the online version of Pages.

I feel thorough irritated and cheated of the functionality I expect.

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Answer 9

Feb 7, 2018 1:30 AM in response to PeterBreis0807

I created a blank document using Pages on my iPhone X and saved to iCloud.

I had no issues until I renamed the document on my Mac

Now I cannot open the document directly from Pages in iPhone but I can open the document on my iPhone if I open via the Files app

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Answer 10

PeterBreis0807 Author

Level 8

41,241 points

Oct 13, 2017 7:00 PM in response to sguarasc

right click on the file icon in Mail > Save > pick somewhere on your hard drive

Try sending using Mail instead of gMail and see if it makes a difference.

Peter

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Answer 11

Peggy

Level 8

41,847 points

Oct 23, 2017 8:39 AM in response to MonicaLuse

Your question has nothing to do with Pages for Mac which is the focus of this forum. Your question is best asked in the iWork for iOS forum. You might even find your question has already been covered there. If not, I suggest you post a new topic.

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Answer 12

PeterBreis0807 Author

Level 8

41,241 points

Nov 14, 2017 3:16 PM in response to Dan-el

I am not familiar with Readdle and maybe you should go to their support:

https://readdle.com/support

From what I have quickly read Readdle only lets you read .pages files, I am not sure how it stores them. Pages 5 & 6 have had problems with 3rd Party servers, again I have no knowledge of how Readdle handles them.

Supported file formats - Readdle Knowledge Base

Apps on iOS are either automatically updated or updated via the iOS App Store. I know no way of either going back a version or selectively using versions.

Peter

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Answer 13

Nov 20, 2017 2:45 AM in response to PeterBreis0807

Since I updated the operating system last week I can't open any Pages documents.

I have everything in iCloud. I have checked many documents, some recently created some a couple of years old and nothing happens with any of them. Some have been opened on my iPad as well, some have not. Files that are listed under - open recent - won't open either. I downloaded a Word document from an email and tried to get Pages to open it and nothing happened there either. As far as I can see all my files are now inaccessible. Although as stated by previous posters I can see the document in preview. I have Dropbox but don't sync anything to it.

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Answer 14

jca0670

Level 1

8 points

Nov 20, 2017 8:36 PM in response to PeterBreis0807

I am having the same problems. I can't open any files that I have created. The App crashes and I have had an error window pop up under certain circumstances. my files are saved to iCloud I can open the document int he web browser and print it but can't open it locally after i has been saved. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling but nothing changed. the error message is "The owner stopped sharing, or you don’t have permission to open it."

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Answer 15

Nov 27, 2017 11:29 AM in response to PeterBreis0807

Since iPad upgraded a week or so ago (iOS 11.1.2), I find Siri very slow but, more importantly, I can't create a new Pages document. If I try to create a new document I get the following error message: iPad PAGES DBQueuedUploadManagerErrorDomain error 0. "(null)" can't be opened right now. Pages couldn't read the file

Existing documents seem to open ok and can be edited (though fonts are lost and replaced with other fonts).

Sylvie

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