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iWork 09 Pages will not open

I have iWork 09 Pages on a MacBook with Maverick. Documents I have opened recently and updated are available through new Pages icon, but today old icon will not open, and I am unable to access most of my documents.

notebook, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Apr 20, 2015 2:52 PM

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9 replies

Apr 20, 2015 3:40 PM in response to jammecoy

Once you open and edit Pages '09 documents in Pages v5, they are no longer backwards compatible with Pages '09. You must export them to Pages '09 from Pages v5. If you have older Pages '08 documents, these will not open in Pages v5 due to dropped support. You must first open them in Pages '09, and then either save as a Pages '09 document, or Word .doc, before opening in Pages v5.

Apr 20, 2015 7:10 PM in response to jammecoy

A few thoughts.

  • Have you used Disk Utility to verify/repair permissions on your boot drive?
  • Have you held down the shift key while launching Pages '09?
  • Did you attempt to update a OS X App Store downloaded Pages '09 with the Apple iWork 9.3 updater?

    This will destroy the App Store sourced iWork '09 applications, including Pages '09.

  • Did you recently run any so-called cleaner applications that may have overzealously removed parts of Pages '09?
  • Are you running a Font management application, and/or inadvertently removed System fonts that Pages '09 requires for operation?
  • Have you moved Pages '09 application bundle to an external drive?


There's the short list. Pages '09 won't just stop working unless something has compromised it.

Apr 21, 2015 3:02 AM in response to VikingOSX

  • Disk Utility says disk ok.
  • Holding shift key while launching just produces "the application 'Pages' cannot be opened,"
  • iWork '09 originally installed (in '09) from dvd. On 13 April I installed Security Update 2015-004 1.0; Safari 7.1.5; Remote Desktop Client Update 3.8.2v1.1; and iTunes 12.1.2. iWork update version 5.5.2 rejected as "incompatible."

Don't believe I did any other listed possibilities.

As you might guess, I am a casual user, not very tech-smart. Thanks for your suggestions.

Apr 21, 2015 3:27 AM in response to jammecoy

If you copied the iWork '09 DVD applications from one computer to another, this won't work, as they will have to be reinstalled from the DVD. If all you did was install the iWork '09 DVD, then these applications must be updated to work on Yosemite. Download, and install the Apple iWork 9.3 updater. This will give you the most current versions of these applications, including Pages '09 v4.3. Run Disk Utility and verify/repair permissions again on your boot drive.

Apr 21, 2015 5:34 AM in response to VikingOSX

I'm still on the Mavericks system--it slowed my computer down so much I haven't installed Yosemite. So much of the new stuff is related to linking, and I have only my original computer (so apps were not copied)--no iPhone, no iPad--that I thought updating would just slow me down more. Also, there seemed to be mostly negative comments in reviews.


Can I go ahead and install the Apple iWork updater with Mavericks, or is it necessary to update to Yosemite?


Thank you for your patience with my ignorance.

Apr 21, 2015 5:51 AM in response to jammecoy

The Apple iWork 9.3 updater only updates the iWork '09 DVD applications. It has no effect on Mavericks.


If Mavericks is slow on your MacBook, the most likely culprits are these:

  • Insufficient memory, disk nearly full, running too many applications simultaneously for the preceding constraints
  • Lower power CPU and slow internal storage
  • Running third-party anti-virus, anti-malware, and/or so-called cleaner applications. These will all slow your Mac down.
  • Incompatible older third-party drivers that are causing system conflicts and eating performance.

Apr 21, 2015 8:21 AM in response to VikingOSX

OK! I went to the app store and don't know what version of the iWork updates I installed--except it was the "last compatible update." To do so I had to force quit the old Pages app (though it would not launch). Don't know whether the solution was one or both of these actions, but now all my old documents show up in the new pages, and I am happy once more. Thank you so very much for guiding me through this!

iWork 09 Pages will not open

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