my docs are very slow to open in pages - just a spinning rainbow

Hello mary-s-b,

Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.

I understand from your post that Pages on your Mac is not only very slow to open, but also is becoming unresponsive when you're later using it. I know this must be frustrating, so in order to help get this issue resolved please follow through the information below to help isolate this issue.

To get started, is Pages loading a document when opening? Is this also the same document it's becoming unresponsive when editing? If so, then please open Pages while holding "Shift" on your keyboard. If this opens Pages without any issue, then there is something corrupt with the file you were opening, and it will need to be recreated.

If the issue occurs even while holding Shift and opening Pages, then I next suggest that you try opening Pages in a new user:

reate a test user account

1. From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences.
2. Click the Users & Groups icon in the System Preferences window.
3. Click the lock icon, then enter an administrator name and password.
4. Click the Add button (+) below the list of users.
5. Choose a type of user from the New Account pop-up menu.
6. Give the user a full name, account name, and password.
7. Click OK.
8. Close the System Preferences window.

If there are documents from your original user account that you want to test with, place a copy of these items in the Shared folder in the Users folder. Press the Option key while dragging a file to this folder to create a copy.

Log in to the test user account

Log out of your current user account by choosing Log Out from the Apple menu, then log in to the new account you created. If you're prompted to sign in with your iCloud account or Apple ID when you log in, skip this step.

Try reproducing the issue

Try the same steps that caused the unexpected behavior to appear before. For example, if you were unable to print, try printing from this user account. If you were unable to connect to the Internet, try browsing a website from this user account.

How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac

Does Pages open normally? If so, then you will need to go back to your normal user account, and move some files to the desktop. Moving them to the desktop will cause them to be recreated.

1. With Finder open, in the menu bar click "Go"
2. Hold down the Option key on your keyboard and select "Library"
3. Navigate to the following locations, and drag the files to your desktop: ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.iWork.Pages/Data/Library/Preferences/co m.apple.iWork.Pages.plist and ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.iWork.Pages/Data/Library/Caches
4. Open Pages

If Pages does not open properly in the new user, then you will need to reinstall it. Go back to your normal user account, and delete Pages:

1. In Finder, open the Applications folder and then move Pages to the trash
2. Open the Mac App Store, and follow these instructions to reinstall Pages:

From the Mac App Store

1. Open the Mac App Store.
2. From the top of the window, click Purchases. Your purchased apps will appear.
   
3. Scroll to find the app you want to download.
4. Click Install or Download to the right of the item you want to download. Your app downloads to your computer.

Download your past purchases

Take care.