How to cancel auto save in Pages

Hi Derek,

I don't believe there's any way to override the autosave behavior — it's just how the software is designed to operate.

Autosave will not, however, affect templates that have actually been saved as templates — as opposed to regular documents that you may be using as templates by adding new stuff to them. Just get these documents in the form you want them, then select from the menu File > Save as Template... Now you can open them as Untitled and edit, modify, save — whatever you want, without affecting the underlying template.

Auto Save does not "wipe out templates".

By definition Templates open as Unnamed.

You have to deliberately save over Templates with exactly the same name.

What you probably are doing is opening documents and changing those hoping to save those as different versions.

Unfortunately Apple has stuffed that up. You now have to anticipate what you are going to do and make a copy to change the document risking that you may have accidentally, inadvertently, or absentmindedly made a change before you did that. A real shocker of a decision by Apple, but just one of many in recent years.

To my knowledge you can not change the default (on recent Macs) behaviour, only lock your files in Finder to protect them. I have to remember what exactly is happening now on older Macs that can't upgrade plus the vast majority of PCs out there and adjust my work accordingly. But Apple can never admit to mistakes so we are stuck with this dud. Along with its shocker grammar and spillchucking that brings my work to a crawl and riddles it with stupid errors.

Peter

New Method:

1. Open your document, resisting temptation to do what you opened it for

2. Immediately do a Save As (command shift s) to make a copy

3. You will notice that the document name at the top of the window is highlighted for you to change, but you can choose to change that at any time by clicking on it and typing a new name in place of what is there.

4. Close the original document before you forget what you have done

5. Remember what it was you opened it for and get on with it 😉

Old Method:

1. Open document and make changes

2. Save As to new name

You can clearly see that the New Method is much simpler and safer! ROTFL!

Peter

I suggest you also change your preferred App for Invoices.

Pages is really not suitable for this and you must be having to do a lot of manual work for budgeting, banking and tax reporting not to mention manually numbering each Invoice.

There are a number of Accountancy Apps far better suited and which should cut down your workload and eliminate human error. My wife swears by Xero. If you don't want to subscribe then any of these other Bookkeeping Apps should work.

Peter

I didn't like Quicken when I became Ski Lodge Treasurer but it actually is quite functional, if a bit crude in appearance and printout by Mac standards.

Didn't help that the person who handed it on to me gave me very bad and contradictory instructions and had filled the invoices with lots of undocumented exceptions.

The important thing was however that it kept the books straight and ultimately worked. MYOB was a disaster by comparison, if you couldn't balance the books at the end of the month you couldn't move onto the next month.

My wife who likes paperwork (unlike me) says Xero is so easy anybody can use it.

We have a lot more choice these days, thank goodness!

Peter