When Pages saves my work as I write does it save to the same file I opened or do I need to 'autorecover' it .
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
autosave in Pages
- Thread starter georgebarndadinothesecond
- Start date
-
- Tags
- pages app
- Sort by reaction score
Yes, Pages as well as Apple's other iWork Apps, Numbers and Keynote saves your work as you go. You can get back to prior versions by choosing Revert To and then Browse All Versions
It will then bring up a window showing all the prior versions, which you can then use go 'back in time' to select the one you want to revert to and click Restore.
As it saves in the background, if you want to preserve the original file then select 'Duplicate' as soon as you open the file (or before you make any changes).
Alternatively if you press the ⌥ Option Key when you press the File menu the 'Duplicate' option changes to 'Save As' if you want to keep the original version of the file then deselect the 'Keep changes in the original document' checkbox.
It will then bring up a window showing all the prior versions, which you can then use go 'back in time' to select the one you want to revert to and click Restore.
As it saves in the background, if you want to preserve the original file then select 'Duplicate' as soon as you open the file (or before you make any changes).
Alternatively if you press the ⌥ Option Key when you press the File menu the 'Duplicate' option changes to 'Save As' if you want to keep the original version of the file then deselect the 'Keep changes in the original document' checkbox.
Last edited:
Is this feature well-received? A friend tells me that no good word processor would have such a feature. He believes that a word processor should offer auto-recovery but not automatically save to the original document.
I want autosave and he tells me that no-one in their right mind and with their wits about them would choose such a feature. What is the community response to this feature?
I want autosave and he tells me that no-one in their right mind and with their wits about them would choose such a feature. What is the community response to this feature?
The feature works well and your friend doesn't know what he is talking about with Apple Pages.
Sounds like someone coming from the Windows world.
Ironically, MS 365 now does autosaves just like Apple does.
I have many not-so-fond memories of frantic searches for lost document edits in Windows.
It was controversial when it was first introduced with Mac OS X Lion in 2011. However at the time there was no ability to use the ⌥ Option key to show 'Save As' instead of 'Duplicate'. This was introduced later, presumably due to user feedback. I have not seen people complain about it much these days.
It takes a little getting used to, and I have never had a problem with it. It avoids the problem of accidentally hitting the Don't save button when closing a document that you have been working on for a while. With the new functionality you can still get back to your prior version if you need to, if you forget to duplicate before making changes or use the 'Save As' option.
Hey, how do you turn on autosave for Pages on macOS Ventura, I can't find the setting ? Thank you
The first time you save a document, you name it and choose where to save it — on your desktop or in a folder, for example. Thereafter, Pages automatically saves your document as you work. You can rename a document at any time or create a duplicate of it with a different name.
Apple have moved the setting depending which version of Mac OS you are using. If you have upgraded to Ventura then it has moved again ( It was in the Settings App - General ). It has now moved to Desktop & Dock in the new System Settings App.
To turn Autosave back on, turn off "Ask to keep changes when closing documents"