[2023] How to Recover Unsaved/Deleted Pages Document on Mac: 8 Tips

iWork Pages is a document type designed by Apple to contend with Microsoft Office Word, but it is easier and more stylish to create files. And this is just the reason why more and more Mac users prefer to work with Pages documents. However, there are possibilities that we may leave a Pages document unsaved due to sudden power off or accidentally closing Pages without saving, or just mistakenly delete a Pages document on Mac.

Here, in this quick guide, we will cover 8 solutions to recover unsaved, deleted or lost pages document on Mac.

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• Recover images, videos, audios, documents, totally 200 types
• Recover files lost under different situations
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• Repair corrupted or unplayable videos
• Filter files with keyword, file size, date for quick recovery
• Preview files before recovery
• Recover to local drive or Cloud
• Compatible on macOS Ventura/Sonoma, M1, M2

Free Download macOS 10.11 or later

Contents

How to Recover Unsaved Pages Document on Mac?

To recover a Pages document that wasn’t saved on Mac, there are 5 solutions listed as following.

Method 1. The Most Efficient Solution to Perform Unsaved Pages Document Recovery on Mac

It has been proved that the most efficient solution for unsaved Pages document recovery is to utilize a professional Data Recovery Program, because Pages AutoSave might fail often.

For Mac users, we highly recommend Cisdem Data Recovery, it provides abundant features to recover deleted PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Pages, Keynote, Numbers and others fast, smartly and efficiently. Also, it supports the latest macOS Sonoma/Ventura and M2 chip.

Main Features of Cisdem Data Recovery for Mac

• Recover Pages, Keynote, Numbers and 1000+ file formats
• Recover files unsaved or lost due to power off, formatting, deletion, virus attack, system crash and so on
• Restore files from both Mac internal and external storage devices
• Repair damaged videos
• Use both quick scan and deep scan to recover any files
• Preview files before recovery
• Recover to local drive or Cloud

Steps to Recover Unsaved, Deleted or Lost Pages Document on Mac

• Step 1. Download and install Cisdem Data Recovery on your Mac.
  Free Download macOS 10.11 or later
• Step 2. Go to Hardware Disk, choose the hard drive where you lost the Pages documents.
• Step 3. Click Search for lost files to start the scanning process, go to Type > Unsaved Documents, or use the filter to find specific Pages document on Mac.
• Step 4. Preview the Pages document before recovery. Then select and recover.

Tips: If you cannot find the unsaved Pages document in Unsaved Documents Folder, you can go to Type > Documents > Pages.

Also, you can check the YouTube tutorial video here:

Method 2. Try Open Recent Function

One quick trick is to make use of the built-in function of Pages --- Open Recent Files. This is how to recover Pages document never saved easily.

• Step 1. Open Pages.
• Step 2. From the top menu, go to File > Open Recent. There could be multiple Pages files that you worked on.
• Step 3. Browse them to open and recover the exact one you need.

Method 3. Use Mac Auto-Save

Auto-save is a part of MacOS, allowing an app to autosave the document users are working on. When you are editing on a document, the changes are saved automatically, there will be no “Save” command appears. If you have turned AutoSave ON and want to recover an unsaved Pages document free without software, use this feature.

Steps to Recover Unsaved Pages Document on Mac with AutoSave

• Step 1. Go to find a Pages Document.
• Step 2. Right click to open with “Pages”.
• Step 3. Now you will see all the Page documents that you leave opening or unsaved are opened. Choose the one you want to restore.
• Step 4. Go to File > Save, and store the Pages document that is unsaved onto your Mac.

Tips: How to Turn on Auto-Save?

Basically, auto-save is turned ON on all Mac, but maybe yours is turned off for some reason. To save your troubles on “Recover unsaved Pages document” in future days, here we recommend you to turn on the Auto-Save.

Go to System Preferences > General, un-check the box before “Ask to keep changes when closing documents”. Then the Auto-save will be ON.

Method 4. Recover Unsaved Pages Document on Mac from Temporary Folders

If you have re-launched the Pages application, but it doesn’t open the unsaved files still, you will need to find the unsaved Pages document in temporary folders.

• Step 1. Go to Finder > Applications > Utilities. 
• Step 2. Find and run Terminal on your Mac.
• Step 3. Input “open $TMPDIR” to Terminal, then press “Enter”.
• Step 4. Find the Pages document you didn’t save in the opened folder. Then open the document and save it.

Method 5. Retrieve the Untitled Pages Document that Wasn’t Saved on Mac

In the case you just create a new Pages document, you don’t have enough time to name the file before any problems happen, and hence have no idea where you stored the Pages document, here is the solution to recover the untitled Pages document that wasn’t saved.

• Step 1. Go to Finder > File > Find.
• Step 2. Choose “This Mac” and select file kind as “Document”.
• Step 3. Right click on the blank area of the toolbar, choose “Date Modified” and “Kind” to arrange files. Then you will be able find your Pages document fast and easily.
• Step 4. Open the found Pages document and save it.

How to Recover Deleted/Lost/Disappeared Pages Document on Mac?

Besides leaving pages document unsaved on Mac, we may sometime mistakenly delete Pages document or an iWork Pages document just went disappeared for unknown reason, then we need to recover deleted, lost or disappeared Pages document on Mac.

The methods to recover deleted/lost Pages document are quite different from those for recovering unsaved Page document. It may require a 3rd party program or a backup. You can use Cisdem Data Recovery to restore deleted or disappeared Pages document as well, but here we will introduce 3 free methods to retrieve your Pages document.

Method 1. Recover Deleted Pages Document on Mac from Time Machine Backup

If you are the one get used to back up files with Time Machine, you are able to recover deleted Pages document with Time Machine. Time Machine is a program allowing users to back up their files onto an external hard drive and find the deleted or lost file back when files are gone or corrupted for some reason.

• Step 1. Click on the Apple icon and go to System Preferences.
• Step 2. Enter Time Machine.
• Step 3. Once you are in Time Machine, open the folder in which you store the Pages document.
• Step 4. Use the arrows and timeline to find your Pages document fast.
• Step 5. Once ready, click “Restore” to recover deleted Pages document with Time Machine.

Method 2. Recover Deleted Pages Document on Mac from Trash Bin

This is an easy yet easily-overlooked way to recover a deleted Pages document. In fact, when we delete a document on the Mac, it is just moved to the Trash bin instead of being permanently deleted. For permanent deletion, we need to go to Trash bin and delete manually. If you haven’t performed the step of “Delete Immediately” in the Trash bin, you can still recover the deleted Pages document.

• Step 1. Go to Trash Bin and find the deleted Pages document.
• Step 2. Right click on the Pages document, choose “Put Back”.
• Step 3. You will find the recovered Pages document appears in the originally saved folder.

Method 3. Recover Partially Deleted Pages Document on Mac via Revert Feature

In the event that your document is still open in Pages while partial changes you’ve made to it have been removed somehow, you can use Revert feature to rescue the deleted Pages document back. This method is also feasible if you need to recover an earlier document version in Pages.

• Step 1. Make sure the document is opened within Pages application.
• Step 2. On the top menu, click File > Revert to > Browse All Versions.
• Step 3. Then choose your version by clicking the up/down button and click “Restore” to recover a deleted Pages document.
• Step 4. Go to File > Save.

Conclusion

In conclusion, no matter you want to recover unsaved Pages document on Mac, or recover deleted Pages document, as long as you use the appropriate method, we are able to find them back. Also, we should always remember that, backup all your important files before your files are gone forever.