How to Recover Unsaved/Lost/Deleted Pages Document on Mac

Pages is a word processing application for Mac users that features advanced functions such as spell check, grammar check, and style sheets. It isn't uncommon for any Mac user to lose Pages documents at any given time.

If you accidentally delete or lose important Pages documents, don't worry. Here, we've gathered several practical methods to help you recover Pages documents on your Mac in the following three situations:

Please provide the English content you want translated, and I'll do my best to translate it into Chinese.

Quick Guide:

If you closed a Pages document without clicking “Save,” the methods in Part 1 will help recover your unsaved Pages document. If you accidentally deleted your Pages file or reformatted the folder that contains your Pages document, the methods in Part 2 will be more useful. If you replaced your Pages file with a new document of the same name, the methods in Part 3 can help.

If you have accidentally deleted or lost your Pages document, don't panic. You can still recover the lost Pages file on your Mac with the right method.

Part 1: How to Recover Unsaved Pages Document on Mac

Applies to: Recover unsaved Pages documents, or a Pages file you closed without saving.

If you accidentally close a Pages document without saving it, don't worry – you may still be able to recover its contents.

Also, make sure not to save any new files to the folder or location where your Pages file is stored. Now, follow any of the methods from this article to recover unsaved Pages:

• #1. Recover unsaved Pages document with file recovery tools
• #2. Restore unsaved Pages via Auto Save
• #3. Retrieve unsaved Pages from the Temp folder
• #4. Find unsaved documents in Finder

Now, let's see how to recover unsaved Pages document on Mac.

Method 1: Recover an Unsaved Page Document Using a Recovery Tool

Recently, Mac file recovery software has added a feature that enables Mac users to recover unsaved documents, including recover unsaved Word document, unsaved Pages, unsaved Keynote, and so on.

With a Mac data recovery tool, it's just a few simple steps to get back your unsaved Pages document. Let's recover your Pages file now:

Note: You can create a backup by first clicking Disk Backup on the left. You can then restore data from the backup image when a disk fails or when unsaved documents on the disk are accidentally deleted or lost.

Step 1: Select the Disk

Launch Disk Drill for Mac. Hover the mouse over the device with the unsaved files and click “Search for Lost Files.”

Step 2: Choose the unsaved document

When the scan is finished, click “Type,” then expand “Unsaved Documents.” Click on the specific file type that you weren't able to save – Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Keynote, Pages, or Numbers.

Step 3: Preview and recover the unsaved files

Preview unsaved files by double-clicking them, choose the correct version, and then click “Recover” to save the file to a secure location on your Mac.

Method 2: Restore an Unsaved Page Document via Auto-Save

Automatic Saving is turned on by default and works as soon as you save a document once. This means that as long as your Pages document has been saved at least once, you can use Automatic Saving to recover unsaved content.

Here's how you should do it:

Step 1: Check if Auto Save is Enabled

Step 1: Open System Preferences > General.

Step 2: Make sure that the Ask me if I want to save changes when closing documents option is not selected.

If it is not, the AutoSave feature was on, and you can proceed to the next steps. If it is, you might want to seek assistance from a file recovery tool, as recommended in Method 1.

#2. Restore unsaved pages that were auto-saved

Here's how to locate your Pages documents:

Step 1: Find a Pages document.

Step 2: Open it in Pages.

Step 3: Go to File > Recent Documents > Find the Pages document you recently opened.

Step 4: Choose the format you need and save the new file.

Method 3: Recover an Unsaved Page from the Temp Folder

Aside from the Auto Save feature, you can also try looking for an unsaved Pages document in your Mac's temporary files. Here's how:

Step 1: Click on “Applications” > “Utilities,” and then double-click on “Terminal.”

Step 2: In Terminal, enter open $TMPDIR, and you'll jump to the TMP folder.

The TMP folder is used to hold temporary files.

Step 3: Inside the “TMP” folder, find and open the folder named “TemporaryItems.”

Step 4: Find the unsaved Pages file you need, right-click on it, and choose "Open With…" followed by Pages.

Step 5: Save the Pages file elsewhere by choosing File > Save As.

Method 4: Find Unsaved Documents in Finder

Step 1: Open the "Finder" app on your Mac and click "File" followed by "Find."

Step 2: Search for “This Mac,” and limit the search to “Documents.”

Step 3: Click on the second tab under “View” to see the results of your search.

Step 4: Locate your unsaved Pages file and save it to your desktop or another location.

Part 2: How to Recover Lost or Deleted Pages Document on Mac

Applies to: Recover lost or deleted Pages documents, get back missing Pages files from Mac.

When you lose or delete a Pages file on your Mac, make sure not to save any new documents. The sooner you act, the higher the chances of recovering a deleted or lost Pages document from your Mac.

When you accidentally delete a Pages file or empty the Pages folder on your Mac, don't panic. Here, we've also rounded up 3 effective solutions to help you:

• #1. Recover Deleted or Lost Pages Documents with a Recovery Tool
• #2. Recover Deleted Pages Documents from the Trash
• #3. Restore Lost/Deleted Pages Documents from Time Machine Backup

Now, let's see how to get back lost or deleted Pages document files on Mac.

Method 1: Recover Lost/Deleted Pages Document Using a Recovery Tool

Reliable Mac data recovery software - Data Recovery Wizard for Mac provides professional solutions to help you recover emptied Mac Trash, retrieve lost Photoshop files, and recover deleted files from SD card on Mac.

With it, you can successfully recover lost/deleted Pages documents. Don't hesitate. Give it a try.

Here are the steps to retrieve lost or deleted Pages documents on Mac using a data recovery wizard tool:

Note: You can create a backup by first clicking “Disk Backup” on the left. The software will then restore your documents from the backup image. This is safer and more reliable, as it prevents further damage to your disk and data.

Step 1: Scan the Lost Document

Select the location where your important Word/Excel/PPT/Numbers/Pages document was lost and click “Search Lost Files”.

Step 2: Look for the Lost Document on Your Mac

The tool “Mac Data Recovery Wizard” will immediately start scanning the disk volume you've selected. The scan results will be displayed in the left pane. Choose “Documents” to quickly filter out previously lost DOC/PDF/PPT/XLS files.

Step 3: Recover Lost/Deleted Documents

Select the files you need and preview them by double-clicking. Then, click “Recover” to get your lost files back all at once.

Method 2: Restore the Page from the Recycle Bin

Note that you can also recover a deleted Pages file from the Trash on a Mac. Here's how:

Step 1: Double click to open the Trash and find the deleted Pages document.

Step 2: Control-click the Pages file and choose Put Back.

After that, you can re-open and view the recovered Pages file at its original location.

Method 3: Restore a Pages Document on Mac with Time Machine

If you have Time Machine turned on and have backed up important Pages documents from your Mac, you can use Time Machine to restore them as follows:

Step 1: Launch Time Machine.

Step 2: Choose “Backup,” then select “Pages documents.”

Step 3: Click on "Recover" to get your lost Pages document back.

Part 3: Recover Replaced Pages Document on Mac

Applies to: Restored replacement Pages document files from a previous version.

Note: If you accidentally replaced a Pages document with a new file of the same name, you may be able to recover it from a previous Time Machine backup, as shown in Part 2 of Method 3.

But if you don't have a backup, your last resort is to try finding the replaced Pages document in a previous version. Here's what you need to do:

Step 1: Open the replaced document in Pages.

Step 2: Select “File,” then click “Recover To,” and choose “Browse all versions.”

Step 3: Use the "Previous" or "Next" buttons to view earlier versions, and then click "Restore" to save your replacement Page document.

Recover Lost Pages Documents and Backup Regularly

On this page, we've rounded up 8 reliable ways to help you effectively recover deleted, lost, unsaved, or even replaced Pages documents on your Mac. To find a viable solution, you might want to give the Data Recovery Wizard for Mac tool a try.

With just a few clicks, it can recover deleted, lost, or even unsaved Pages files.

It's also important to back up your Pages document files regularly to prevent losing them. That way, you can recover your file at any time.