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

Updated to macOS Data Recovery Tips by Robert on Feb 1, 2024 | Approved by Cesar C

"how to recover a Pages document on Mac. A moment ago, I deleted the documents accidentally by removing the file folder to the trash can and emptied the trash can. Is there any way to find and recover deleted Pages document? Please help, I’m in an emergency." – Jenny

It’s troublesome when you find that you have accidentally deleted, unsaved or lost an important page documents. It has pissed me off several times and that’s why I’d like to write the tips here in this article, telling you full solutions for how to recover deleted page document, how to retrieve deleted Pages document on Mac and how to recover unsaved Pages document. Here are the details:

Quick Navigation
Part 1. How to Recover Deleted Document from Trash Can
Part 2. How to Recover Unsaved Pages Document
Part 3. How to Recover Pages Document on Mac

Part 1. How to Recover Deleted Document from Trash Can

If you accidentally deleted Pages document, then you must have put them to the trash can. If you haven’t emptied the trash can, then you can successfully recover deleted Pages document from the trash without software. Generally, the trash can is at the bottom of your computer, beside the Dock. Click on it, find the pages, right-click to recover deleted Pages document to the original place.

If you have emptied the trash can, then you should check out the part 3 to recover pages document on Mac.

Part 2. How to Recover Unsaved Page Document

It happens if you’re in a hurry, you may forget to save Page documents and confirm the action to close it. There are 2 basic ways to recover unsaved Pages document on Mac.

Method #1. Launch the Pages application which you have used it to edit the unsaved Page document on your Mac. If you have enabled the auto-recover feature, there may be a history version document created. And then, click "File" and select "Revert To" > "Browse All Versions...".

Method #2. When we open or edit a Page file, the system automatically creates a temporary file in the "TemporaryItems" directory. At this time, your program crashes and you don't save it. You can check under this folder to see if there is anything you need.

1. Open the "Finder", select the "applications" on the left side of the page. After then, select the "utility" in the application and click the "Terminal" to to launch it.

2. Type "open $TMPDIR" in the new windows, it will open a new directory. Found the "TemporaryItems" folder and you will see the "~Pages Work File", then change the file format to the default format of the Pages program.

3. Open these files, which may have your unsaved Pages document.

Method #3. You can try your luck by following the Pages recover unsaved document steps:

1. Switch to the Finder and choose "Find" on the top of the File menu.

2. Click on "This Mac" in the search bar and filter the file type by selecting "Document" from "Kind".

3. Choose "As list" from the view menu, and then "Arranged by last modified".

4. If you see any "temporary" or "untitled" that match the time you’re editing your Page document, drag them to the Pages application on the Dock. It will open the Pages documents. If any of them is the one you’re looking for, save it.

If you don't save Word documents due to software crash, sudden power-offs and other problems. You can still use this 2 methods to recover unsaved Word document on Mac.

Part 3. How to Recover Deleted Pages Document on Mac

If you have tried ways mentioned in part 1 and part 2, and still not work, you can try part 3, the best and easiest way to recover deleted Pages document on Mac, saving you time and ensuring a better Pages document recovery result.

Tool needed in the part is iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac. It’s a professional Pages document recovery tool specially designed for users to recover lost or deleted Pages documents on Mac in all kinds of data loss scenarios. It will avoid data overwritten risk after you lost the Pages document and help you recover the needed file correctly. Here is the step-by-step guide for how to recover Pages document on Mac due to deleted, formatted drive, pages crashed, unsaved, emptied trash and more.

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  • It can not only recover deleted/lost Pages document on Mac but also recover PowerPoint, Excel, Word Document, PDF, Photo, Music, Video and more files.
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  • It fully compatible recover Pages document on Mac OS X 10.6 and later or Windows 10/7/8/XP/Vista.
Download for macOS Download for Windows

Note: to ensure a better recover deleted Pages document, you’d better not any anything on your Mac after you lost the Pages document and try the following steps quickly, the sooner the better.

Tutorial for how to recover Pages document on Mac

Click the download button below to get the free Mac data recovery software. Install it on your computer as the way you install other software. If your Mac doesn’t allow you to install it, you should set it up in the Preference: System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General > Allow applications downloaded from > Anywhere.

Step 1. Select File Types to Recover

Launch iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac, then from the main window, keep "Documents" selected and unselect other types of files. It means you only need to scan for Pages documents. It will save you time for the scanning process. Click "Start" button to recover Pages document.

Step 2. Select Drive to Scan

In the following window, all hard drives, including USB drives, are listed. You only need to select the location where you deleted or lost the Pages document and click "Scan" to quickly analyzing and recovering deleted Pages document.

Step 3. Recover Deleted Pages Document on Mac

It will take a while for the software to finish the scanning pages document recovery process. After then, you can see the results are put into categories on the left side. Select Pages and preview. When find the target file, select it and click "Recover". Save it to a folder on your Mac.