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How to open Mac’s .pages file format on Microsoft Windows

How Do I Open Mac’s .pages File Format On Microsoft Windows?

By 29 comments Last updated February 26, 2019

Many iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch owners do not have access to Macs and instead use Windows computers at home or especially, at work.



There are times when we need to edit or review Apple’s native pages file format on Microsoft Windows.

If you try to open a pages document on your Windows PC using Word (or a similar program,) you quickly discover that Word (and similar) does not recognize Apple’s word processing format. .pages files.

Apple .pages are not supported on Windows so you cannot open them using Microsoft Word.

So if you want to show or edit a .pages file on Windows PC, you get errors, and Windows asks you to choose an app to open the file.



So what can you do to review and even edit a pages file on your work or home Windows machine?

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Quick Tips

Try these quick tips to open your Mac .pages documents on your Windows machine

  • Change the extension to zip and try opening it with Microsoft Office or a PDF or JPEG viewer–this works well for older versions of .pages, not so well for newer versions
  • Export file from Pages on your Mac or iOS device as a word document
  • Visit iCloud’s website and upload the pages document and convert it to Word inside iCloud
  • Use third-party converters like CloudConvert or Zamzar to process your .pages into Word, PDF, and other formats

How Do I Open Pages on a Windows PC Using Zip Compression?

Believe it or not, .pages files are basically .zip files with a JPEG thumbnail file of the first page and an optional PDF file of the entire document.

It’s this similarity that allows us to open .pages files on our Windows machines.

#1 Allow Windows To Show File Extensions

Make sure you have your file extensions visible in Windows so you can change the extension of the pages document.

To make file extensions visible, go to Folder Options > View > Uncheck Hide extensions for known file types deselect hide file extensions on Windows

#2 Add The .ZIP Extension

  1. Save a copy of the file (.pages file) locally on your PC so you have two copies of the same file–one to work with and one for backup
  2. Change the name of ONE those copies by right-clicking on the file
  3. Choose Rename
  4. Delete the .pages extension and replace with .zip and press enter to save
  5. For example, let’s say your file name is appletoolbox.pages. Then your file’s name is appletoolbox.zip

#3 Unzip The File

Open (unzip) that zip file, and you can now see the content.

Usually, you’ll find the following three files:

  1. QuickLook (File Folder)
  2. buildVersionHistory.plist
  3. index.xml

# 4 Peek Inside the QuickLook folder Windows QuickLook folder

  1. There, you hopefully find a PDF file with the same name as the original pages file or named Preview. You may also see a JPEG file named Thumbnailwindows preview folder
  2. The JPEG Thumbnail file shows the first page only while the PDF contains the entire document

Don’t See a PDF Inside the QuickLook Folder?

Depending on how the .pages file was saved, there may not be a pdf file.

If you don’t find a pdf inside QuickLook, try another method in this article or use a third-party conversion tool (search for convert .pages to your preferred format like .docx.)

Need Only to view and/or print the file?

  • After saving your file as a .zip, just right-click to unzip the contents.  Remember, locate the preview.pdf file in the QuickLook folder
  • If you choose to print the JPEG file directly, you can just select the Print to PDF option
  • If you are printing from the photos app, it defaults to Microsoft Print to PDF

#5 Convert The Pages Zipped File to a Docx or Doc File

How to open Mac’s .pages file format on Microsoft Windows

  • First, try and open your .zip file directly in Microsoft Word or Office–see if it recognizes the file and unzips it without any further intervention
  • If Office/Word doesn’t recognize it AND you want to edit the .pages file, open the PDF file inside of the QuickLook folder and then save it as a PDF first, and finally convert it to a Word document
  • The PDF should contain your document’s complete content. If you also have Adobe Acrobat Pro, you can save a PDF as a Word Document

Don’t See a QuickLook Folder At All?

It means the version of Pages that created the document does not support QuickLook and therefore, does not create the QuickLook folder.

To work with your .pages file, try the tips to export your .pages file using other methods outlined in this article.

If You Need to Edit Your .pages File, Export It

  1. Open Pages
  2. Click File
  3. Scroll down to Export
  4. Click the OK
  5. Select the Word format or whatever format you prefer (RTF is a good universal format)How to open Mac’s .pages file format on Microsoft Windows
  6. Choose Next
  7. Save your file, so that Microsoft Word opens it on your Windows PC
If at all possible, we recommend that if you’re working with a Pages document, it’s best to open it in Pages, then Export as Word Document or RTF.

That way, your document is fully formatted for Word, Mac or Windows. When you save as RTF (Rich Text Format), most of your formatting remains in the document.

No Current Access to a Mac for Exporting?How to open Mac’s .pages file format on Microsoft Windows

Open .pages on Windows Using iCloud’s Website

  1. Create an Apple ID and iCloud account if you don’t already have one
  2. Open iCloud’s website in a browser (like Safari or Chrome) and select Pages
  3. Drag and drop your pages document or choose Upload Document under Settings (Gear icon)How to open Mac’s .pages file format on Microsoft Windows
  4. Once uploaded, right-click on the document and select Download a copy
  5. Choose your format from Pages, Word, PDF, or ePub
  6. iCloud creates a file for downloadHow to open Mac’s .pages file format on Microsoft Windows
  7. Save the File to your browser’s default download location

Cool Tip! You can also copy/paste the data from the Pages File in iCloud to Word in Windows (or whatever word processing program you use on your Windows PC.)

Note: These same methods work for opening .pages files without iWork on Mac

Or Export a Pages File Using Your iPhone or iPad (iOS)

  • Open Pages App on your iPhone/iPad
  • Find the Pages document you want to use on your Windows PC
  • Tap the three dots in the upper-right corner How to open Mac’s .pages file format on Microsoft Windows
  • Select Export from the list of options How to open Mac’s .pages file format on Microsoft Windows
  • Choose a format from the available list (we recommend Word or PDF)
    • iOS creates your document–this may take some time depending on length and media used (like photos/videos) How to open Mac’s .pages file format on Microsoft Windows
  • From the Share Sheet, select how you want to send your document (Mail, Message and so forth)
  • Send the document via your chosen method

How To Convert .pages For Windows With Online Tools

If you were unable to use the zip compression to open your .pages file or don’t have access to Apple’s iCloud site or a Mac/iDevice to make the conversion for you, there are options!

Tools like Zamzar and CloudCoverter (to name a few) offer reformatting services to open pages files for Windows users. Depending on your file size and/or the number of files needing conversion, the service may be free or paid. use cloud convert for pages to windows conversion

Simply upload your .pages document, select the format you want for your Windows PC, and let the converter do the dirty work for you!  convert an Apple Mac or iPad pages file for Windows PC and Microsoft Office and Word

Some of these services require an email address or registration. Additionally, some allow you to upload documents from a variety of sources including DropBox, GoogleDrive, OneDrive, and Box or even adding from a URL.

Reader Tips 

Reader Tips

  • Use Google Docs to convert
    • Open your Google account (or sign up if you don’t have one)
    • After you sign in, go to Google Docs
    • Upload your .pages file to Google Docs
    • Click Open with and select Cloud Converter
  • Instead, save your document as an RTF.  The RTF format can be read by both Windows and Mac computers
  • I use the Windows office suite Libreoffice (it’s free!) And it opens Pages files without problem on either Windows or Linux computers!
  • I resolved this by sending it to my iPhone and then saving in a different format
  • Find a pages to docx or doc converter online like CloudConvert, Zamzar, or LightPDF to name a few. Upload your file and watch it convert. Don’t upload any document that contains confidential information to these converters. For everything else (non-confidential) they are great
  • Save the file locally on your Windows computer. Right-click on the file and select rename. Remove .pages extension and enter .zip as the extension and press enter. Open the zip file, and it should allow you to open the file and its contents.
  • This is my method to edit pages files on my Windows Laptop
    • First, make sure you see file extensions. Go to Windows File Explorer, on the View Ribbon, and check the box marked File Name Extensions
    • Right-click on the .pages file and choose Rename
    • Delete the .pages extension and replace it with the .zip extension
    • Extract the .zip file
    • You should now be able to open and access the Pages format within Microsoft Word, Office, or similar
    • To convert to PDF, use the Microsoft Print to PDF function

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Reader Interactions

Write a Comment

Show 29 Comments

  1. Fritz Jörn says

    For all conversions I try to find a free online service nowadays, from pages to doc as well. Worked fine. But: You must be onine. Confidential texts wind up elsewhere. Just google “pages to doc online”.

    Reply

  2. M de Beus says

    .pages open in icload does not work if you don’t have an apple device.

    icload ask me to turn on pages on an apple device first.

    i don’t have an apple device so no way to do it.

    Reply

    • SK says

      Hi Pat,

      Sorry Word isn’t opening the .pages file. Microsoft Word doesn’t recognise .pages files, so you need to export from a Mac or iCloud first. Try using iCloud to download the file to your Windows PC. For this to work, you need to make sure you store the .pages documents on your iCloud account first.

      1) On your Windows PC, visit iCloud via a web browser

      2) Sign in using your Apple ID

      3) Choose Pages from the list of iCloud Apps

      4) Find your previously uploaded pages document and select the Tools icon (wrench)

      5) Choose Download a Copy and select Word–this saves it to your PC as a .docx

      And use it as you normally would via Microsoft Word on Windows. If you need a .doc file, you MUST export directly from your Mac–iCloud does not offer .doc export options.

      I hope this helps!

      SK

      Reply

      • Charlie Ross says

        This advice by SK totally set me straight – this being May 2018, in case the situation changes.
        I skipped any Word conversion steps though and instead I edit Pages online with my newly created iCloud account in the native Pages environment and download as a PDF without issue for final output to print or to make a jpg.

        Process: Someone else starts the document in their iCloud on a Mac and they are saving it to a Google Drive we share. Don’t ask me how they do that. I in turn download the .pages file to my Windows desktop computer and throw that file up to my own iCloud and carry on with edits in my own Pages. Since I’m the last one tasked with editing and proofing, when I’m done I’ll transfer my Pages versions up to the shared Google Drive. It’s way easier than I’m probably making it sound.

        Reply

  5. Monica says

    This did not come out for me the way you describe. When I unzip, I get the following:

    Data (folder) – contains 7 graphic image files, all but one looks like a colored square
    Index (folder) – 7 .iwa files and a folder labeled Tables. Tables contains 39 .iwa files
    Metadata (folder) – 2 files are .plist , one has no extension
    preview.jpg
    preview-micro.jpg
    preview-web.jpg

    There is nothing identifiable in any of the folders. The preview.jpg is the only decent size image of the first page that I can convert to a PDF for my user. She claims there is a 2nd page but I cannot find it. Help?

    Reply

  6. Lucy says

    This opened up a part of the file only. I could view the first page (as a jpg), but not the rest of the document. There was no pdf file in the extracted zip file. Not sure how to view the entire document.

    Reply

  7. Chrys77 says

    I work for a print shop, a client sent me a file w/a .pages extension. Thankfully, I simply changed the extension as per your instructions. EUREKA!

    The jpg. version of the document was heavily pixelated and poor quality, but thankfully it included all the elements in a .png format. I was able to import all the pieces and re-set the typeface manually. Didn’t mind so much as I design signs, banners and t-shirts continuously here at the shop.

    All in all, thanks for the tip. Thought I might’ve been stuck w/a poor file.

    Reply

  8. pointfish says

    Outstanding tip. This worked like a charm and saved me a lot of time.

    The MS site helps were complete junk.

    Instead of providing this simple solution (which is pretty certain that they knew), MS linked to two endorsed third-party software downloads that were crammed with bloatware. Oh, and btw, neither of them worked.

    Thank you!

    Reply

  9. Jim says

    There isn’t any QuickLook folder. There’s a file named preview.jpg that hopefully contains the complete content of the original document.

    Reply

  12. buckleslove says

    When I rename it, there is a box that pops up and it says;

    “Please insert the last disk of the Multi-Volume set and click OK to continue.”
    Please help me!

    Thanks,
    buckleslove

    Reply

  13. Trahajje says

    Is it me or does Pages no longer contain a PDF? That makes it less appealing. I always knew that I could get to the PDF file, but now there’s no PDF. Sure, you can export each and every file you create in other formats, but that is not at all convenient. It seemed to me that the PDF file was a guard against lock in. Even if I didn’t have access to Pages, I could still open the PDF. But now .pages just seems like another way to lock in users, or at least make it extremely difficult to leave if you create very many documents.

    Reply

    • Skin Flint says

      not just you.
      I see no .pdf
      I saw jpg preview, but it only shows the first page of a several page document.
      this PAGES file thing is horrible joke to play on non-Mac people.
      Apple will not win me over with this junk.

      Reply

    • Andrew says

      Apple have changed the way their files work with a new update and hence we no longer have a .pdf file inside.

      Reply

    • JimLim says

      Dear Robin,

      How you did it? I tried to right click on the file but I can only change the file name, not the extension.

      Regards.

      Reply

  15. JimLim says

    When I right clicked on the pages file, I can only change the file name but not the extension.

    Any one can help.

    Thank you.

    Reply

  18. PETER says

    THANK YOU SO MUCH.
    SUCH A SIMPLE SOLUTION.
    I WILL DEFINITELY REFER TO YOU WHEN I HAVE AN ISSUE.
    REGARDS
    PETERM

    Reply

  22. kavita says

    perfect, you offer an easy fix for this PC user ~ thank you! thanks too for maintaining a website that loads impressively fast even using a turtle-slow dial-up internet connection (i.e., 28.8 kbps). most appreciative …

    Reply

  24. Freddie jaye says

    Just received a PAGES file from a client, and had no idea of how to open it. Your technique worked perfectly. Thanks for the tip!

    Reply