Pages '09 in macOS Mojave (working)

[kajac123]

So I've read multiple places that it is impossible to run Pages '09 on Mojave. It will start, but when you try to create or open a document it will fail.


A lot of people have reported this, but I could not find any solution online. So I decided to do some digging. I noticed that it would work the first time i started it. I was able to create and save a document. But when I tried opening it, it would fail. And it would continue to fail.

So I tried deleting the "com.apple.iWork.Pages.plist"-file, and I was once again able to open a document. Once. And of course all my pages settings had gone. But now I knew something in the plist file was causing the problem. After more digging, I found out that Pages would fail to load the document as long as the parameter "<key>NSWindow Frame SLPublicationWindow</key>" existed.

So to get Pages 09 working on Mojave, all you have to do is type

defaults delete com.apple.iWork.Pages "NSWindow Frame SLPublicationWindow"

in the Terminal. This will remove the affected section of the plist file, but keep all the other settings.

Note that this command must be run before every opening/creating of a document. So it's not a perfect fix, but it works! And for me, who has not updated to Mojave because of this incompatibility, can finally update.

 

[chscag]

Wouldn't it be easier to just download and install the new Pages? What is there about Pages 9 that is not available with the new version of Pages? I have both versions and overwhelmingly prefer the newer version which also supports the Dark Mode of Mojave.

 

[mikzn]

Mojave 10.14.4 - I tried iWork - only app that would open was iWeb

Pages 09' did not work

 

[sracer]

Wouldn't it be easier to just download and install the new Pages? What is there about Pages 9 that is not available with the new version of Pages? I have both versions and overwhelmingly prefer the newer version which also supports the Dark Mode of Mojave.

No.

Although Apple has been slowly adding back the features it removed, the latest version of Pages still is missing some key features for those of us who use them. One of them is fully functional linked text boxes. (a rudimentary version exists in the latest Pages but is not full function)

I generally have made the switch to the latest Pages but I have iWork '09 installed as well for those times when I need to use those still-missing features. Knowing that there is a workaround to get it working in Mojave is good news for us iWork diehards.

 

[NoBoMac]

I guess if one wants to stay on Mojave forever, it works. But going forward, iWork '09 was 32-bit, and won't even launch with 10.15.

 

[Mac Hammer Fan]

On my MacPro 5,1 running Mojave 10.14.5 with Pages 09 I still can use my documents created in High Sierra and before. And I don't have the bug when I paste and match style a text from IMDB that this doesn't work as in the latest version of Pages 8.0.