Lately, Pages has decided to display a warning message, "the document could not be autosaved," and it happens anytime I press Command+N and start entering text in a new blank document. It also happens anytime I open an MS Word .docx file and make changes. When the message window appears, sometimes it can be dismissed with a simple Escape press. Other times, it's not dismissed so easily, and it takes me some time to place VoiceOver focus back in the document edit area.
The message does not occur while editing a native Pages format document.
I can't say for certain, but I feel like this is a new issue after upgrading from Ventura 13.6 to 13.6.1.
I thought it might be a filesystem access problem, but Pages isn't asking for file access. Besides, it can autosave existing Pages format documents fine. It's just MS Word format and newly created documents that trigger the message.
I've searched on the web for fixes. Many discussion forums indicate the autosave feature can be disabled, but this appears to be for older versions of Pages. I cannot find a way to disable autosave in current Pages' settings.
Sorry this is not accessibility-related, but I know the AppleVis Illuminati often have the answers. Any help would be appreciated.
Extra info. I'm planning to upgrade to Sonoma 14.2 in maybe a week. Perhaps that will somehow impact this issue.
Comments
Fixed via workaround
Half my problem with the internet is all the old, obsolete information that turns up in search results.
Pages settings used to have a way to disable autosave, but not anymore, so ignore those search results.
System Preferences, General, used to have a checkbox, Ask to keep changes when closing documents. Selecting this box would disable autosave as a side effect. But system preferences was reorganized in Ventura, so ignore those search results too.
Instead, open System Settings, go to the completely obvious Desktop & Dock, then navigate past several controls and labels until you find the heading text, Windows & Apps. Just past that is the new covert location for the checkbox, Ask to keep changes when closing documents. . Turn it on, and Pages no longer displays the autosave warning.
I hope this helps someone. I sure would like the last 45 minutes of my life back.
Thanks!
It's amazing how sometimes the solution is hidden in a place we least expect... Thanks for sharing the solution! Your detailed description of where to find that elusive checkbox is a lifesaver for anyone else bumping into the same problem.
And about those 45 minutes you wish you could get back – well, think of it as an investment. You've probably saved countless others a lot of time and frustration!
Thank you!
Thank you so very much! I, along with everyone in our office has the exact same problem. We store our documents on a server, and we're getting these super distracting messages constantly! This solution has gets rid of this annoying glitch. Many Thanks!
You're welcome
Cool, I'm glad this helped.
Now, if someone will tell me why Dropbox asks me after every reboot if it can access other application's data ... .
Sonoma Woes!
I spoke too soon! Upgraded to Sonoma and the autosave error message is back despite the fact that "Ask to keep changes when closing documents" is on.
WOW waht is this
Hey, I bought my first mac and it was on ventura and I indeed found the place of this setting very strange. I don't have these problems with pages though and I am pretty sure autosave is on.
Sonoma 14.4.1
Can't reproduce, no matter what I try
Sorry this didn't work for you. I'm still no longer seeing this issue, and I'm on 14.4.1. My earlier investigation indicated that this seems to be the kind of problem that some people experience and others don't.
Wow. Brain scrambled. I just opened System Settings and played around a bit. I'm unable to reproduce this issue regardless of how I set "Ask to keep changes when closing documents." This is a real head-scratcher, as I'm certain this setting eliminated this issue months ago. But, today, it seems to have no effect.
Autosave Problem
Update: I updated to 14.4.1 and the problem went away, I was at 14.2. I guess Apple fixed the bug!
Thanks!
Clarifying
Excellent! Great news.