.pages and .numbers filename extensions cannot be hidden since macOS 15.4

I had this issue on 15.4. It still persists with 15.5. Have been working with Apple on this, but still not fixed. Any suggestions are appreciated.

It has not been fixed. I am on 15.5. I can open the file without extension but magically it shows up.

[Edited by Moderator]

Same issue. Issue started with 15.4 and Numbers 14.4, and it continued with 15.4.1.

When I first save the file, it saves without the extension, but after a minute or two, the extension will suddenly appear. They can be hidden again with CMD-I, but they will reappear, even if no changes are made to the file.

I contacted support, and they weren't able to get it happen on their machine, but we did a screen share, and they saw it happening on both my machines.

They suggested reinstalling 15.4.1, saying "that will likely fix the issue." I knew that was a waste of time, but I did it anyway. The issue still persists. Went a step further and completely formatted my MacBook and then reinstalled the OS with the only software installed being the OS with stock apps, Pages and Numbers. Issue still persists.

They also advised creating a second user account to see if it still happens. It does.

Called support back, and the wanted to see the issue, so we screen shared and went through all the steps I'd gone through with the first advisor...again. Once they saw it, the advisor created an incident report and submitted it to engineering. They said they haven't had any other reports about this, so I would suggest calling them so they can see it's more than just me.

There are other Apple Discussions about it, and I showed them those so they could tell it wasn't just me. Your post (this one here) is new and wasn't available when I called them.

Kind of a lot of work for something I believe is an issue at Apple's end, but sometimes you gotta jump through the hoops.

This happens on both an M-series desktop and M-series MacBook. All software is up to date.

FWIW, I cannot reproduce this on 15.4 (I have yet to update to 15.4.1).

I have multiple Pages and Numbers files, some with hidden extension, some without, and they retain their settings according to that I choose in the Info window.

This suggests to me that maybe there is something peculiar to your setup, as is often the case. If it were an outright bug we'd likely all see it happen.

Where are these files being saved? By any chance, are they saved to an online location, or to a drive using a non-mac-native format (like ExFAT or NTFS)?

Does the problem also manifest itself when running in Safe Mode?

Luis Sequeira1 wrote:

Just to add a clarification, there has never been a Finder setting to “hide all extensions”.

There is s checkbox for “Show all extensions”. The negation of “Show All” is not “Hide All”.

When the box is unchecked, it means that the Finder will honor the show or hide setting of each particular file-that’s how you may see some with extension and some without.

For additional clarification:

• The Finder is a little flaky. You might need to manually relaunch it before it starts working.
• Each file has its own "Hide extension" setting in Finder > Get Info. This setting works along with the setting in Finder > Settings. This value must be "enabled" (set to hidden) in order for Finder > Settings to have any effect. So once an individual file has its extension hidden, then the overall Finder setting can be used to force it to be shown anyway. Kinda confusing, but that's how it works.

isaac_allen wrote:

In my case, as one example, in my mac's local documents folder I have several numbers or pages files. When I open the "get info" card for one of these files, it will have "hide extension" box unchecked, so I will check it. Then a short time later, it will default back to being unchecked and then showing the filename extension again. I also have the finder > settings "show all filename extensions" unchecked. I never did any of this before, the files just started showing their filename extension on some of my pages or numbers files for no reason recently, after my update. It doesn't matter how many times I check the box to hide extension, it will soon enough default back to showing the filename extension. I have not tried safe mode yet, but I have rebooted several times.

This setting to hide an extension is saved in metadata, in the extended attributes of the file.

Something is preventing that metadata to be stored with the file.

My guess is some conflict due to an antivirus or "cleaner".

Does the setting stay correctly if you try this in Safe Mode?

Please run Etrecheck and post its report as BDAqua suggested.

Hi @BDAqua - I know your reply was to the OP, but I'm experiencing the same issue and wanted to say that I'm not running any 3rd party cleaning or antivirus apps.

For me, the issue happens in Safe Mode.

Not sure what entrecheck is.

I did some more testing today, and the issue only happened with files saved to iCloud. If the file was in the root iCloud folder or any folder underneath the main folder, the "extension switch" happened, but it didn't happen if the file was saved to a local, non-iCloud folder such as the "Downloads" folder.

I had called Apple support twice before about this - once when it first started happening and then again after I had reinstalled the OS, which the first person told me to do. The second person said they had created a report and elevated it to engineering.

I called today to get an update and give them my update from above, and it turns out is apparently wasn't elevated. The person I spoke to today was very good and said he's going to make sure they come up a with a game plan to get this noticed.

Thanks for the quick reply. I do not have show all set in global finder settings. I have manually turned on hide file extensions for individuals files. Problem is at next power on the file extensions reappear.

I have the same issue on an i9 iMac running Sequoia 15.4.1. I have also noticed that it occurs only on files located on iCloud (not on those in local folders). I have checked my M2 MacBook Pro (also with macOS 15.4.1), and it first showed the .number extension left visible from my i9 iMac on iCloud folder. Then, I checked the "hide extension" box. This fixed the problem on both computers. Now, even if I go and edit the file on my i9 iMac, the extension remains hidden. This a file by file cure for me. In my case, I have also found that some ".png" extension (like screen captures) are also appearing sometimes without any reason, but not always.

I confirm that my macOS has a similar behaviour with ".png" files, which are screen captures.  After I do a screen capture, I frequently open it and redefine its borders more accurately.  After it is saved and closed, I noticed that sometimes, the extension ".png" has appeared. Note that most of the time, it remains correctly masked.

I also found that while I view the file's information (with Cmd-i), and I move the file from a local folder to a iCloud folder (like my Desktop), the "Mask extension" check box (in the info window) goes away for 1-2 second, then comes back.  I guess that the Finder plays with that property, and it may interfere with some other activity in the background.  It could even be related to the issue with Numbers and Pages document files.

Hi Bruno, I tried your suggestion of hiding the extension on one device and it fixing it on both, but that doesn't work for me. If I hide it on my MacBook or Mac mini, it will sync the hide across both devices, but as soon as I re-save the file on either device, the extension will re-appear.

I spoke to support again today, and they had me submit a video screen capture of the issue and confirmed it had been supported to engineering.

Luis, even with the ".png" files (screen captures), the extension appears when I edit the image and save it on iCloud folders, and it does not happen when it is stored on a local folder. I have observed that ".jpeg" files also show the same behaviour. I just tried text files saved with TextEdit, and they also have the same issue (extension ".rtf" is un-masked). For me it could be a bug in the Finder, or somewhere in some macOS call (like the call for close file).

Pages, Numbers, and Keynote all have their own product development teams. Probably silos… 🤓. With 2 - 3 lines of Swift code, each application can check if the existing document's extension is hidden and honor that on a save, or use an extension on newly created files.

If Numbers is not doing that, you can send direct feedback to the Numbers product team from the Numbers application menu and request that extension checking feature.