.pages file extension keeps being added even with Automatic Extension toggled off

So that explains why I can’t get my old Pages documents to show the extension. Of course, that’s the opposite of what people are complaining about.

More importantly, you’ve made me sad by mentioning Pages 09. That was a truly great app. There is a reason why I have all those old Pages documents from 2013 and before, and very few afterwards. <sniff> Good times…

But at least I have the consolation of remembering that, at one time, Apple used to add the year to the names of software and then, for some reason, decided that was a bad idea. Ah, the burden of being old enough to remember bad ideas and then not repeat them. Or maybe Apple thinks we’ll look back on macOS 26 as fondly as we do Pages 09. We can only hope.

You can also try this:

• make a screen capture with cmd-shift-4

• as desired, you can rename the saved file on the desktop

• so far, no issue

• open the saved file, make some modifications (copy/paste, change image dimension, etc.) and save

• after some time, the .png file extension will appear

Microsoft Excel and Word files are also affected by the issue.

I previously posted in the Pages community how to batch export 1 or more Pages documents to either PDF or Word. No "pages" in the exported filename.

⇡ I recall purchasing iLife and iWork from the Apple Fifth Avenue Store long ago! 😌

Just to be clear, I was not talking about Windows. I really don't know what that behavior is like since I haven't used Windows in over a decade. I haven't seen anyone argue of getting rid of the extension on the file from the filesystem.

What I have seen though is people looking to have Finder appropriately hide the extension, like it has done in the past, and now there is something obviously wrong with that feature. It is not "wrong code" in the shortcut or people trying to "force Windows Explorer". It is a functionality of the operating system that has changed and @VikingOSX trying to argue with people that they are wrong is not helpful.

I just took some time to check Pages 5.6.2 on El Capitan, Pages v7.3 and 8.1 on High Sierra, and Pages v10.1 on Mojave. There was a check box in the Pages Save/Save As Accessory panel to Hide Extension up through High Sierra, and it was removed with Pages v10.1 on Mojave. I didn't check but the same likely is true with the respective Numbers and Keynote applications for those operating systems. It has not occurred with any Pages, Numbers, or Keynote version five years afterward.

As I have state before, this is a long removed application design feature from the Pages application and about 5 lines of Objective-C (then) or Swift (now) to hide the extension. Apple chose to remove it for some design reasoning and would have to re-introduce this code to provide the feature you want. The chances of that happening in 2025 after being absent this long would be close to zero.

mediummac wrote:

Sorry to disagree, @VikingOSX, but there is still something to fix. A bunch of us don't want our documents to be saved with an extension. It never used to be like that.

It was always like that.

Well, maybe not "always". In the really ancient times, back in Mac OS days circa 1984, Macintosh files actually didn't have extensions. Sharing files with PC users was a nightmare. The file type was saved in metadata files that PC users couldn't read.

But since then, Apple migrated to a more compatible typing system based on the file name extension. And technically speaking, they don't even do that anymore. Now they use a "Universal Type", one of whose attributes is the file extension.

This other thread that you helpfully directed me to earlier has several more people patiently waiting for an improvement!

That's always a bad idea. People never wait patiently. Nor should they with a situation like this that 1) isn't going to ever be fixed, and 2) isn't actually broken.

Keeping my fingers crossed over here!

Wouldn't you prefer to use those fingers to just fix the problem? I guess not, better just keep them crossed.

I have noticed this same change. I have files of serially duplicated documents that did not have the .pages extension in the past, but as I save the newest version of the document, from the last several weeks, there is now a .pages extension added to the name. I have been using MacBooks for 13 years, never saved documents with .pages in the name, never had documents show up with .pages in the name, but now, in the last few weeks, documents are showing up with .pages in the name. There is, in reality, a distinct change in how the files are being named, and it's not coming from me. I believe that some of the people in this thread are trying to point out this change, and to find a way to make the MacBook stop adding .pages to the names we are choosing for our documents. If I wanted .pages in the name, I would include that in the document name. If anyone has a solution, that would be helpful.

I've had the same issue. Apple automatically started displaying the file extension despite the setting being unchecked. I'm not a fan. You can see from the screenshot that it started for me on June 1st. I'd like to get rid of it. Any help getting this to go away would be appreciated.

It seems that people are not communicating on the same wavelength at all on this thread. Some of us note a change in Pages behavior, while others deny that change exists. Okay. Here's a list of the same document, duplicated every couple months for a year or so. Why does the last one have the .pages extension, when none of the others did? It is a clear change, and it is rearranging files in Finder in some cases. It's generally a pain, and I want it to stop. This is not an imaginary issue.

I agree @scottfromlf There is some denial of this issue and a condescending nature to those denials, which is not helpful and I'm not sure what the end goal is. It certainly is an issue and has been recognized in other forums. I'm just hoping it is fixed in short order. I do only experience it with documents stored on iCloud which another poster also has experienced, so hopefully that helps the software engineers over at Apple fix this issue.

This is ridiculous. Unacceptable. It has to be an error in the newest version. It makes a mess out of Finder list. Should be fixed!!!

Thank you for your response.

I don’t have a specific answer on how the extensions fixed itself.

I would check those settings on all of your Apple devices to verify that they are all the same.