How can I convert multiple pages file to pdf/docx file on my MacBook Air?

Given the above shortcut name as Export Pages to PDF, one can use it on the Terminal command line. If one has a folder on their Desktop (e.g. Pages_Docs) containing multiple Pages documents, these can all be converted to PDF in an instant using the following Terminal syntax. Press return after each line below:

shortcuts run "Export Pages to PDF" -i ~/Desktop/Pages_Docs/*.pages -o ~/Desktop/Pages_Docs --output-type 'com.adobe.pdf'

If one had configured the Export action to Word instead of PDF, and named the shortcut as Export Pages to Word then one could use the following syntax to silently convert the Pages documents to Word documents:

shortcuts run "Export Pages to Word" -i ./Pages_Docs/*.pages -o ./Pages_Docs --output-type 'org.openxmlformats.wordprocessingml.document'

Pages does not provide batch export conversion. This is solved with either AppleScript, or a Shortcut Quick Action.

If you are on macOS Sequoia, Sonoma, or Ventura the Shortcut below should just work. I haven't tested it on Monterey, and the newer Export action may not be present there.

The following Shortcut has been tested on Sequoia v15.5. It assumes that you have selected one or more Pages documents in the Finder, have right-clicked on the first file of that selection, and from the Finder's Quick Action menu, have selected Export Pages to PDF, not the name used below.

When you click this link, your Shortcuts application will launch and request that you install this Shortcut. Do so. It should automatically appear on your Finder Quick Actions sub-menu. In your image example above, you would select all of the Pages documents you wanted exported to PDF and it would happen silently and instantly in the same folder. To minimize the file mess, you would use the Finder Window search field and enter kind:PDF.

Also, you will note the PDF in the export action above. Click that and the other choice is Word.

As it turns out, the Export action in the above Shortcut was only introduced in macOS Sequoia and an entirely different Shortcut would need to be written and tested using AppleScript or JavaScript for Automation to perform Pages exports to PDF or Word on earlier macOS operating systems.

I will need to revisit what I have here that may need tweaks and testing to work on different operating system and Pages versions.

Kenhirai wrote:

Thanks that is helpful!!!!!

is there a Pages to excel by any chance?

No. Pages is a word processing application and Excel is a spreadsheet. If the problem were migrating a Pages table to Excel, you may need to copy/paste the Pages table contents into Apple's Numbers, and then export the Numbers spreadsheet to Excel xlsx or CSV. Then you open that Numbers export in Excel.

Alternatively, I just selected the contents of a Pages v14.4 table and copied to the clipboard. I then opened Excel 2021 for Mac (v16.97), clicked on the first cell and performed a Paste Special… > Unicode Text. The Pages table data, cell formatting and calculations were preserved, though cell color and some cell alignment was ignored.

Technically, someone could write the AppleScript that automates the second paragraph, but it won't be me.

The Shortcut that I posted above on May 16 will only run on macOS Sequoia owing to an action (Export Document…) that was only made available in Sequoia.

After some effort, I have created a new Shortcut that I have tested on Sequoia 15.5, Sonoma 14.7.6, and Monterey 12.7.6. I don't have Ventura 13.* installed to test but the Shortcut should work there too. Unlike the May 16 Shortcut that is totally silent (does not open Pages documents on the screen during export), this Shortcut does and there is no cure for it.

This Shortcut (New Pages to Export) allows one to select multiple combinations of Pages documents and folders containing Pages documents — writing the PDF (or Word) export to the same original file location. One makes their selections using the cmd-key to add additional items, and then right-click on the first of that selection. From the secondary menu, one chooses Quick Actions > New Pages to Export. When Pages documents stop opening on the screen during the export operation, you will know the Shortcut is done.

By clicking this link, the Shortcuts application will ask you to install this Shortcut. It will want your permission to run AppleScript and you click Allow. A second request will appear and you click Always Allow. If the Finder Quick Actions menu does not show New Pages to Export, you will need to visit System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions > Finder. Locate New Pages to Export and select to enable it.

The Shortcut workflow is too long to post here, but once installed into the Shortcuts locally, one can launch Shortcuts, locate New Pages to Export and double-click it to reveal the full Shortcut workflow.