Master Pages on Mac with these tips and tricks.
Pages is basically Mac's equivalent to Microsoft Word. While you can also use Word on your Mac, the Pages app offers a lot of benefits you might want to take advantage of.
If you're just starting out with Pages, here are some of the best tips to master the app on your Mac.
The Pages toolbar at the top of the app is filled with useful tools and features to help you work faster and be more productive. However, if you don't like the default toolbar, you can easily change it to have your favorite features. Here's how:
Your Mac will open a new menu with a bunch of jiggling icons, and you'll see your toolbar is jilling too. All you need to do is drag any item you want into your toolbar and drop it there. You can also drag any item on your toolbar and move it wherever you want.
Once you finish customizing your toolbar, click Done in the bottom right corner of the window. And, if you don't like the final result, you can drag the default toolbar located at the bottom of the window to your current toolbar to reset it.
If you're working on a big project, or doing some school home work, viewing your word count on Pages every now and then might be helpful. By default, Pages won't show you how many words you've written, but you can change that by following these steps:
You'll see the word count right at the bottom of the app. If you want to know the specific word count of a paragraph or sentence, all you need to do is highlight it, and you'll see the word count for that particular section.
Also, if you find your word count distracting, you can follow the same steps and click Hide Word Count, or use your Mac's keyboard shortcuts and press Shift + Command + W.
Even if you use your Mac's built-in security features, you might still want to add an extra layer of protection to your Pages documents. Fortunately, you can easily password-protect your files like this:
And that's it. You'll need to enter your password the next time you open your file. Also, if you use Touch ID on your Mac, you can select Open with Touch ID, so you don't have to enter your password every time you want to check your documents.
Using auto-correction on Pages is a great way to make sure you're writing properly. Moreover, you can customize this feature to work exactly how you need it. All you need to do is follow these steps:
While there are many reasons why Pages is better than Microsoft Word, most people will still prefer the latter. Fortunately, there's a way for you to save all the work you do on Pages as a Word document in just a few steps.
And that's it. Your Mac will save the document in the folder you selected as a Word file. If you need to, you can use these same steps to save your file as a PDF or an EPUB file.
One of the coolest features Pages has to offer is the ability to track the changes you make to your files. Not only that, but you can also review and reject changes if you need to. Here's how:
If you don't need to track your changes anymore, you can follow the same steps and select Turn off tracking.
If you plan to save a lot of documents, it's best to reduce their file size, so you don't fill your Mac's storage immediately. This is how you do it:
Remember that you can only use this feature if your documents have images. Also, keep in mind that this will create a reduced copy of your document, so make sure you identify it properly, so you don't mix your documents up.
Now it's your turn. As you can see, the Pages app on Mac is a powerful tool for work and school, and there are many things you can do with it. Of course, the app has a lot more to offer, so try Pages and use the best tips that work for you.
With over 10 years of experience, Sergio Velasquez is a freelance writer and the Entertainment section editor at MUO. His love for all things tech started when he bought his first iPod Shuffle many years ago. Since then, he’s been writing about video games, Apple, Kindle, and any new tech he finds interesting. His work has been featured on websites like iDropNews, iDownloadBlog, and PocketGamer.