10 secret Apple Pages features that will transform how you edit documents

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Pages is a text editing tool included in Apple's iWork productivity suite and can be used on macOS and iOS. With it, you can create documents of different types, from the simplest to professional, with multimedia content in just a few minutes.

It is also possible to edit files on any device, without worrying about synchronization details, as the feature allows integration with iCloud. It also offers more than 60 templates created by Apple to create reports, resumes, cards and posters, for example.

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The text editing application has several tools to help users in their daily lives. Some of them may even be unknown to Apple device owners, either because they are not widely publicized or even because they are new. Check out a selection below of 10 Apple Pages features that you need to know.

10 hidden features of Apple Pages

1- Set default template for new documents

The app prompts you to choose a template every time you create a new template. To make the process easier and faster, you can set a default template in Pages, avoiding extra clicks.

To do this, click on “Pages” in the menu bar and select “Settings”. On the “General” tab, select the “Use Template” radio button for the “For New Documents” option and click “Change Template.” Choose the model you prefer and click “Choose”.

2 – Use a custom paper size for your documents

To ensure that a document you are working on fits in the printer, you can create a custom paper size for the document.

Open the document whose paper size you want to modify, click “File” and select “Page Setup.” Now, click on the “Paper Size” drop-down menu and select “Manage Custom Sizes”.

3 – Use text replacement to type characters or words faster

To type certain symbols on your Mac, such as copyright or trademark, you need to remember the keyboard shortcuts. To make things easier, Apple offers a text replacement feature in Pages that lets you type multiple symbols easily.

To turn it on, go to Pages settings and go to the “AutoCorrect” tab. Here, select the “Text and symbol replacement” checkbox and check the existing text replacements to see what you need to type to insert the character you want.

4 – Insert image galleries for illustrative purposes

Adding images to your documents is a great way to grab the reader's attention and explain your content more effectively. While a single image is sometimes sufficient, there are occasions when a gallery is more suitable.

Open the document and click where you want to add the image. Now, click on “Media” at the top and select “Image Gallery”.

Click the image icon in the lower right corner of the thumbnail on the screen, select the images you want to add and click “Open”. You can now add title and captions to your images, modify their size, and change their display order, among other things, in the right sidebar.

5- Embed reference videos in documents

Just like adding an image gallery, adding videos to Pages documents for reference is also easy. However, sometimes you may want to reference videos from online sources such as YouTube, for example. In these situations, you can embed the video into the document using its link.

To do this, first copy the link of the video you want to embed. Then, with the document open in Pages, click on the space where you want to add the video, click on “Media” and select “Web Video”. At the “Add Video from Web” prompt, paste the video link into the “Insert URL” field and click “Insert.”

6- Use dictation to enter text hands-free

You can use the dictation feature in Apple Pages to type text hands-free.

First, turn on dictation in Pages. Open the document, go to “Edit” and select “Start Dictation”. When prompted, press “OK” and you will see a microphone icon on the screen, indicating that the feature is active.

Now, start speaking your text, and Pages will transcribe it. You can also add punctuation to your writing by simply saying its name. Press “Done” when you are finished dictating.

7- Display word count to track document size

When working on projects or presentations, knowing the word count can be very useful in controlling the size of the document and ensuring that it does not exceed the prescribed word count. Unfortunately, Pages doesn't display a word count by default, but it's easy to turn on.

Just click “View” and select “Show word count”. You will now see the word count at the bottom of the document.

8- Track and revert changes to documents

It's important to know how to track and roll back changes made to a document in Pages. If you plan to collaborate with someone on a Pages document, this can speed up the review process. Unfortunately, however, tracking is not enabled by default.

To activate it, go to “Edit” and select “Track changes”. You will now see the review toolbar above the document. From here, you can pause tracking, disable it, and configure some of your preferences. You can also set author colors for different people collaborating on the document to easily identify their contributions to the document.

To accept a change, hover the mouse pointer over the marked text and click “Accept”. Alternatively, choose “Reject” to reject a change.

9- Reduce document file size for easier saving and sharing

Adding multiple images or videos to your documents results in large files. Fortunately, Pages lets you reduce file sizes natively, so you don't have to compress them separately.

To do this, with the document open in Pages, click “File” and choose “Reduce file size”. Now, if there are a lot of images in your document, make sure the “Reduce large images” option is checked. Similarly, if your document has large videos, choose “High Efficiency” as the “Movie Format” and choose an appropriate resolution for “Movie Quality.”

Finally, click “Shrink this file” to resize the open document. Alternatively, click the “Shrink a Copy” button to create a new, resized document, preserving the original for when you need it.

10- Protect documents with a password to prevent unauthorized access

You can password-protect your Pages documents to prevent unauthorized access. This is especially useful if you share your Mac with someone and don't want them to view your personal Pages documents.

It's easy to set a password for a document in Pages. With the document open, click “File” and select “Set password”. Enter your password in the “Password” field at the prompt. Enter it again in the “Verify” field to confirm.

Set a password hint so that you are not blocked from accessing the document. Check the “Open with Touch ID” option to quickly open the document with Touch ID. Finally, click on “Set password”.