# Open and Convert iWork Files (Pages, Numbers, Keynote) Without a Mac > This guide explains what .pages, .numbers and .key files are, how to open them on Windows, Android, Linux or the web, and which conversion to use for each job. - Page: https://acepdfmd.com/guides/iwork-guide/ - Updated: 2026-10-04 - Runs at: https://acepdfmd.com (Uploaded files are deleted within 60 minutes. No signup for light use.) - Also in 29 languages: https://acepdfmd.com//guides/iwork-guide/ ## What iWork Files Are Pages, Numbers and Keynote are Apple's word processor, spreadsheet and presentation apps, together called iWork. They save documents as .pages, .numbers and .key files. Each of these is really a package: a compressed folder that holds the document's data, its images and a small preview picture. Only Apple's own apps, on a Mac, iPad or iPhone or through iCloud in a browser, open them directly. Windows, Android and Linux have no built-in reader, and most email and chat previews show them as unknown attachments. There are two generations of the format. Files from the 2009 releases (Pages '09, Numbers '09, Keynote '09) store the document as readable XML; files from 2013 onward use a compact binary format. Every tool below accepts both, as well as documents that arrive as a zipped folder, which happens when a file is downloaded from iCloud or from some mail programs. ## Opening an iWork File on Any Device If you only need to read the document, the quickest route is the [iWork File Viewer](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/iwork-viewer/): upload any .pages, .numbers or .key file and it comes back as a PDF you can read in the browser, print or forward. Nothing is installed and no Apple device is involved. For a specific app there is a dedicated tool that does the same conversion and is easier to find later: [Pages to PDF](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/pages-to-pdf/), [Numbers to PDF](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/numbers-to-pdf/) and [Keynote to PDF](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/keynote-to-pdf/). ## Converting for Editing A PDF is for reading. When the recipient needs to change the content, convert to the matching Microsoft Office format instead: | You have | You need | Tool | What comes through | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | .pages | Word (DOCX) | [Pages to Word](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/pages-to-word/) | Styles, lists, tables, images, footnotes, headers and footers | | .pages | Markdown or text | [Pages to Markdown](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/pages-to-markdown/) | Headings, lists, emphasis, tables, links | | .numbers | Excel (XLSX) | [Numbers to Excel](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/numbers-to-excel/) | Every sheet and table, cell types, number formats, merged cells, formulas Excel knows | | .numbers | CSV | [Numbers to CSV](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/numbers-to-csv/) | The values of every table, one CSV per table | | .key | PowerPoint (PPTX) | [Keynote to PowerPoint](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/keynote-to-powerpoint/) | Slides at their size, text, tables, shapes, images, notes | | .key | Images | [Keynote to JPG](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/keynote-to-jpg/) | One JPG or PNG per slide | Formulas deserve a note. Numbers and Excel share hundreds of functions, and those are written into the XLSX as live formulas. A formula that only exists in Numbers, or that refers to another table by its name, is written as its last calculated value, and the tool reports how many cells that affected so you know where to look. ## Converting Into iWork Formats Going the other way is only partly possible, and it is worth knowing why before you search for a tool that promises otherwise. [Excel to Numbers](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/excel-to-numbers/) converts an XLSX or CSV file into a genuine .numbers spreadsheet, with sheets, cell types, header rows and the formulas Numbers understands. It is the one iWork format that can be written outside Apple's apps. No tool, here or elsewhere, produces a real .pages or .key file: the format is undocumented and Apple's apps are the only programs that write it. Sites that advertise "PDF to Pages" or "PowerPoint to Keynote" deliver a Word or PowerPoint file, because that is what can be made. The good news is that this is all you need. Pages opens DOCX files and Keynote opens PPTX files natively; open the file, then use Save or Export in the app and it becomes .pages or .key. So the working answer to each of these searches is: - PDF to Pages: use [PDF to Word](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/pdf-to-word/), then open the DOCX in Pages. - Word to Pages: open the DOCX in Pages directly; no conversion is needed. - PDF to Keynote: use [PDF to PowerPoint](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/pdf-to-powerpoint/), then open the PPTX in Keynote. - PowerPoint to Keynote: open the PPTX in Keynote directly. - PDF to Numbers: use [PDF to Excel](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/pdf-to-excel/), then [Excel to Numbers](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/excel-to-numbers/) or open the XLSX in Numbers. ## What Does Not Convert A few things are lost in any conversion out of iWork, and the tools say so rather than hide it. Charts, images placed loosely on a Numbers sheet and free-floating text boxes there are not part of the Excel, CSV or PDF output; tables are. Keynote animations, transitions, audio and video have no equivalent in a PDF or an image and are left out of PowerPoint as well, where each slide arrives in its final state. Comments and tracked changes in Pages stay in the Pages file. Fonts that only exist on Apple devices are matched to the nearest available font, so a title set in such a font may look slightly different. Password-protected documents cannot be read at all. Open the file in Pages, Numbers or Keynote, remove the password under File, Set Password, and upload it again. ## Privacy All of these conversions run on our servers over an encrypted connection, and the uploaded file is deleted automatically within 60 minutes. Files are never used to train any model and never passed to a third party. The [privacy guide](https://acepdfmd.com/guides/privacy-guide/) explains the details. ## Tools mentioned in this guide - [iWork File Viewer](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/iwork-viewer/): Open Pages, Numbers and Keynote files online without a Mac: any Apple iWork file becomes a PDF you can read and share. - [Pages to PDF](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/pages-to-pdf/): Convert Apple Pages documents (.pages) to PDF with the layout intact. - [Numbers to PDF](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/numbers-to-pdf/): Convert Apple Numbers spreadsheets to PDF, every table with the values as displayed. - [Keynote to PDF](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/keynote-to-pdf/): Convert Apple Keynote presentations to PDF, one page per slide. - [Pages to Word](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/pages-to-word/): Convert Apple Pages documents to editable Word (DOCX) files. - [Pages to Markdown](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/pages-to-markdown/): Turn an Apple Pages document into Markdown or plain text. - [Numbers to Excel](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/numbers-to-excel/): Convert Apple Numbers spreadsheets to Excel (XLSX) with formulas, number formats and merged cells. - [Numbers to CSV](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/numbers-to-csv/): Export every table of an Apple Numbers spreadsheet as CSV. - [Keynote to PowerPoint](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/keynote-to-powerpoint/): Convert Apple Keynote presentations to editable PowerPoint (PPTX) files. - [Keynote to JPG](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/keynote-to-jpg/): Save every slide of an Apple Keynote presentation as a JPG or PNG image. - [Excel to Numbers](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/excel-to-numbers/): Convert Excel (XLSX) or CSV files into Apple Numbers spreadsheets. - [PDF to Word](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/pdf-to-word/): Convert PDF into an editable DOCX. - [PDF to PowerPoint](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/pdf-to-powerpoint/): Turn PDF pages into editable slides with text, tables and shapes. - [PDF to Excel](https://acepdfmd.com/tool/pdf-to-excel/): Extract PDF tables into real spreadsheet rows and columns. ## More guides - [Markdown Cheat Sheet: Syntax Reference with Examples](https://acepdfmd.com/guides/markdown-cheat-sheet/) - [PDF Page Sizes and Dimensions: A4, Letter, Legal and More](https://acepdfmd.com/guides/pdf-page-sizes/) - [How PDF Compression Works and Why Some Files Barely Shrink](https://acepdfmd.com/guides/pdf-compression-guide/) - [PDF to Markdown: How It Works and How to Use It for AI](https://acepdfmd.com/guides/pdf-to-markdown-guide/) - [OCR for PDFs and Images: How to Get Accurate Text](https://acepdfmd.com/guides/ocr-guide/) - [Is It Safe to Upload a PDF Online? A Privacy Guide](https://acepdfmd.com/guides/privacy-guide/) - [JSON Tools Guide: Convert Documents and Data to JSON and Back](https://acepdfmd.com/guides/json-guide/)