Create and work with documents on Mac
You can use macOS apps—such as Pages or TextEdit—or apps from the Mac App Store to create reports, essays, spreadsheets, financial charts, presentations, slideshows, and more.
Tip: If you have questions about how to use an app like Pages or TextEdit, choose Help in the menu bar while working in the app, then look for answers in the app’s user guide.
Create documents
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On your Mac, open an app that lets you create documents.
For example, open TextEdit to create a plain text, rich text, or HTML document.
Click New Document in the Open dialog, or choose File > New.
Many Mac computers come with these Apple apps that you can use to create reports, spreadsheets, presentations, and more:
Pages: Create letters, reports, flyers, posters, and more. Pages includes many templates that make it easy to create beautiful documents. See the Pages User Guide.
Numbers: Create spreadsheets to organize and present your data. Start with a template, then modify it however you like—add formulas, charts, images, and more. See the Numbers User Guide.
Keynote: Create compelling presentations with images, media, charts, slide animations, and more. See the Keynote User Guide.
If you don’t have Pages, Numbers, or Keynote on your Mac, you can get them from the App Store.
They’re also available for your iOS and iPadOS devices (from the App Store) and on iCloud.com.
Format documents
There are several ways to format and work with text in documents on your Mac:
Change fonts and styles: In a document, choose Format > Show Fonts, Format > Font > Show Fonts, or Format > Style. See Format text in documents with fonts.
Change colors: In a document, choose Format > Show Colors, or Format > Font > Show Colors. See Use colors in documents.
Enter different types of characters: You can enter characters with accent marks or diacritic marks.
Check spelling: In most apps, spelling is checked while you type, and mistakes are automatically corrected. You can turn off these features or use other options. See Get typing suggestions and correct mistakes.
Check definitions: In a document, select the text you want to check, Control-click it, then choose Look Up. See Look up words.
Translate text: In a document, select the text you want to translate, Control-click it, then choose Translate. See Translate text.
Save documents
Many apps on your Mac save your documents automatically while you work. You can save a document at any time.
Save a document: In a document, choose File > Save, enter a name, choose where to save the document (to show more locations, click
), then click Save.When you save your document, you can add tags to it so it’s easier to find later. You may be able to save your document in iCloud Drive so it’s available on your computers and iOS and iPadOS devices set up with iCloud Drive.
Save a document with another name: In a document, choose File > Save As, then enter a new name. If Save As isn’t shown, press and hold the Option key, then open the File menu again.
Save a document as a copy: In a document, choose File > Duplicate or File > Save As.
You can also save a document as a PDF and combine multiple files into a single PDF.