Have you ever received a Pages document from a Mac user who forgot that you're a Windows user? If you're in a rush and don't want to wait for them to send you a corrected file, you can actually open or edit the document with a couple of handy tricks.

Viewing the Document

If you simply need to read the document but don't need to edit, you can change the file extension from PAGES to ZIP. Right-click the file and select Rename from the context menu. Make sure you're cursor is at the end of the file name and replace .pages with .zip.

A pop-up box will appear with the message "If you change a file name extension, the file might become unusable. Are you sure you want to change it?" Click Yes to convert your file into a zip file, with several documents inside it.

When you open the zip file, you should see a JPG file called Preview. Open this file with whichever program you use to view JPGs and you will be able to read the text.

Editing the Document

If you need to edit the document, you're going to have to rely on the cloud -- specifically, iCloud.

Go to iCloud.com in the browser of your choice and sign in using your Apple ID. If you're an iPhone user you'll no doubt already have one. If not, you can sign up for a free account at the site. (In addition to access Pages online, you also get free access to Numbers and Keynote.)

Once you're logged in, click the Pages icon. Click the little wheel icon next to the plus icon at the top of the page and select Upload document.

Once you're document is uploaded it will appear in your list of iCloud Pages documents. Double clicking it will open it in another window, where you will have full editing privileges in the document and will be able to access a paired down cloud version of Pages.

Remind Mac Users to Export Pages to Doc

You can also remind Mac users that they can export documents in Word format from Pages. All they have to do is go to File > Export to > Word.

What tips or tricks do you have for opening Pages documents on a Windows machine? Let us know in the comments.