Problems sending or opening Mac files (KeyNote, Pages, etc.) in Mail, Google Drive, Haiku, etc.?

It used to be easy to send Keynote or Pages files via email, open them and even upload them to other platforms like Google Drive and Haiku for people to view. However, some things have certainly changed with recent Mac updates. So if you are a teacher and can't open your students' Keynote, Pages, etc. files, you may want to see how the rest of the story unveils. If you are a student, then there is just one thing you need to learn to do before you send a Mac file to your teacher. Let's take this file as an example. It is a Keynote file of size 910 KB.

The Problem:

To begin with, Keynote files are really folders that are designed to act like files. As long as you're on your Mac, there's no real difference between a Keynote "package" and a binary file. Take this example of a Keynote file. There are 6 items: Data, Metadata, and other parts inside this "package".

If you simply take the file (as it is) and try to send it by email, the system will not grab all the necessary information that will allow it to open on the other end. That's why other file systems don't understand Keynote files. To them, it looks just like a folder (this includes email servers). In the example below, you can see a Keynote file ready to be downloaded. Notice the file size of 1 KB. Is there something wrong?

When you try to download it you get the following message.

You then save it and then try to open it from your Downloads folder and you get the message: "*******.key can't be opened."  This is because the system does not recognize it as a Keynote file.

The Solution:

So, in order to email or upload a Keynote or Pages file to Google Drive or Haiku, first hold control, click the icon and choose *Compress filename*.

You'll be able to create a zip file, attach that file with no problem to an email or upload to Google Drive or Haiku.

The recipient will be able to download it, unzip it from the Downloads folder by double-clicking on it and open the uncompressed file using its original application.

An example Keynote file (Book Talk.key) that I received by email from a Grade 8 student is shown below: