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Opening files

You can open local FileMaker Pro files (located on your computer). You can open single files or multiple files at the same time.

You can also:

•	Open shared files on your network. See Working with shared files as a client.

•	Convert files created with earlier versions of FileMaker Pro to the current FileMaker Pro format. See Converting files from FileMaker Pro 11 and earlier.

•	Convert compatible files created in other applications — such as Microsoft Excel files or tab-delimited text files — to FileMaker Pro format. See Converting a data file to a new FileMaker Pro file.

You can close FileMaker Pro windows and files as you would in most Windows and OS X applications. FileMaker Pro saves changes as you work and whenever you close a file.

To open a local file if FileMaker Pro is already running:

1.	Choose File menu > Open.

Note  You can also choose File menu > Open Recent or File menu > Open Favorite, then choose the file you want.

The Launch Center window opens. The My Solutions tab displays any files you've marked as favorites and those you've opened recently.

2.	To open a file, do the following:

 

To	Do this
Open a favorite file	Select a file under Favorites, then click Open. See Working with favorite files and hosts.
Open a file that was recently opened	Select a file under Recent, then click Open. If Recent is not displayed, click in the Launch Center window toolbar. If no recent files are displayed, choose Edit menu (Windows) or FileMaker Pro menu (OS X) > Preferences, select Show recently opened files, enter a value, then click OK. (To remove the display of recent files, choose File menu > Open Recent > Clear Recent Files.)
Open a local file that is not displayed in the Launch Center window	Click Browse. In the Open File dialog box, choose the location, select the filename, then click Open.
Switch between displaying only favorite files and displaying all files	Click in the Launch Center window toolbar.
View files in a list or as tiles	To view in a list, click . To view as tiles, click .
Search for a file	Type a few letters of the filename in the search box.

Note  You can also double-click a file, or select multiple files and click Open. See "To open mutiple files at the same time," below. If the file was created using a version of FileMaker Pro earlier than 12, see Converting a single file.

3.	If you’re asked to enter an account name and password when the file opens, type them in the Password dialog box, then click OK.

See Opening files protected with passwords.

To open a file shared on your network:

•	In the Launch Center window, click the Hosts tab (see Opening shared files as a client). Or, in a FileMaker Pro window, choose File menu > Open Remote.

To open a file if FileMaker Pro isn’t running:

•	In Windows Explorer (Windows) or the Finder (OS X), drag the file to the FileMaker Pro application icon.

•	In Windows Explorer or the Finder, double-click the FileMaker Pro file.

To open multiple files at the same time:

•	In Windows Explorer (Windows) or the Finder (OS X), select multiple files by pressing Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (OS X), then drag them to the FileMaker Pro application icon.

If the Open Multiple Files dialog box appears, you can choose to open FileMaker Pro files and convert any compatible files, such as Microsoft Excel or tab-delimited text, in FileMaker Pro format. Then click Open.

Notes

•	When you open a file saved with date, time, and number formats that are different from the system formats set on your computer, you might see an alert message. Choose to display and sort data using the file’s formats or the system’s formats. See Opening files with different system formats.

•	You can select an icon to represent a file in the Launch Center window. See Setting file options.

•	If a file opens with a default password, you can specify a different password by pressing the Shift key (Windows) or the Option key (OS X) when opening the file.

•

You can open a FileMaker Pro for Windows file in OS X, and vice versa. If you intend to move files across platforms, it’s best to include the .fmp12 extension in the filename. If you add or remove filename extensions, you must re-specify the data source for related files and files with external scripts.

•	For information on displaying a specific layout when a file opens, see Setting file options.

•	If you have FileMaker Pro Advanced, you can:

•	rename a set of files and automatically update references to related files or scripts (see Setting up files for developer solutions (FileMaker Pro Advanced))

•	add the .fmp12 filename extension to a set of files (see Adding filename extensions to files (FileMaker Pro Advanced))

•	Even if you close a file, it may remain open as a hidden file if the window of any other file is displaying data from that file. (For example, another window may be displaying related data from the file you attempted to close.) FileMaker Pro will close the file when you close all dependent windows.

Related topics 

Opening shared files as a client

Opening files troubleshooting