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Creating and editing accounts

You can create accounts for every individual who accesses a file, or create fewer accounts that are shared among many individuals, such as a “Marketing” account and a “Sales” account. You must assign a privilege set to each new account. See About accounts, privilege sets, and extended privileges.

You can edit existing accounts, such as change the account name, password, and other settings. For example, if someone forgets their password, you can reset it for their account and inform them of the new password. You can also duplicate or delete existing accounts.

Warning  Don’t forget the account name and password that is assigned to the Full Access privilege set. If necessary, write it down and store it in a secure place. If you lose or forget this account name and password, you may not be able to access or change the file.

To create or edit an account:

1.	Choose File menu > Manage > Security.

If the Manage Security dialog box displays the detailed security settings, click Use Basic Setup.

2.	To create a new account, click New Account. To change an existing account, select the account.

3.	For Authenticate via, choose Local FileMaker File or External Server.

For information about accounts managed by an external server, see Creating accounts that authenticate via an external server.

4.	For Account Name, enter or change the account name.

Account names are not case-sensitive. See Tips for creating account names and passwords.

Tip  If you plan to create accounts for individual users, you can base each account name on the user name defined in the Preferences dialog box. This user name is the default account name that appears in the dialog box that prompts a user for an account name and password. The user won’t have to retype the account name if it matches the user name.

5.	To enter or change the password, click Change, then enter and verify the password. Click Set Password.

Passwords are case-sensitive. See Tips for creating account names and passwords.

6.	To require the account user to choose a new password the next time he or she logs in, select Require password change on next login.

7.	For Privilege Set, do one of the following:

•	Choose a privilege set.

•	Choose New Privilege Set, then create a new one.

•	Choose a privilege set, then click Edit and change the privilege set.

See Creating and editing privilege sets.

Note  You can also create or edit privilege sets in the detailed settings. See Managing accounts (detailed).

8.	To make the account active, select its checkbox.

To make an account inactive (for example, until you set up its privilege set), clear the checkbox.

9.	If you’re finished, click OK. Or, to continue working with accounts and privileges, see Managing accounts, Managing privilege sets, or Managing extended privileges.

To duplicate or delete existing accounts:

1.	Choose File menu > Manage > Security.

If the Manage Security dialog box displays the detailed security settings, click Use Basic Setup.

2.	Select an account, then:

•	To duplicate the account, click .

•	To delete the account, click .

3.

Click OK.

Notes

•	At least one active, FileMaker-authenticated account in each file must be assigned the Full Access privilege set. An error message will appear if you edit accounts so that no active account is assigned the Full Access privilege set.

•	You cannot rename or delete the Guest account or assign it a password. If you do not want to permit Guest access to a file, make the Guest account inactive. See About the Admin and Guest accounts.

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Shared accounts are a security risk. For better security, use individual accounts instead of shared accounts. If you intend to use shared accounts anyway, make sure you limit the access capabilities of the privilege sets that shared accounts use. Change the password occasionally, particularly when certain users no longer require access.

•	To automatically log in each time a file is opened, choose File menu > File Options and specify the account name and password. See Setting file options.

•	To remove password protection from a file, remove passwords from all accounts. Then, in the File Options dialog box, make sure Log in using is selected, with Account Name and Password set to Admin and a blank password. See Setting file options.

Related topics 

Managing accounts

Managing privilege sets

Managing extended privileges

Managing accounts (detailed)