Your FileMaker data, without FileMaker
An old FileMaker database is a common place for data to get stuck. Current FileMaker versions
cannot open .fp5 or .fp3 files at all: they have to be converted with FileMaker 7 to 11,
which no longer run on today's Macs. Newer .fp7 and .fmp12 files need a FileMaker licence
just to look inside. This page reads the database file itself, with no FileMaker installed,
and gives you every table in formats any computer opens.
| You upload | You get |
|---|---|
| .fp3, .fp5, .fp7 or .fmp12 file (also runtime solutions with their own extension) | An Excel workbook with one sheet per table, plus a Fields sheet listing every field with its type |
| Several files of a multi-file solution, or a .zip of its folder | CSV files in a ZIP, one per table, UTF-8 |
| A SQLite database with all tables, for SQL tools, Python or R | |
| JSON with every table, field type and record | |
| The pictures, sounds and files stored in container fields, in a ZIP |
Before you download, a preview shows the tables with their record and field counts and the first records of the biggest table, so you can check that everything is there.
Supported versions
.fp3: FileMaker Pro 3 and 4.fp5: FileMaker Pro 5, 5.5 and 6.fp7: FileMaker Pro 7 to 11.fmp12: FileMaker Pro 12 and later, tested with files made in FileMaker 2025
In the FileMaker 3 to 6 era each table was a separate file. Upload all the files of a
solution together (or a .zip of its folder) and you get one workbook and one SQLite database
with a table for each file. Mac files from that time often have no extension: put them in a
.zip and they are found by their content.
What is kept, and what is not
- Values come out exactly as FileMaker stored them. Number fields holding plain numbers are
real numbers in Excel, JSON and SQLite; anything else typed into them (such as "approx. 12")
stays text. Dates and times keep the form they were stored in, for example
1/4/1995or18/11/2023, which depends on the computer the data was entered on. - Repeating fields get one column per repetition (
Phone,Phone [2],Phone [3]) and a list in the JSON file. - Calculation fields: stored results are included. Unstored calculations and summary fields are worked out by FileMaker while the file is open and are not in it, so they are left out and listed on the Fields sheet.
- Container fields of
.fp7and.fmp12files: embedded pictures, PDFs and other files are extracted under the file names FileMaker kept for them, and each record's cell gives the file's path in the ZIP. Containers kept outside the database (external storage) are not in the file and cannot be extracted. - Container fields of
.fp3and.fp5files: pictures come out as the GIF or JPEG FileMaker kept, or, when it only kept its Mac PICT picture, as a PNG (photos and other pixel pictures) or as the PICT itself (drawings made of lines and shapes). Sounds become WAV files. - Layouts, scripts, relationships, value lists and accounts are not exported: this tool rescues the data in the tables.
- Damaged or cut-off files are read as far as possible and you are told what could not be recovered.
Passwords and encryption
FileMaker account passwords only decide who may open a file in FileMaker; they do not scramble the data, so password-protected files are read like any other. Files protected with Encryption at Rest (available since FileMaker 15) are scrambled; remove the encryption in FileMaker first.
Accented letters in old files
FileMaker 3 to 6 stored text in the character set of the computer it ran on and did not record which one. The tool tells Mac and Windows files apart by looking at the accented letters, and tells you when the text gave too little to go on. If accents look wrong, choose another setting under "Text encoding of .fp3/.fp5 files" (Central European, Cyrillic and Japanese are available too). Files from FileMaker 7 and later use Unicode and always come out right.
Privacy
Your files are processed on our server only to produce your downloads. The upload is deleted as soon as the conversion finishes and the results are deleted after 30 minutes. Nothing is shared or used for anything else.