Guide
How to open an .fp5 file without FileMaker
Files ending in .fp5 come from FileMaker Pro 5 and 6, .fp3 from versions 3 and 4. Current FileMaker will not open either of them. These are the ways that still work, and what each one keeps.
Why current FileMaker refuses them
FileMaker changed its file format twice: once with version 7 in 2004 (.fp7) and again with version 12 in 2012 (.fmp12). Claris's help says current FileMaker Pro converts files from versions 7 to 11 directly, and that older .fp5 and .fp3 files must first be converted with FileMaker Pro 11 or earlier (Claris: converting files). FileMaker 11 is no longer sold, so for most people that first step is gone.
The ways that still work
| Way | What you get | What it takes |
|---|---|---|
| An old copy of FileMaker Pro 7 to 11 | The whole database, layouts and scripts included, converted to .fp7. Current FileMaker then converts that to .fmp12. | The old program installed on a computer old enough to run it. |
| A conversion service | The whole database, converted for you. FmPro Migrator runs one; prices are on request. | Sending your file to someone else. |
| fmptools | The data of every table as Excel, JSON or SQLite. Free. | Building a command-line program from source on Mac or Linux. |
| This page | The data of every table as Excel and CSV, with a preview first. | A browser. The file stays on your computer. |
If you only need the records, the data is all you need. If the database still runs a business, with scripts and printed layouts people rely on, the first two keep those and are worth the trouble.
Using this page
- Copy the .fp5 files somewhere your current computer can read them. A Mac often leaves files named "._" beside them on a USB stick; those hold no data and the page ignores them.
- Open the converter and drop all the files in at once. In FileMaker 5 and 6 every table was its own file, so a database is often a folder of them.
- Check the preview. If accented letters look wrong, switch the text setting under the file name: Mac files are usually Mac Roman, Windows files Windows Western.
- Download the free first 20 rows and open them in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets to see that they come out the way you expect.
After the export
An Excel or CSV file opens in nearly anything, and most database programs import one: Access, LibreOffice Base, Airtable, or a new FileMaker file through File, Import Records. Keep the original .fp5 files as well. They are the only copy of the layouts and scripts, and a later version of this page, or a FileMaker developer, may get more out of them.
Dates come out the way they were typed. If your file has 4/5/99, the export has the text 4/5/99: the page does not guess whether that meant 5 April or 4 May, because a wrong guess would quietly change your records. In Excel, Data, Text to Columns with a date format turns a column of them into real dates once you know which way round they go.