Troubleshooting FileMaker Application Issues on macOS Mojave

Published 1/10/2019

Sometimes, your FileMaker application installation gets confused or corrupted where it may exhibit strange behavior. Symptoms might include the Script Workspace, Manage Security, or Manage Layouts windows showing up as blank.

FileMaker seems sensitive to the upgrade to macOS Mojave where we have seen this happen more often. Here we have a quick solution.

First, “Have you tried turning it on and off again?”. This is always a good troubleshooting first step in any environment. Sometimes quitting the app and opening it again is enough. If not, restart your computer and see if the problem goes away.

If neither of those options work, you can completely clear out (delete) the FileMaker preference and extension files. This should fix the problems. Note: This may require reinstallation of any plugins you have installed in the past.

Follow these steps:

1. From the File menu, Quit FileMaker.
2. Open a Finder Window.
3. From the Go menu, select Computer.
4. Navigate to the Macintosh HD>Users>Shared folder.
5. Delete the FileMaker folder you see there.
6. Hold down the Option key. From the Go menu, select Library.
7. Open the Library>Application Support folder.
8. Delete FileMaker folder you see there.
9. Open the Library>Caches folder.
10. Delete any folders that start with com.filemaker and the FileMaker folder.
11. Open the Library>Preferences folder.
12. Delete any files that start with com.filemaker.
13. Open the Library>Saved Application State folder.
14. Delete any folders that start with com.filemaker.

Open FileMaker again. Hopefully the problem has gone away and you’re good as new.

If you need any assistance with this process or feel at all nervous about deleting files from your computer, one of our software engineers can quickly connect to your computer and complete the task for you. Contact us here.