Knowledge Base

FileMaker may appear frozen while it is completing a large find, report, import, script, or calculation. Before forcing the application to close, take a few steps to determine whether it is still processing and to preserve information that may help us identify the cause.

Wait several minutes and avoid repeatedly clicking buttons, since additional clicks can queue more actions and make it harder to determine what is happening. 

Try switching to another application and confirm whether the entire computer is slow or only FileMaker. If the whole computer is unresponsive, the cause may be local memory, storage, operating system, or hardware rather than the FileMaker solution.

Before force-quitting, note the layout, record, report, or script you were using and take a screenshot if possible. Also check whether other users are experiencing the same problem, because simultaneous issues may indicate a server-side process.

If FileMaker remains unresponsive and no progress is visible, you may need to force-quit the application and reopen it. Do not restart FileMaker Server or the server computer unless directed, since an improper server shutdown can affect every hosted file. 

A one-time freeze may result from an unusually large task, but repeated freezes should be investigated. Send us the time of the incident, the steps that led to it, and whether the problem occurred again after reopening FileMaker.