Knowledge Base

For the past several versions of FileMaker Pro, update notices appear when launching the application. While incremental updates (e.g., 22.01 > 22.02) are generally harmless, major updates (e.g., 22.061 > 26.01) may have some unexpected repercussions, especially if the FileMaker Server version is older. 

Since the update notice is very prominent, it is very tempting for users to press it. The notices can be disabled by going to FileMaker Pro > Settings and toggling off the notices. But these changes must be performed on each user’s workstation. We recommend leaving “Notify me when an update is available” enabled and disabling “Notify me when a new version is available.” In FileMaker 2026, there is an additional option: “Notify me when a new major version upgrade is available.” We recommend disabling this.

If we manage your FileMaker hosting, our recommendation is to advise all users to ignore notifications to update FileMaker and change their notification settings. Then reach out to our team. We will discuss update options and put a plan in place to get your workstations updated company-wide.

If you access your solution via FileMaker Cloud, it is safe for you to update your workstations to FileMaker 2026. FileMaker Cloud self updates and always runs the latest server version.

If you manage your own servers internally, there are several steps to take before updating individual workstations.

1. Make sure all user workstations and all servers are running the same version of the operating system. Perform these updates first. On the server, be sure to close all FileMaker files before performing an OS update to guard against any issues after the machine has rebooted.
   
2. Determine what version of FileMaker Server is running on the server machine versus what versions of FileMaker Pro are installed on workstations. Generally these should be the same; however, sometimes the FileMaker server version may not be the latest to support workstations running older versions of FileMaker. FileMaker Server generally supports up to two prior versions of FileMaker Pro. Updates to the server and workstations need to be coordinated in stages.
   
1. For example, if users and the server are running FileMaker 19 and you want to upgrade everyone to FileMaker 26, the best way to avoid a lot of down time is to follow this process: 
   
1. Update the server to FMS v22. 
   
2. Update all workstations to FileMaker 2026. 
   
3. Update the server again to FMS 2026.
   

If you have any questions about upgrading your server or client machines, please reach out to us for assistance. We’re happy to help regardless of your hosting configuration.