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Sharing and hosting files

To share a file, you must open it with an account that has Manage extended privileges access privileges. Once sharing is enabled for a file, the first user to open the file becomes that file’s host. Users do not need to have Manage extended privileges access privilege to become the host of a database, but must have these access privileges to change the sharing status of a file. See About accounts, privilege sets, and extended privileges for more information.

To host a FileMaker Pro file, you open it and make it available to other FileMaker Pro users on your local area network. Other users who open the file become clients of that file.

For the greatest security and performance, only share those files that you need to share.

Tips

•	You can also publish your database on the web. Users can then access your data anywhere they have an internet or intranet connection using just a web browser. See Publishing databases on the web for more information.

•	Don't perform processor-intensive tasks in another application, such as editing a movie or working with large graphic files, while clients are sharing a file you're hosting. When you host a file, most of the client's work is performed on your computer.

Related topics 

File hosting troubleshooting