Protecting databases > Managing accounts > Creating and editing accounts
 
Creating and editing accounts
You can create and edit accounts for every individual who accesses a file, or create fewer accounts that are shared among many individuals, such as a “Marketing” account and a “Sales” account. You must assign a privilege set to each new account. See About accounts, privilege sets, and extended privileges.
If necessary, you can also change the authentication order of accounts, which determines the order that FileMaker Server searches through the accounts list for a valid account.
Warning  Passwords cannot be recovered. Don’t forget the account name and password that is assigned to the Full Access privilege set. If necessary, write it down and store it in a secure place. If you lose or forget this account name and password, you may not be able to access or change the file.
Note  To automatically log in each time a file is opened, choose File menu > File Options and specify the account name and password. See Setting file options.
To create or edit an account:
1. Choose File menu > Manage > Security.
If the Manage Security dialog box displays the detailed security settings, click Use Basic Setup.
2. To create a new account, click New Account. To change an existing account, select the account.
3. For Authenticate via, choose Local FileMaker File or External Server.
See Creating accounts that authenticate via an external server.
4. For Account Name, enter or change the account name.
Account names are not case-sensitive.
Tip  When creating accounts for individual users, base each account name on the user name defined in the Preferences dialog box. When the user name and account names match, the user doesn’t need to type the account name when opening the file.
5. To enter or change the password, click Change, then enter and verify the password. Click Set Password.
Passwords are case-sensitive. When you create a password, make sure the Caps Lock key on your keyboard is not inadvertently enabled.
6. To require the account user to choose a new password the next time he or she logs in, select Require password change on next login.
7. For Privilege Set, choose, create, or edit a privilege set.
See Creating and editing privilege sets.
8. To make the account active, select its checkbox.
To make an account inactive (for example, until you set up its privilege set), clear the checkbox.
9. If you’re finished, click OK.
To duplicate or delete existing accounts:
1. Choose File menu > Manage > Security.
If the Manage Security dialog box displays the detailed security settings, click Use Basic Setup.
2. Select an account, then:
To duplicate the account, click Duplicate account button.
To delete the account, click Delete account button.
3. Click OK.
To change the authentication order of accounts:
Note  Changing the authentication order of accounts is only necessary under certain situations when your file is hosted by FileMaker Server. See the Notes in Creating accounts that authenticate via an external server, and FileMaker Server Help.
1. Choose File menu > Manage > Security.
If the Manage Security dialog box displays the detailed security settings, click Use Basic Setup.
2. Drag each account name into the order you want.
3. Click OK.
Notes
Use only ASCII characters in passwords, such as a-z, A-Z, 0-9, and punctuation characters like “!” and “%.” Passwords containing certain accented characters or non-roman characters such as Cyrillic or Japanese may not work, particularly in cross-platform database solutions and files accessed via FileMaker WebDirect.
If the file is shared via Web Publishing, also limit account names to ASCII characters. Do not use colons in account names and passwords of web-published files.
Set up privilege sets to require periodic password changes.
Related topics 
Managing accounts
Creating and editing privilege sets
Creating and editing extended privileges
Managing accounts (detailed)
About the Admin and Guest accounts