Help

Install FileMate

FileMate needs macOS 14 Sonoma or later, on an Apple silicon or Intel Mac.

1. After you buy FileMate, download the disk image (a .dmg file) and open it.
2. Drag FileMate to the Applications folder.
3. Open FileMate from Applications. macOS asks whether you want to open an app downloaded from the internet. Click Open.
4. FileMate’s welcome window appears. Continue to turn on the Finder extension.

Turn on the Finder extension

macOS asks you to turn on Finder extensions yourself. You only need to do it once. In FileMate’s welcome window, click Open Extensions Settings and turn on FileMate. The same button is in FileMate Settings › General, which also shows whether the extension is on.

To find the switch yourself:

• macOS 15 Sequoia and later: System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions. Find FileMate under Extensions and turn it on.
• macOS 14 Sonoma: System Settings › Privacy & Security › Extensions › Added Extensions, then select FileMate.

Use an action

1. Select one or more files in Finder.
2. Right-click (or Control-click) and choose FileMate.
3. Choose an action.

To create a new file or save the clipboard as a file, right-click an empty part of a folder window instead of a file.

Actions that end in “…” open a small window first, with settings such as quality, the order of files or the name of the result. While a job runs, a progress window shows how far it has got, without taking the focus from Finder. Closing that window doesn’t stop the work; Cancel does, and a cancelled job leaves no file behind. When a job is done, the window shows the result and FileMate selects the new file in Finder. In Settings › General you can turn these windows off; a notification then says when the work is done.

To add a FileMate button to Finder’s toolbar, choose View › Customize Toolbar in Finder and drag the button in. In FileMate Settings › Finder Menu you can hide actions, change their order, or show them directly in the right-click menu.

Where results are saved

Every result is a new file in the same folder as the original. FileMate never changes or replaces the original file.

If that name is taken, FileMate picks another one, such as Report converted.pdf or Interview compressed 2.mp4. The windows for merging and making videos let you type a name. In Settings › Naming you can change the words FileMate adds and choose a number, the date, or the date and time for names that are taken.

Supported formats

FileMate saves PDFs, MP4 video (HEVC or H.264), M4A audio (AAC or Apple Lossless), and JPEG, PNG, HEIC, TIFF or WebP images.

Not supported: older Word, Excel and PowerPoint files (.doc, .xls, .ppt), password-protected documents, and Pages, Numbers and Keynote files. To convert an older Office file, open it in Pages, Numbers, Keynote or Microsoft Office and save it as .docx, .xlsx or .pptx first.

Files FileMate leaves alone

When processing a file could lose part of it, FileMate leaves the file as it is and says why. This happens with:

• copy-protected audio and video;
• HDR, spatial (3D) and transparent video, and video with subtitles, chapters or several audio tracks, when compressing or merging;
• signed, encrypted and password-protected PDFs, when compressing, and archival (PDF/A), tagged and XFA-form PDFs in the default compression mode;
• animated images, when converting;
• password-protected Office documents, Office documents over 150 MB, and documents that would need more than 5,000 PDF pages for a workbook or 2,000 for Word and PowerPoint.

If a compressed copy wouldn’t be smaller, FileMate doesn’t save it and says “No smaller copy could be created at this quality.” The same window offers Try Lower Quality… for audio and video, or Try Stronger Compression… for PDFs.

Processing time depends on the file and your Mac. Videos and documents are handled one at a time. A document conversion is stopped if it stops making progress, or if it runs longer than 10 minutes plus 5 seconds per megabyte of the document’s unpacked contents (an hour at most). Nothing is saved.

Permissions

The first time FileMate works with files in your Desktop, Documents or Downloads folder, or on an external or network drive, macOS asks whether FileMate may access them. Click Allow, or FileMate can’t read the files or save the result. You can change this later in System Settings › Privacy & Security › Files and Folders.

Newer versions of macOS may also ask before FileMate reads the clipboard, when you choose Paste Clipboard as File.

Troubleshooting

FileMate isn’t in the right-click menu

1. Make sure FileMate is in the Applications folder and you’ve opened it once.
2. Check that the Finder extension is on, as in Turn on the Finder extension.
3. Relaunch Finder: hold Option, Control-click Finder in the Dock and choose Relaunch.
4. If there are other copies of FileMate on your Mac, for example in Downloads, delete them and relaunch Finder.

Some early releases of macOS 15 Sequoia have no switch for Finder extensions in System Settings. If you can’t find FileMate there, update macOS.

An action I expected isn’t in the menu

FileMate only shows actions that work for everything you selected. If you select a video and a PDF together, for example, the video and PDF actions don’t appear. Select files of one kind instead.

New File and Paste Clipboard as File appear when you right-click the background of a folder, not a file. They’re not offered in Recents or search results. An action may also be turned off in Settings › Finder Menu.

The menu says “FileMate Isn’t Set Up Correctly”

The Finder extension can’t reach the FileMate app, so only the Copy actions work. Reinstalling usually fixes it: quit FileMate, drag a fresh copy from the disk image to Applications, open it, then relaunch Finder.

A converted document looks different

FileMate has its own converter and uses the fonts on your Mac, so a PDF can differ from what Microsoft Office would make. Fonts your Mac doesn’t have are replaced with similar ones, for example Calibri with Helvetica Neue. Other known differences:

• Word: text boxes and floating shapes may move into the text or be left out; multi-column sections become one column; comments aren’t shown.
• Excel: number and date formats show the text stored in the file; cell borders, print areas and page setup aren’t used, and light gridlines are drawn instead of borders; charts use a standard look.
• PowerPoint: SmartArt, shadows, 3D effects, audio and video aren’t shown, and freeform shapes are drawn as rectangles.

Report a problem

Click Report a Problem… in FileMate Settings › About. It starts an email, or copies text for you to paste, with your FileMate version, macOS version, whether your Mac has Apple silicon or Intel, and whether the Finder extension is on. It never includes file names or documents, and nothing is sent until you send it. Add what you did and what happened.

You can also write to rahv1516lm@gmail.com.

Uninstall

1. Turn off the Finder extension in System Settings, in the same place you turned it on.
2. If FileMate’s Settings window is open, quit FileMate.
3. Move FileMate from Applications to the Trash.

FileMate keeps its settings and a short job history in a folder in ~/Library/Group Containers. Delete that folder too if you want to remove them.

Questions

Does FileMate work offline?

Yes. Every action works without an internet connection.

Can I choose where results are saved?

No. Results always go in the same folder as the originals.

Do I need Microsoft Office to convert documents?

No. The converter is part of FileMate.

Is it a subscription?

No. FileMate is a one-time purchase.