ActiveFiler was first developed in 2004 as a solution to the problem of documents being saved to the wrong place and/or named wrongly (especially by temporary or new staff). The document management systems available were complex and very expensive, requiring training and movement and processing of existing documents. They also "locked in" the companies that used them as documents were not accessible via the normal Windows Explorer interface but were kept in a proprietary database. These grandiose solutions were fine for larger companies that wanted a traditional document management system but smaller firms were left without anything, not wanting a large expensive and slow to implement system but also needing something. The lack of any document management system was leading to serious loss of time through sorting out problems of document duplication and searching for lost documents. Customers were being sent incorrect versions of duplicated documents for example, due to mis-filing and multiple versions of the same document being in existence. In the legal industry firms were being warned to get document management systems of some kind or be banned from practicing.

Through work developing several similar bespoke document management type applications, ActiveFiler was born. It's ability to name folders and files at the point of saving using disparate data from a variety of sources made it an obvious choice for use with Amicus Attorney practice management system for example, as it was (and is) the only document management system which can read it's data files, allowing almost any data used within the programme to be accessed and used for filing. Other applications were covered such as picking up and filing documents and files from a folder as they a placed there by e.g. a scanner or downloading.

Across various countries and industries, ActiveFiler is relied on daily to ensure documents and files are in the right place and can be quickly and reliably retrieved when needed.