At some point, Quickbooks users might come across the dodgy issue of Quickbooks company file won’t open. There can be a multitude of reasons for the problem of not opening the company file. The file might have been corrupted or damaged when it was being used the last time, or it might have been corrupted on the hard drive with file storage. Some other common factors are issues with transaction templates or reports that were open last time within the file (especially when you’ve got the selected preference of ‘save desktop upon exit’. Other reasons can be using the wrong QuickBooks version, or having problems with file location like access permissions, file name problems and file extension, etc. Some additional reasons why you won’t be able to open company file can be conflicting *QBW.tlg format file.
Users can see a number of error messages for the problem of Quickbooks company file won’t open including -6000 series as there are various, or H### series, C=errors (like C=422 or C=343, although all such errors are rare), many Unrecoverable Errors and a lot more.
Further, we will know about the error “Unable to open the QuickBooks Company File”
While you see the message Quickbooks company file won’t open, you will see the error message “QuickBooks already has a company file open. If you are looking forward to opening another company file, shut this one as the first step. Not to mention, only the QB Enterprise Solutions and QB Accountant open two company files at once.
Reasons Why QuickBooks Company File Won’t Open
The above-stated error message of Quickbooks file, not opening would pop up on the screen when QuickBooks begins opening QB files and it gets damaged. Thus, the aforementioned error message is on the screen and QuickBooks turns off. When QuickBooks doesn’t work there are many reasons behind the error message, and all of these are stated below:
- The company File name is beyond the limit
- If a conflict is there with the QBW.tlg file
- When there is any corrupt QBUSER INI file
- The damaged Hard drive
- When you have an invalid location for the Quickbooks Company file
- There is an Outdated QuickBooks Desktop
- Program files are corrupt
- Corruption is there in the Windows operating system.
Error messages are shown when Quickbooks won’t open in Windows 10 or any other prior version. There are a number of methods for resolution of the issue but some beforehand caution must be taken to ensure no files are corrupted.
Preliminary Step: The step would be to be certain the issue is with ‘Company file’ and not the Software Quickbooks itself. A reliable way of doing it is by pressing and holding the Control (Ctrl) key while you double-click the QuickBooks application icon. When the program still doesn’t open while you hold the Ctrl key you have an issue with the QuickBooks application and not the file issue. When QuickBooks does not open, you can try opening a ‘sample company’ file, and when the sample company also opens chances are the issues are present on the “own Company file”.
Vital Steps To Take Before You Troubleshoot
Before troubleshooting a company file, make sure that the concern is about the company file as opposed to the program as sometimes Quickbooks online won’t load which can be confused a company file error. These are some measures you can take beforehand to fix the error message “Quickbooks the file you specified cannot be opened” or other company file issues.
- Always make sure that you’ve updated to the latest QuickBooks software release.
- Now Press and also hold the Ctrl key while you double-click the QuickBooks desktop icon.
Keep in mind: Hold the Ctrl key until you see No Company Open Window in Quickbooks.
When the program doesn’t open while you hold the Ctrl key, see that QuickBooks desktop doesn’t have steps to resolve as the following won’t really help.
- Proceed below, when the program doesn’t open.
- Verify that a computer hosts the company file. Turn off hosting on all computer systems other than the internet server.
- Choose utilities from the QuickBooks File menu.
- Now, click the option Stop hosting multi-user access.
Note: When you see things other than Stop hosting multi-user access, it suggests that hosting has been switched off on that system.
- After confirming the disabled hosting, proceed with the below-mentioned steps.
- Ensure that the QuickBooks Desktop Program isn’t damaged.
- Open a sample company file and when you see an error, you can fix the installation of QuickBooks desktop.
- For resolving the issue, you can continue with the technical steps provided below.
Fixing Error: Can’t Open QuickBooks Company File
Solutions To Fix Quickbooks Won’t Open Company File Issue
QuickBooks is handy for most small and medium-sized business enterprises for recording financial activity and transactions and also keeps a check on overall business spending and balances. Additionally, the users generate reports, and manage tax preparations and bills, and it works fine for all types of organizations. However, errors in opening files can cause disruptions in work making things complicated for users. There are some simple steps you can apply for fixing the error of Quickbooks company file won’t open. Below are some simple solutions of the issue:
Solution 1: Rename ND and TLG Files
- Open the company file from the last saved place.
- Later right click on the transaction log file and make the name change to OLD.qbw.TLG.
- The file also has the same name as the company file with the extension TLG file.
- After opening the company file and automatically Quickbooks creates .TLG and ND files.
Solution 2: Check properties and then Move To File Extension
- First thing you must do is the open the folder where you saved the company file,
- Right-click on the company file and select properties.
- Make sure that you’ve got a company file with a file size of a minimum of 7 MB.
- Choosing Advanced ensures that all compass boxes and Encrypt attributes have been unchecked.
- Finish the process after choosing OK.
Solution 3: Copying File To New Location
- The first step is creating a new folder in ‘C’ Drive.
- Then open the folder where you’ve stored the company file.
- Now Press and hold Ctrl Key and select the company file with the corresponding TLG of the company file.
- After right-clicking select the option copy.
- Now, open the newly made folder then right-click and select the option paste.
Solution 4: Troubleshoot the QuickBooks installation
- Run the file reboot.bat.
- Then you should fix QuickBooks Installation.
- After finishing the step, reinstall the program through a clean installation method.
Solution 5: Renaming Company File
- The first step to rename the company file is to scroll and open the folder with the location of the company file.
- Now right-click on the file and click rename.
- Then replace the name of the file or something which has only 3 letters.
- In case the TLG is available then also change the name.
Solution 6: Open the Company File From the Search Option
- Firstly, from the QuickBooks File menu, click open or restore company.
- Now click the check radio button for the file type you’re thinking of opening.
- Also, find the location of the file and choose the file.
- Finally, click open.
Solution 7: Open QuickBooks File from another System
- Choose the QuickBooks file menu.
- Then choose the option open or restore company.
- Select the button suitable for the file type which you need to open.
- Try getting file location when you’re attempting to open it and select the file option you got and click on the option open.
Solution 8: Open the file Right Away From QuickBooks
It is possible to get rid of the error of Quickbooks not responding when opening company files after you follow the steps mentioned below.
- After pressing control you must double-click on the QuickBooks icon and don’t release the hold key till QuickBooks file doesn’t open.
- You must ensure that one system has the company file after opening the QuickBooks file. It opens on various systems to ensure that you’re turning it off from other systems.
For turning it off from other systems you need to make sure to follow the steps listed below: Also, step now to ensure the filename can end with the ‘.qbw’ extension. However, you cannot open other file types such as backup data files (QBB) and portable files (QBM) after using the .qbw extension.
Solution 9: Check the issue is with Quickbooks program or the company file
Verify whether the problem is with a program or file. For this, you need to press the Control key and also double-click on the QuickBooks icon for opening the program. When it doesn’t open, resolve the issue of QuickBooks not opening. However, in case the program opens up, you can open a sample company file. Proceed with another step on file opening.
Solution 10: Close QuickBooks And open company file
When above solution doesn’t work, you can also perform:
- For QuickBooks, you must visit the File menu, and select Company/Log off.
Note: It is also possible to exit the QuickBooks for closing company files.
- Normally relaunch QB and choose QBW file from No Company Window.
- It helps in file opening. When it doesn’t, proceed to the next step.
Solution 11: Verify only single user is able to access file
Note: You can skip the step, if you didn’t host the QBW file on any network or if you haven’t used multi-user mode.
Verify only one PC accesses a company file in a multi-user environment. When multiple users use it, you’ll have to turn off other PC hosting, and here is the way to do it:
- Click File>Utilities from the menu bar.
- Select the option Stop hosting multi-user access.
Solution 12: Move the file to Windows Desktop
QBW file location problems can prevent the file from opening. You can move files and also open the same from there. Here is how to do it:
- Open the option File Explorer.
- Locate folder with company file.
- Right click the company file and click on the Copy option.
- Now Paste the file on the Windows Desktop and rename it.
- Open the option QuickBooks, visit the File menu, and select the option Open or restore company.
- Choose and pen.
Summary
While facing the error Quickbooks company file won’t open isn’t an issue, not knowing the right methods to fix it can make things difficult for you. The suggested approach is to select the best possible measure among all the available solutions. For this module, users must resolve all challenges to ensure the smooth working of the software. Let’s hope the aforementioned troubleshooting steps help in fixing the issue of cannot open the QuickBooks company file. When you’re still encountering the same problem or facing other concerns related to QuickBooks like Quickbooks desktop won’t open, then you can help from the QuickBooks company file. When none of the other methods can work, the QBW file would most likely have turned corrupt. For such a case, You can reach out to professionals for help and get their direct involvement on the issue.