You can encounter the “QuickBooks company file won’t open” issue while working on reports, inventory, bank feeds reconciliation, creating backup files, restoring company files or accessing other modules on QuickBooks Desktop.
The issue occurs with one of the 6000 series, H series, and C series errors. It can occur due to various reasons. When this issue arises, you may be unable to perform QuickBooks operations.
In this guide, we will quickly review the possible causes of the 'QuickBooks company file won’t open' issue in QuickBooks and provide solutions to help you resolve it and restore all data items.
Reasons for ‘QuickBooks company file won’t open’ issue
There could be various reasons that may cause this issue. Some of them are:
Corrupt QuickBooks company file.
Issues with QuickBooks services.
Outdated QuickBooks application
Hosting Settings
Incorrect company file.
Large-sized company file.
Company file name contains special characters
Solutions to Resolve “QuickBooks company file won’t open” Issue
A damaged QuickBooks company file is one of the major reasons for the "QuickBooks company file won't open" issue. If the corruption in the QBW file is behind the issue, then you need to repair it.
Before proceeding to the repair methods, first, try the below workarounds to resolve the issue:
Check the Company file type:
If the type of the company file is compressed or encrypted then you can face the issues like QuickBooks company file not working or QuickBooks company file won't open. You can check the file properties by right clicking on the File. Next clear the checkboxes such as Compress and Encrypt. Click OK. Also, make sure the company file is saved in the correct format.
Check and Update QuickBooks Application
If your QuickBooks Desktop application is not updated, it may have some bugs or errors which can lead to QuickBooks company file won't open issue. So, make sure the application is fully-updated with latest updates. You can check this, by opening the Product Information window by pressing F2/Ctrl+1. If it is not updated, then click Install Now after Update available option. If the update fails, ensure you have admin rights and disable antivirus/firewall temporarily.
Check and Change Hosting Settings on Workstation
You can face "QuickBooks company file won't open" issue while accessing the company file in a network. You can verify and modify the Hosting Settings on both servers and workstations. And make sure Hosting is enabled only on the Server system. To check this, open QuickBooks, click the File option, and then select Utilities. If you see stop hosting multi-user access, select it to disable hosting on workstation.
Reduce the size of the company file:
The large-sized company file can be the reason for the company file not being accessed. If this is the situation then you can use the QuickBooks inbuilt utility- Condense Data utility to reduce the size of your QBW file. But be aware that it isn't reversible or doesn't support certain transactions. So, it is recommended that the company file be reconciled or backed up to prevent further damage. To run this utility, just go to File, click Utilities and then click Condense Data. Select Keep all transactions but remove audit trail to minimize data loss.
Methods to repair QuickBooks Company file which is not accessible:
If the workarounds fail then the corruption is the culprit behind the issue. Following are the repair methods to repair QBW file:
Method 1: Restore the Backup File
If you have created the backup of your company file then you can restore the backup file using Auto Data Recovery (ADR) feature of QuickBooks Desktop. But to use this method, your QuickBooks application should not be in Accountant edition, and the size of the backup should be up to 1.5 GB.
If your backup file is large, then you can use the following steps to restore the corrupt QuickBooks company file:
In QuickBooks, click File > Open or Restore Company.
Click the Local Backup option and then select Next.
Browse to the location of your backup company file (.qbb).
Select a location to save the restored file and click Open.
Method 2: Run Verify and Rebuild Utility
If your backup (.QBB) file is outdated or damaged, then you can use QuickBooks' built-in utility - Verify and Rebuild. This utility discover and fixes company file issues (if any).
To run this utility in your QuickBooks follow the below steps:
Click File > Utilities > Rebuild Data.
In the QuickBooks Information wizard, click OK.
You will see a dialog box asking you to create a company file backup. Follow the on-screen instructions to create a backup.
Once the backup is created, the tool starts rebuilding the company file.
Wait for the rebuilding process to complete. Then, click OK.
Next, verify if there are any additional issues. For this, run the Verify Data tool. The steps are below:
In QuickBooks, click the File option, click Utilities and then click Verify Data.
The tool will initiate verifying the company file data for any additional issues.
If it fails to find any issue, click OK.
Method 3: Download and Run QuickBooks Tool Hub
You can download QuickBooks Tool Hub, an open-source tool developed and recommended by Intuit. Make sure you have downloaded the latest version of it. Next, follow the installation process as for other software and then launch the tool. Next, run the QuickBooks File Doctor tool and Quick Fix my file.
Both these tools are available under "Company File Issues" section. But to use the QuickBooks File Doctor tool, make sure you are required to enter the QuickBooks admin credentials. QuickBooks File Doctor is effective for 6000-series and H-series errors but may not fix severe corruption.
Method 4- Use a Professional QuickBooks repair tool:
If the "QuickBooks company file won't open" issue still appears on your screen, then you can get help from a professional QuickBooks recovery software such as Stellar Repair for QuickBooks. It can repair the QuickBooks company file without any file size restrictions and without any data loss.
It can easily repair all the data from the corrupt QuickBooks Company file and help you regain access to your company file. It, in turn, helps you resolve the corruption-related errors, including the underlying issue. Also, the tool supports the recovery of backup files. It is also compatible with all versions and editions of QuickBooks Desktop.
Conclusion
The QuickBooks company file won't open can prevent you from accessing the objects or modules of the company file and its operations. In this guide, we've discussed several troubleshooting workarounds and QBW repair methods to resolve this issue. If the company file is severely corrupted, then you can use Stellar Repair for QuickBooks to retrieve data from it and save the data in a new file. It maintains integrity and restores every bit of data stored in it.