Restore QuickBooks Backup: Essential Steps for Data Recovery

In today’s technological era, data is a vital asset for all individuals and especially for businesses around the world. Software can lose its data under a variety of unanticipated and unrestrained events, even after numerous security measures are in place. Likewise, QuickBooks also faces daunting risks of data loss, which is a setback for the business and results in long-term financial damage.

Fortunately, you as a QuickBooks user have the convenience of recovering your data with the help of a backup file. Don’t worry if you are unaware of the intricacies, as this blog thoroughly describes how to restore a QuickBooks backup file. Continue reading to find out the potential reasons for data loss, measures to prevent it, and the correct way to restore QuickBooks Backup.

Factors Causing Data Loss in QuickBooks

Losing data in QuickBooks becomes a great deal, as it incurs a great impact on the businesses relying on the accounting software for bookkeeping. To help you determine what went wrong at your end, we have mentioned some of the reasons for data loss in QuickBooks below:

• Human Error: Accidental overwriting or deletion of data can be a serious problem for the credibility of company files. Incorrect modifications in the financial records or deleting transactions can also result in loss of data.

• Software/system bugs and frequent crashes: QuickBooks data can also get affected if the software or system crashes abruptly in between a financial task. This can happen due to bugs or glitches, which you must remove by periodically installing latest QuickBooks updates.

• Corrupt/Oversized company files: You will face problems accessing your financial data if the company file on your system gets damaged during transfer or the file becomes oversized and the software fails to process it.

• Virus or malware attack: QuickBooks data can get damaged if a virus or malware attacks your system. Additionally, cyberattacks have also become frequent, which poses a major threat to your system data.

• Faulty hardware: You can face a data loss if your system’s storage device or the device you use to store QuickBooks company files is damaged and unable to store data.
• Network Issues: QuickBooks requires stable network connectivity to operate and keep in sync with the servers. In case the connection to the server breaks in between a financial task, QuickBooks might fail to register the data or lose it permanently.

We expect it will be now easy to pinpoint the exact reason you lost your QuickBooks data. Let’s move forward to the next section and check out the procedure to restore QuickBooks data from a backup.

Here’s How to Restore QuickBooks from Backup

You can easily restore your QuickBooks and bring everything back to normal if you have a backup file created recently. The unsaved data since the last backup couldn’t be brought back, but QuickBooks will be restored until the last backup successfully. We have in-detail described how to restore a backup file in Windows OS as well as MacOS-

Restore QuickBooks Backup Windows OS

QuickBooks creates a .QBB file whenever you create a backup of your company file. This is an exact copy of the data file and can be used to restore it in case of data loss or if you want to undo some changes. Use these steps to restore company file in QuickBooks:

Step 1: Move the backup file to a local drive

You must have the backup file (.qbb) saved locally on your system to avoid any issues while accessing or restoring a backup file. Even if you are trying to restore QuickBooks from external drive like a USB or a hosting service, you need to first move it to your local storage.

Step 2: Restore the backup file

After the backup file (.qbb) is moved to your local storage, use the following steps to restore a company file from a local backup:

1. 1. Open your QuickBooks and go to the File menu.
   2. Select Open or Restore Company and tap Restore a backup copy before clicking Next.
      
      
   3. Choose the Local Backup option and tap Next.
   4. Run a search for the backup file (.qbb) on your system, or locate it manually.
   5. Choose a location to save the restored company file and tap Open.
   6. Assign a unique name to the company file and click Save.
   7. In case a software prompt warns you of data overwriting, proceed as required.

You can now use the restored copy of the company file as the original company file in QuickBooks.

Restore QuickBooks Backup MacOS

If you are an Apple product user, use the following steps to restore a backup file on your QuickBooks Desktop for MacOS:

Step 1: Locate the backup file on your system

QuickBooks for MacOS creates a .DMG file when you create a QuickBooks backup and uses it to store a copy of your company file and other relevant PDF documents (Forms, Reports, etc.). You need to first figure out the location of the DMG file using the following steps:

1. Go to the Settings option in the QuickBooks menu and click Backup.
   
   
2. Select the Reveal backup folder option and open the folder (double-click) where the backup files are saved.
3. Use the Date Modified filter to find the most recent backup.

Tip: The backup file will have your QB version year mentioned in its name. For example, YourCompanyName.qb2022

Step 2: Restore the backup file

Once you have the correct location of the backup file, here’s how to restore QuickBooks backup file on Mac-

1. Double-click the backup file to open it. You’ll see a company file along with an Attached library folder.
2. Drag this copy of the company file to the location of your original company file. Bring the Attached library folder to the same location too.

Note: Move your original/damaged company file to a different location to avoid overwriting.

1. Launch QuickBooks for Mac and click the Browse option.
2. Go to the location where you saved the copy of your company file and click Open after selecting the file.
3. Click Continue if a software prompt reminds you that this is a backup file.
4. Fill in a name for your data file and tap Save.
5. Click OK.

Step 3: Restore attached documents

If you also had an Attached library folder and you moved along with the copy of your company file, apply these steps to restore the attachments:

1. Go to the QuickBooks menu and select Settings.
2. Click Attachments and tap the Attached Library▼ drop-down menu.
3. Tap the Select Existing option and choose the Attached Library folder you moved earlier.
4. Tap Open and close the Preferences window.

Your company file will be restored in QuickBooks along with any attached documents. Now, let us learn how to restore a backup file in QuickBooks Desktop for Windows.

Automatic Backups in QuickBooks Desktop

If you find it hectic to create regular backups or there’s any other relevant reason for you to miss backing up your data, you must let QuickBooks do it. Yes, there’s an option for automatic backups that lets you decide the frequency with which you want the backups to be created, and QuickBooks will do it for you.

We have also given the procedure to turn on automatic backup in QuickBooks Desktop for Windows as well as QuickBooks for Mac-

Turn on Automatic Backup in QuickBooks for Windows OS

Apply the following steps to turn on automatic backups if you use QuickBooks in Windows OS:

1. Go to the File menu in your QuickBooks Desktop and tap Switch to Single-user mode.
2. Access the File menu again and put the cursor over Back up company.
3. Select the Create Local Backup option and click Local Backup in the window.
   
   
4. Tap Next and select Browse in the Local Backup Only section.
   
5. Choose a location where you want to save the restored file and select the number of backups you want to create (optional).
6. Go to the Online Backup section and tap Complete Verification to check the integrity of the data file.
7. Tap OK when ready.
8. If you haven’t selected a backup location, click OK on the Warning window where it ask you to select the backup location and select it by clicking Browse in the Local Backup Only section.
   
9. Choose the Save it now and schedule future backups option and click Next, or just select Only schedule future backups in case you don’t want to create a backup now.
   
   
10. Mark the Save backup copy automatically when I close my company file checkbox and select the number of times you close QuickBooks before the backup is created.
11. Select New if you want to create a schedule and fill in the required fields to create a backup schedule for a specific time/day of the week.
12. Click OK after the schedule is set and enter your Windows admin sign-in credentials to allow running backups in QuickBooks.
13. Tap Finish when everything’s set and wait for a message of confirmation that the future backups are scheduled.

Turn on Automatic Backup in QuickBooks for MacOS

Apply the following steps to turn on automatic backups if you use QuickBooks on MacOS:

1. Launch QuickBooks Desktop and select the Settings option.
2. Choose Backup and select between Automatic backup company files every X hours (X is the number of hours you will select) or Automatic backup company files when closing, as per your preference.
3. Close the Backup Settings window when you are done.

You’ll be able to easily restore a company/backup file in QuickBooks by using the procedure mentioned in the blog.

Conclusion

This brings us to the end of our blog, created to explain how to restore a QuickBooks backup file and retrieve data up to the last backup. Additionally, the methods to turn on automatic backups in both QuickBooks for Windows and QuickBooks for Mac are also discussed. We hope you successfully restored your QuickBooks data with the technique shared in the blog and turned on automatic backups to keep your financial records intact.

FAQs

When should I restore from a QuickBooks backup?

You’ll need to restore QuickBooks data from a backup if your company file gets damaged, data loss happens due to any other reason, or you simply want to reset your QuickBooks Desktop to the last created backup.

Can I restore specific transactions from a backup?

There’s no specific way to restore a certain set of transactions from your QuickBooks company file. However, you can restore the entire backup and manually pick out the transactions you need to insert in the company file.

What if I encounter errors during the restore process?

It is possible you run into issues while restoring backup file in QuickBooks due to a number of reasons. Usually, it happens due to a lack of admin permissions or Windows Firewall restrictions on QuickBooks, which stop QuickBooks from accessing the files in your local drive. You can try running QuickBooks as an administrator to ensure it doesn’t get blocked-

1. Right-click on the QuickBooks.exe icon and select the Properties option.
2. Go to the Compatibility tab and select the Run this program as administrator checkbox.
3. Click Apply, then OK, to save the changes.

Are there any precautions I should take before restoring from a backup?

Yes, you must ensure that the backup file is stored on your local drive and not on an external drive or server. Turn off your antivirus and launch QuickBooks as an admin when restoring a backup file. During the restoration process, you must also pay attention to ensure that none of your company files get unintentionally overwritten with the new backup file you restore.

Can I restore a QuickBooks backup to an older version?

No, once you switch to a new version of QuickBooks, you won’t be able to restore your current backup file to an older version due to compatibility issues.

Can I restore a Mac QuickBooks backup file to Windows?

Unfortunately, you cannot directly restore a QuickBooks Desktop for Mac backup file in QuickBooks Desktop for Windows. However, you can restore it in Mac and then move it to Windows using the following steps:

Step 1: Download and install the latest QuickBooks for Mac updates

Step 2- Make some changes in the company file-

You’ll have to remove any memos containing more than 50 characters or special symbols like !, @, #, $, %, &, etc. Use this method-

• Go to the Reports menu in QuickBooks and select Custom Transaction Detail Report.
• Choose All Dates in the Dates▼ drop-down menu.
• Open the transaction with a double click and remove special characters from the memo before tapping Save.
• Close the transaction and repeat the same steps for all the transactions individually.

Step 3: Move the data file to QuickBooks Desktop for Windows:

Apply this procedure carefully to move your QB Mac file to QB Windows-

• Sign in as an admin user to your QuickBooks Mac and go to the File menu.
• Select Export and click To QuickBooks for Windows.
• Assign a name (without special characters) to the file and choose a location to store it.
• Enter your password and click OK after confirmation.
• Click OK again, and you can now move your file using a USB drive, online storage or through email if the file size is small.
• Restore the transferred file in QuickBooks for Windows using the same procedure as restoring a backup file.