Restore backup from Quickbooks Desktop

What QB Desktop country version? US, UK or else?

Where is your company located? US, UK, or else?

Thanks very much for the quick response. I should have said that I have the backup in the UK and would assume that as it is being uploaded to Quickbooks on line there is no real issue about conversion since it is only used for core transactions not tax calculations or on line payroll. 

However have tried to use the trial version and the restore procedure in the trial version doesn’t seem to recognise the QBB file that is the source backup file. It looks simple but am I missing something. Is the QBB file a valid backup or does it have to be QBW?

You cannot migrate directly from a .QBB file, but yes, your data can absolutely be restored from it. Movemybooks requires a .QBW file because that is a live, working QuickBooks company file. To resolve this, you just need to open that backup inside QuickBooks Desktop first to turn it back into a live .QBW file.

If you no longer have QuickBooks Desktop installed on your computer because it was discontinued, don't worry. Intuit provides a temporary workaround for this exact scenario:

1. Download the Trial Software: Download and install this 30-day trial version of QuickBooks Desktop 2021 to temporarily access your data.
2. Restore the Backup: Open the trial software, go to the File menu, select Open or Restore Company, choose Restore a backup copy (.qbb), and follow the prompts to save it onto your computer.
3. Locate your .QBW file: Once restored, this will generate a fresh, live .qbw file.
4. Run Movemybooks again: Upload this new .qbw file to Movemybooks, and your migration to QuickBooks Online should run smoothly.

Check out this article for other details: QuickBooks Desktop: Discontinuation information.

Give the trial download a shot to convert that file, and let us know if you run into any other snags during the upload.

TLDR: Get a trial version and then restore the QBB to a .QBW file.

To restore a .QBB backup file in QuickBooks Desktop, open QuickBooks and go to File > Open or Restore Company. Select "Restore a backup copy" and click Next. Choose "Local backup" and navigate to your .QBB file. Select it and click Open, then Next.

You will be prompted to choose a location to save the restored company file (.QBW). Pick a folder on your local drive -- do not restore directly to a network drive or cloud-synced folder like OneDrive or Google Drive, as that can cause data corruption. Give the file a name if you want to change it from the original, then click Save.

If QuickBooks warns that the file already exists and asks whether to overwrite, make sure you are not overwriting your only good copy of the current company file. Choose a different filename or location if there is any doubt.

One important note: the backup must be restored in a QuickBooks Desktop version that is the same year or newer than the one that created it. If the backup was made in QuickBooks 2022 and you are running 2020, the restore will fail. In that case, you would need to upgrade your QuickBooks Desktop installation first.

If you get an error message during restore (such as -6000 series errors), try restoring to a simple local path like C:\QBData\ rather than a deep folder structure or desktop location, and make sure QuickBooks is running with administrator rights.