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Diane18
Level 4

Moving QuickBooks to a New Computer

We are purchasing a new computer and it will be Windows 10.  Now I need to transfer QB to the new computer.  I found a couple articles here that explains how to do it.  I have a question about multiple businesses.  I have 4 companies on QB.  To switch between companies, I go to File and then Open Previous Company.  When I transfer QB, do I have to backup and transfer all 4 companies separately, or do they all get moved at once?

5 Comments 5
LauraAB
QuickBooks Team

Moving QuickBooks to a New Computer

Hello Diane18,

 

It's awesome to hear that you're getting a new computer for your business. You've got a great question here about how it will work with moving your QuickBooks Desktop and your company files from one computer to the other. I can help you with this and let you know more about that feature you use to switch between companies.

 

Each QuickBooks Desktop company file is its own entity, meaning they'll have to be moved over one by one. You can do this by putting the company files onto an external or USB drive and then take them from that drive and put them on the new computer.

 

What you're seeing with being able to switch between companies happens when you've opened the company files in the program. It's the program's way of recognizing the data that has run through it and allowing you to easily go from one to the other when necessary. Once you've opened all the company files in QuickBooks Desktop on the new computer, you'll be able to switch between them in this way again.

 

If you'd like a hand during any part of this process, don't be afraid to reach out to support for assistance. Learn how to do that by reading our Intuit QuickBooks Desktop software support policies article.

 

We've got your back!

Fiat Lux - ASIA
Level 15

Moving QuickBooks to a New Computer

@Diane18 

You can follow these steps:

1. Open each of your current data file and create a backup copy

2. Locate all those QBB files and copy them into the new machine.

3. Restore all those QBB files

 

Good luck!

Chris1008
Level 1

Moving QuickBooks to a New Computer

I have QB Pro 2017. When trying to transfer using a USB thumb drive, I received a message back that I had to upgrade to QB 2020 in order to successfully transfer the data.

Is that true and/or is there a work around?

[email address removed]

JamesM
QuickBooks Team

Moving QuickBooks to a New Computer

Hi Chris1008. It's important you get the support you need with this. I encourage you to contact our support team for further assistance. One of our agents will be happy to take a look at your account and assist with the transfer. Here are the contact details:

 

Phone and Chat: Click Contact Us to learn how to reach phone and chat support.

Social MediaFacebookTwitter, and Instagram from Monday to Friday between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. ET

 

Feel free to ask other questions below. I'm here to steer you in the right direction. 

Fiat Lux - ASIA
Level 15

Moving QuickBooks to a New Computer

@Chris1008 

Try creating a backup file (QBB) and copy it to your new machine prior to restoring it.

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