Why do PDFs that I attach to transactions in my checking register no longer display in a new browser tab when I click the link, as they always have done before?

JessT · ‎November 17, 2022

Hi Roland12,

Thank you for checking your browser's settings. I would have done the same thing.

We've actually seen similar cases, and it's indeed a weird behavior. I had a client yesterday with a related concern. Recently, his attachments to bills and POs are automatically downloaded while attachments to other transactions are previewed in a browser. I suggest contacting QBO Support to check this using more tools. That way, we can get to the bottom of this issue.

I'm just right here if you have additional questions.

Roland12 · ‎November 17, 2022

As I explained before, if I change the Chrome setting to download PDFs, then it gives me the Save dialog every time for all PDF attachments, regardless of when they were uploaded. That makes sense. Is that how your browser is set? Mine is not, and starting with files attached on 11/8, QBO ignores my preference for opening the file in a new browser tab. But files that were attached on 11/6 and earlier still preview in a new tab, as they have always done (I did not attach any files on 11/7). I did not change anything. This appears to be a bug in QBO that was introduced on or around November 6. I have read that new features are usually rolled out on the 6th of the month.

I have been attaching files for three years in my QBO checking register. This has never happened before. And as I wrote earlier, it is not a problem with my company file. It did the exact same thing when I tried attaching a file in your QBO demo company as your support rep watched.

Having to download a file that I just uploaded in order to check it is absurd.

CraigWard · ‎November 18, 2022

@JessT Unfortunately your response has ignored again what we have been saying. We have had our settings within Quickbooks checked, double and triple checked but the issue is with Quickbooks software.

Regardless of how many times we untick and recheck options within Quickbooks and browser (tried on different browsers and platforms) settings, the problem persists. We do not have the time to waste repeating these steps at the request of yet another support staff. It's akin to banging your head on the wall and expecting it not to hurt after trying it again for the 100th time.

Please escalate the matter further up the chain of support so that the issue maybe fixed.

Roland12 · ‎November 18, 2022

Craig, do you know whether I am correct that updates are "rolled out" (translation: forced on users) on the 6th of every month? If that is the case, then the timing of this problem's onset strongly points to the latest release.

I wonder too whether all users get the updates at the same time. As I mentioned above, my daughter tested it for me last week and reported that her attachment opened in Adobe Reader, and the Save dialog also popped up. I wish I could determine whether we are both on the same release.

CraigWard · ‎November 18, 2022

I'm not sure when they do the updates. I can confirm that when I used it on 4th November 2022 it functioned correctly, the following week it didn't so something happened over that weekend.

I'm mainly a Mac user on Safari so when you click on the attachment it briefly opens a new tab, saves the attachment to the Downloads folder and closes the tab again. I then tried it on Chrome on the Mac and basically the same but it just downloads it. Then changed platforms to Windows 10 on a PC again using Chrome and then Internet Explorer with the same results.

Companies House continues to open PDF's in new tabs as does other online software so rules out browser setting problems.

Roland12 · ‎November 18, 2022

Thanks, Craig. I'm also mainly a Mac user, and the behavior in Safari for me is exactly as you describe – for recent attachments only. Those uploaded on 11/6 or earlier open in a new Safari tab. It looks like we've been trying the same things, except that I had not tested it with Explorer. I get the same result with PNGs, so this is not specific to PDFs. On a website that I manage, PDFs are behaving as they always have in Chrome.

OldToad · ‎November 18, 2022

Wow.I just tried to add attachments today. I ran into this very issue. I tried so many things before I went to the on-line chat. I tried the normal fumbling around with searching key word in the help section. I eventually gave up and went to live chat. We've all been in that "therapy window" before. The result is, I have a case number, not that it will help. I'd like to point out that the agent knew nothing of this issue. Am I surprised? No. The two hours I spent could have been avoided. FWIW, I live in Canada. I searched on-line support in the Canadian community before the live chat. I still haven't found anything as good as this thread. I was so frustrated and couldn't help but think others must have had the same issue and I just stumbled upon this under the US side of the community. Go figure! What I need to know is if this was indeed a deliberate claw-back of our previous functionality? Can any moderator out there please verify that it was an intentional software change made on the Canadian side? Basically, I'd rather know now rather than later. Why keep paying for something going backwards? You should have seen the issues I had with Sync With Square that were never resolved when they forced that conversion.

Roland12 · ‎November 18, 2022

Welcome, OldToad. I'm glad you found us.

One of the most frustrating things is when a QuickBooks employee chimes in to say "That's the way it has always worked." Uh, no it's not.

At this point I'm just waiting for December 6, and hoping that a new round of "improvements" will change it back to the way it was.

I have had one additional live chat session with support since starting this thread. First thing I did was post a link to it and tell the rep not to reply further until he had read the whole thing. Of course he didn't, and proceeded to suggest a brilliant fix: clear my browser cache.

OldToad · ‎November 18, 2022

Thanks for the only laugh I've had about this today. Seeking honest responses from the expert employees is like trying to find the gold at the end of a rainbow. To me, the "kiss" method for solutions would be to tell us they know of the problem, that they know it was a change in policy, or not, or they are actually working on their error. But, that would be too???? honest???

KRK37 · ‎November 18, 2022

I've run into the same issue that you have all described and I find it absolutely ludicrous that this has changed. As @Roland12 has pointed out - what's the point of uploading a document, just to download it again to view it later!!! The whole point of uploading a document is to actually view it online in the browser. I have just migrated 2 companies to QBO and now run into this issue and can't believe what I'm dealing with. I have a 3rd company I'm ready to pull the trigger on to migrate to QBO but with this issue I'm having 2nd thoughts. When I contacted QB support, they told me I can no longer view attachments in the browser and have to now download them. Crazy!! Thank you for this thread as I will now try to stop banging my head against a brick wall and hope QBO comes to their senses and re-instates the way attachments were able to open in the browser as before.

shs_treasurer · ‎November 21, 2022

I'm a (new to) Mac user running Safari as well. My experience is slightly different when trying to open a saved PDF file that's attached to, for instance, an expense:

Open expense record
Click on PDF attachment
Opens new browser window and just spins and spins...
There is no option to download the attachment (when I try, it gives me an HTML link...)

Is anyone having a similar experience? This is super frustrating, and the only way I can open PDF attachments currently is to whip out my old Windows laptop...

Roland12 · ‎November 21, 2022

Thank you, shs. I have not experienced that with Safari. For me, it does almost exactly the same thing as Chrome: attachments made on 11/6 and before open in a new Safari tab. Those attached after 11/6 download automatically, without giving me the Save dialog that Chrome does. I suspect the difference might be in my Safari settings. In Chrome there is a setting for "Ask where to save each file before downloading." I have that turned on, and I suspect there is something similar in Safari that I haven't bothered with since I rarely use Safari.

Mark_R · ‎November 21, 2022

Thank you for sharing your QuickBooks experience here in the Community, @shs_treasurer.

We haven't received any reported issues about opening a saved PDF file that is attached to a transaction. Let's run some troubleshooting steps to get this resolved.

It's possible that the Safari browser you're using had a data issue. There are times the browser stores frequently accessed data, thus causing QuickBooks to act weirdly.

To verify, let's log in to your QuickBooks Online (QBO) account using a private browser by pressing Command + Option + P on your keyboard. Once logged in, go back and open a saved PDF file that is attached to a transaction again to double-check.

If this works, they need to clear the browser's cache so the system can start fresh. If they get the same result while using a private browser, I recommend switching to a different one.

Come back to this post and let me know how it goes, @shs_treasurer. I want to make sure this issue is taken care of.

You may also want to run and customize reports in QuickBooks. This will help you view useful information about your sales and purchase transactions.

Wishing you all the best!

OldToad · ‎November 21, 2022

This is not personal MARK, you wrote this in your recent reply, in THIS THREAD. "We haven't received any reported issues about opening a saved PDF file that is attached to a transaction. Let's run some troubleshooting steps to get this resolved."

I seriously couldn't believe I read that response. Who is we???? You? Your team? Anybody on any customer service team? Are the people we chat with not on a team? ANY????

I am gob-smacked. Unbelievable! The issue is that opening a pdf attachment does not work in the same manner that we were used to is the core of the real problem in this thread. I'm now trying to find out the official QB answer. Was it intentional to change that behaviour and if so, I'd actually like to know if it was intentional to not advise users?

I didn't want to get into this, but now I am going to show my correspondence resulting from my case number. In fairness, I did get quick responses, but I'll let you decide for yourselves exactly whether I've been answered properly within the context of this entire thread.

Their first immediate email for the case simply asked me to screen share to help solve this. I did not include that first e-mail for the community to read as it was simple enough to understand.BTW, I did not screen share as I had tried to on the original chat.

So, MY RESPONSE TO THEIR FIRST E-MAIL....

Thanks for getting back to me.

After our chat, I went to the QB community. I searched in the Canadian side and found zero information. I was totally disappointed. However, I found information on my issue on the US side on a thread. It appears that the feature of having an attachment show in a separate browser has been taken away from us in what appears to have been a QB online update somewhere around the date of Nov 6th? However, I have seen nothing official on this.

I have several issues with this thread information. I am going to provide a link to the question that was asked in the thread. I want you to read the questions, comments and more importantly, the responses from employees or so-called …experts. Then get back to me and report as to why, and how, that thread hasn’t been taken more seriously? Why are your cohorts not aware of this issue? Why can’t anyone provide PRECISELY, what is going on with this issue?

It is very apparent, that your company is severely lacking in customer care. From what I can see from this thread is a lot of useless advice that has been spewed out from chats with people like yourselves. What the most glaring thing, in my mind, is that “you”, or others that are currently fielding these chats, are still not aware that what I was trying to solve, has perhaps been taken away from us? At least according to this thread.

A screen share is not important at all. You don’t need to discover the problem. The problem is to answer the question whether there is a plan to fix the issue? The important thing for the community to know is whether this was a planned change, and if so, why does it appear to be a secret? Is the company embarrassed to advise of downgrades?

In many minds of customers, this is a downgrade. Perhaps asking the marketing and code people the rational for doing this is more important, especially if this is going to be permanent? Customers need full transparency.

I look forward to hearing your replies to these questions. You might actually come out of this looking like a great rep if you rattle the right chains to get to the bottom of the questions and perhaps, the most important one, is why don’t you know, even today before sending this response to me now, about the correct answer from those on your team above you?

I may add the text of this email, without names, to the thread. The community needs to know what is being asked of you. I will base that decision on your response and what if any corrective actions have been taken.

This is the thread!

https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/banking/why-do-pdfs-that-i-attach-to-transactions-...

This is all in the interests of improving customer support.

Please read it before you respond, because as far as I can tell, another rep did not do so during this thread which is not a good reflection on customer service. You sound like you’d like to solve this at this time whereas, a refusal to at least read the thread wouldn't give that impression. BTW, if I were you, I wouldn’t be taking the responses received in the thread as definitive and I would be seeking the correct answers.

We would like to see someone with authority provide correct answers.

Thanks for getting back to me.

Awaiting your response.

THE REPS SECOND RESPONSE WAS REALLY QUICK...IT IS AS FOLLOWS...

First of all, I just wanted to apologize for the inconvenience. I have read the article link provided to the thread. We acknowledge that this is an issue either to the software itself or the browser set up. However, I just wanted to get it straight that there were no changes made regarding the attachment feature and functionality.

Please bear with me as we figure out this together. It can be done by doing a screen share to document the behaviors and click path.

MY E-MAIL TO THEIR SECOND E-MAIL IS AS FOLLOWS.....

There were two pages with over 30 postings in that thread.

A screen share is not necessary. A screen share will show that when I try to open an attachment, the attachment does not open in a readable form as it used to. The only thing available is to save the attachment back onto your desktop. Does that not sound stupid to you? Did you not read that in the thread? Why are we attaching a document that can’t be easily read? We could just click on the attachment. Now we have to re-download from the link provided by the attachment.

What is there to understand?

Your system does save an attachment. Your system opened an attachment in a new tab. Your system now opens a new tab, where we now need to download it back onto our desktop to be able to view it. How truly dumb is that?

One more opportunity to answer before I post to the community my findings.

Thanks

THEIR RESPONSE TO THE E-MAIL I SENT DIRECTLY ABOVE.....

Thank for responding to my email..
Again, we need to check the browser preferences. We need to rule out the possibilities why this issue has occurred.

MY FINAL E-MAIL IN RESPONSE TO THE LAST EMAIL

I provided all that is necessary. The thread presented the problem. The browser settings have nothing to do with this. I am going to add the responses(edited to conceal names) from you to the thread.

In the meantime, perhaps, if you have access to a fake QB Online test account, you might be able to find an old expense entry attachment made before Nov 6th and open it to see what you’d have as normal viewing behaviour. Then, you can make a new transaction and add a pdf to it, then open it. Knock yourself out.

My point now is that nobody knows what the other person is doing. Very frustrated.

FINAL THOUGHTS

. I tried. I led the horse to the water, but I still could not make it drink. I still can't believe Mark's response above came out the way it did, especially within the context of this thread.

Moderators with the official authority to speak on behalf of QB, please feel free to address the attachment feature's current inability to display without a download back onto our desktops. If I've missed something, please correct me.

Tell us when you did it, why you did it, why there has been no heads up so far that I've found.or missed, other than this thread, why the help team mostly still knows nothing about it to this day….or best yet….are you planning on putting it back?

Sincerely awaiting a knowledgeable response and communication on the app.

Roland12 · ‎November 21, 2022

Well said, OldToad. Thank you. When I saw Mark's advice to "clear the browser's cache," I had to take a long walk to cool off. Good thing I'm retired from my real job. QBO support appears to be nearing worthlessness. The left hand truly does not know what the right is doing. Plus they can't read.

One of the main questions I want answered is why attachments made on 11/6 or before still behave the way I want them to, but more recent ones don't. That is just weird, and points to a malfunction of the program.

If it turns out that this was an intentional change, why in the world would they do that? With the way it has always worked before, I could view the attached file easily, and if I did want to download it I could do so – again, easily – from the new browser tab. So it was win-win. Now I have no choice but to download the file to view it, which is stupid. Dumb, dumb, dumb. And what is the advantage in making this change? Does it eliminate world hunger or something? If the intention is to make me grumpy, mission accomplished.

5Stones · ‎November 21, 2022

I also have this problem where I can no longer open PDF attachments in a new window. I don't know if this is a coincidence or if it has something to do with the lockout of my account at the beginning of November. This was not due to a username or password issue, this was a strange error that was happening where the 2FA code wasn't being sent/received. When this happened, I reached out to QB, and they said there was an outage of some sort and it was being worked on. They said only some users were impacted and didn't know why. Eventually, the issue was resolved, and I could get back in. It wasn't long after that the look of QB Online changed for me, and I also started having this problem with my PDFs not opening a new tab with the PDF when clicking on the transaction attachments. I do not see any other comments on my previous issue, did any of you having this PDF problem also get locked out of your account due to 2FA issues? Has your QB menu tree changed recently? The reason I ask is that other users on our QB Online package did not have the 2FA outage issue, have not seen any changes to their QB menu, and can view PDFs in a new window tab without issues. (The 2FA outage I'm referring to had subscription updates titled "Some QuickBooks Online Customers are not receiving login codes" and presumably was resolved 11/01/22 10:47PDT; I have been having issues with QB ever since, unsure if it's all related or not ...including this PDF issue.)

OldToad · ‎November 21, 2022

BTW.... Final thoughts on this experience. If I pursue this too much, you know what they say about doing the same thing over and over and over again?

I chose QBO for the following reasons.

1.I thought it would always update with anything related to accounting/tax legislation and I wouldn’t be needing to load updates manually.

So far …so good.

2. As with any subscription based model, I thought each upgrade would provide better features or options to choose from going forward.

Oops. This current step appears backwards to me, not forwards. Furthermore, as features have changed along the way, I suppose the annoying pop-ups on the working software after each upgrade they have made to changes were not intended to be truly useful and informative? In my way of thinking, any update changes, or possibly perceived downgrades, should be pointed out. Did we miss it? Perhaps a simple message pop-up triggered by your first click on the attachment box that indicates it will no longer open in a new browser would have been extremely useful, if that was their intent? We still wouldn’t like it, but at least we’d not all be trying to wander in the wilderness, searching for answers.

3. If my house burned down, burgled, etc ….I’d have complete comfort knowing that my records were safe.

Always will be a benefit.

4. I could access them from anywhere I had a computer and share with my accountant.

Always will be a benefit.

5. I would be able to use the apps, the ones shown via links in QB, successfully.

Oops. My experience with the previous Square synching “never" got resolved with that upgrade which was forced by them because they said they were not supporting the previous app going forward.

6. Last but not least. The promise of on-line support, just as every other software company seems to say is a real benefit.

This is one that currently really fails, especially from the experiences and different answers we’ve so far encountered. That is why I let you know the progress I had with my case number. To be honest, I’m hopeful the company might read this and learn something. If I were the boss of the team choosing to role out this improvement, I know I would have made sure that my team knew how to help the customer support staff "spin it" to customers and exactly how they were going to tell our customers about this exciting improvement, if that's what it is? Honestly?

Roland12 · ‎November 21, 2022

Thanks, 5Stones. I have not experienced any sign-in problems recently. However, I did notice (around the same time as the attachment malfunction began, I think) that my menu on the left side looked screwy all of a sudden. It turns out that this is what they call "Business view." Maybe it has been available all along; I don't know. I did not like it at first, mainly because I thought it was being forced on me, which as it turns out it wasn't. But once I discovered that I could make my own bookmarks to things that I use most often, I started warming up to it, and have been using it all the time. I keep the main menu hidden, and only have my custom bookmarks showing along the left side. I also found that I can switch back to the old "Accountant view" at any time via the gear menu [forehead slap].

Just for grins, I'm going to attach a test PDF to this comment so I can see how it is handled here.

Edit: When I click the download icon next to Test PDF, a Save dialog opens. Okay. But if I click the filename, the page goes gray and locks up. So no viewing of attachments here either, I guess.

Roland12 · ‎November 21, 2022

OldToad, my reasons for switching were similar. Cloud programs are a fabulous invention. As I believe I mentioned before, I have been a QuickBooks user since Version 1.0 and switched to QBO soon after it became available. Support in the beginning was superb.

But this might be the last straw. The cost has gone up, and now represents a significant expense for our small church. I'm tempted to simply retire and let somebody else handle the books however they want. Or maybe hire the payroll part out, and switch to the free Wave Accounting for the rest. It is now capable of connecting to our bank for downloading checking transactions. I am using Melio Payments for bill paying through QBO, but don't believe you have to be a QuickBooks user to remain a Melio client. They recently started charging for mailing paper checks out, but still will do ACH transfers for free. I would have to maintain dual systems, but the sync between QBO and Melio is sketchy anyway, at least when it comes to updating vendor information.

shs_treasurer · ‎November 22, 2022

Worked, thanks!

Roland12 · ‎November 22, 2022

What worked?

OldToad · ‎November 22, 2022

Hi Roland12

LOL. Well, we know what wasn't fixed!

BTW...In the interests of following my case, I just received another e-mail. I just received this tonight.

Greetings
Sorry that it took me long to respond regarding on this.
I just wanted to let you know that we need thorough information regarding on this, and that includes the click path and using different browsers as well. We are sorry for this inconvenience, and we acknowledged that this affects the way you usually use QuickBooks. However, we need your cooperation to get the bottom of this specific behavior you're experiencing on your end.
If we have any available time, please reply to the preferred phone number to be contacted so we can continue reporting this concern and we can use another computer.
Best Regards.
QuickBooks Online Canada Support

MY REPLY SENT TO THE ABOVE EMAIL IS AS FOLLOWS...

PLEASE listen to me, as you will find “all” that you need to solve this problem, has already been provided to you, especially to troubleshoot the issue. See my last email to you where I suggested it to you what to try.

My issue is not unique to me. There are “others” with the exact same issue. If you read the thread, from the Quickbooks Community that I attached to this case for you previously, you should know this.

I told you before that you do not need to screen share, work with my browser etc.

You clearly must have access to a Quickbooks Online program. Please use it. Use it as your own test account. Make sure you are running with the same QBO as we all are using, meaning it needs to be on-line.

Open the program. Create an expense, then add any file that qualifies as an attachment that you have handy. Use a pdf file, a jpg file, whatever files are allowed to be attached. Upload the file into the attachment box. Two easy ways. You can drag it over or upload it. I trust you know how to use this feature. Once attached, just save the expense transaction, for your own peace of mind. Once saved, open the expense again by going to the attachment box on the expense entry that you just made. Click to open the attachment you just saved. Now, pay attention. See what that did? My guess, is it will open a new tab in your browser. Unfortunately, that new tab only brings up an option to save the attachment back to your desktop. If you read the whole thread, you’d realize that was not the behaviour of a click to open an attachment prior to Nov 6th, or whenever. That click on the attachment would have immediately opened the attachment, with no need to download it onto your desktop to see it.

You let me know what this experiment does. I repeat, you do not need to screen share, wipe out my cache, change browser settings. If you feel that’s still necessary, then you can do it with your test account. Better yet, if you personally use QBO yourself, you can do the exact same thing to your own computer. You can follow all of the paths or whatever you want. This is not a browser specific issue. This is an issue, many in the thread believe was made by a recent program change, that you and many other employees know nothing about. It seems each and every agent so far has been trying to rediscover the wheel on his own when it comes to this. That is what we are trying to definitively find out amongst other answers to questions that we have about this change as well.

I find it incredulous that you haven’t tried using the program on your own as of yet. It would take you a minute to attach a document anywhere. With me on the phone, allowing Glance etc, it would be a monumental waste of time and settings.

If your company comes back with an answer that it was intentional, please advise me

1. if clients were ever notified of this intentional change, as I clearly didn’t see a notice? Send the communication for same if I missed it?

2. if I missed it then why did you miss this?

3. why did other chat people miss it?

4. are the customer reps going to “all” be apprised of the change going forward, especially if it were intentional/missed?

I am posting this back to the thread as it relates to the topic’s discussion.

I’m trying to help you, help yourselves, at this point.

Thanks for not closing this case yet.

MY THOUGHTS

Let's see what happens next.

Roland12 · ‎November 23, 2022

Thanks for trying, OT.

It is baffling to me that nobody from QBO support has yet confirmed to me whether there was a change in the program, or even that changes ever happen at all. A competent support team would have explained how the update process works, when updates are rolled out (is it on a regular schedule, say, once a month?), and whether all users get the latest update as soon as it is released. Actually, a company that has its act together would send an announcement every time listing the changes and new features, with contact info specifically for update-related issues.

Roland12 · ‎November 23, 2022

A humble request

If you manage to fix this issue, please do not write:

"That worked! Thank you!"

"Never mind, I figured it out."

"Fixed!"

Please please please explain exactly what steps you took so those of us who are still struggling with this can fix it too and get back to work.

SirielJeaB · ‎November 23, 2022

Hello there.

This isn't the experience we want you to have with your concerns. I've seen you've exerted effort in explaining your experiences. I'm here to provide information and updates.

Please know we'll investigate where our team needs communication to meet expectations. Thus, we can identify a known issue matching their description reported for the UK region. We've forwarded your information, like the detailed account. Rest assured, our engineering team will further investigate the cause of this unexpected behavior. Please bear with us as we work on this.

Keep me posted if you have any other concerns. I'll be around for you. Take care always.

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