Clean reinstall QuickBooks Point of Sale

Learn how to perform a clean reinstall of QuickBooks Point of Sale.

Clean reinstallation is sometimes required to help resolve problems during installation or while running the software. Here are the steps to completely uninstall and then reinstall QuickBooks Point of Sale on your computer.

Step 1. Uninstall QuickBooks Point of Sale

1. On your keyboard, press Windows + R to open the Run window.
2. Enter “Control Panel”, then select OK.
3. Select Programs and Features.
   Note: If the Control Panel is in Category View, select Uninstall a Program.
4. In the list of programs, select QuickBooks Desktop Point of Sale 18.0, then select Uninstall/Change.
5. Follow the prompts to complete the process.

Step 2. Rename all Point of Sale folders

If uninstalling from the server computer (or the computer where the POS data file is locally saved), copy the Point of Sale data folder and paste it to the Desktop. As a suggestion, add 'OLD' at the end of the folder name. This will prevent QuickBooks Desktop Point of Sale from recognizing the folder to create a new one.

Folder locations

• C:\Users\Public\Public Documents\Intuit\QuickBooks POS XX
• C:\Program Files (x86)\Intuit\QuickBooks POS XX
• C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Intuit\Entitlement Client\v8
• C:\ProgramData\Intuit\QuickBooks Desktop Point of Sale 18.0

Delete the QBPOSDBSrvUser Windows user

1. Select Windows Start and select Control Panel.
2. Select User Accounts and choose Manage another account.
3. In the User Account Control window, select Continue.
4. Select QBPOSDBSrvUser and select Delete the account.
5. Confirm the folder has been deleted.
6. Restart your computer.

Step 3. Reinstall Point of Sale

Please see Install QuickBooks Desktop Point of Sale.

Step 4. Restore your company file

Note: If you were unable to make a backup, restore the qbpos.db file located in the data folder pasted on your desktop.

1. Open QuickBooks Point of Sale, create a new company file with the name you want to use, and restore the backup created.
2. After the file is restored and you have verified it is the right set of data, verify you can close and reopen Point of Sale without errors, connect with other POS machines, and connect with QuickBooks Desktop (if applicable).
3. Register QuickBooks Point of Sale again.

Since QuickBooks Desktop and Point of Sale share some licensing files, make sure you can still open QuickBooks Desktop and register if prompted. If you want to remove the data folder from your desktop, move it to another folder such as Public Documents or Shared Documents, just don’t delete it.