Back up your QuickBooks Desktop for Mac company file

Learn how to back up your company file in QuickBooks Desktop for Mac.

Backing up your QuickBooks company file is something you should do daily, monthly and yearly. This way, if you ever run into a problem with your data, you’ll be able to restore your company file and get back to work. Here’s how.

Note:

• Create a backup of your company file at the end of every session.
• Keep the backup copy on a different device like in Dropbox, iCloud drive and a USB key.
• Store the copy of your backups at a place besides your work. You can use an iCloud drive, Dropbox or Google Drive to store it.

How to schedule automatic backups of your company file

1. Select QuickBooks, then select Settings.
2. Select Backup.
3. Select your backup preferences.
   1. Automatically back up company files every x hours: Choose how often QuickBooks backs up your company file in a 24 hour period.
   2. Automatically back up company files when closing: Choose if you’d like to back up your files when you close QuickBooks.
   3. Save backup files in: Choose where you’d like QuickBooks to back up your files. We recommend you use a different drive or machine and save it locally, so if there’s ever a problem you’ll still be able to access your backup.
   4. Overwrite last backup: Choose if you want QuickBooks to overwrite your last backup file. This means, you'll only have your most recent backup stored.
   5. Encrypt files with password: If you want your backups to require a password, select Change and enter a password.
   6. Back up attached documents library: Choose if you want to back up attachments you’ve added to QuickBooks records and transactions.
4. When you’re done, close the Backup settings window.

How to manually backup your company file

1. In QuickBooks, select File then Back Up.
2. Select the folder to store your backup.
3. Select Start Backup.

How to backup your company file in multi-user mode

If you’re using multi-user mode, you’ll need to create your backups from QuickBooks Server.