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Condense your QuickBooks Desktop file for import to QuickBooks Online
Learn how to condense your QuickBooks Desktop company file to prepare for a smoother transition to QuickBooks Online.
Before you move your data to QuickBooks Online, optimize your company file by removing unused list entries and older transactions. Condensing your company file reduces its total target count, which helps meet QuickBooks Online import limits. This also improves performance after migration.
Prepare your company file
Before you condense your company file, complete the following steps to protect your data.
Important: Set your condense date to the last day of a monthly reporting period if you track inventory. This helps maintain the accuracy of your historical average cost calculations.
Create a local backup: Create a full backup of your original company file (.QBB) and save it in a secure location. This acts as your permanent, unedited historical archive.
Verify your target count: QuickBooks Online limits imports based on target count, not file size (MB). To import successfully, your file must be under 4,000,000 targets.
Note: If your company file contains more than 750,000 targets, QuickBooks may take longer to process. This may also cause data discrepancies, especially for inventory.Verify your company data: Make sure your file is free of structural errors before you optimize. Go to File, hover over Utilities, then select Verify Data. If QuickBooks finds data damage, resolve it using the QuickBooks Tool Hub before you proceed.
Check the total targets in your company file
Before you condense your company file, find out how many targets are in your company file:
Open your QuickBooks Desktop company file.
Open the Product Information window:
Windows: Press F2 (or Ctrl + 1) on your keyboard.
Mac: Press Command (⌘) + 1 on your keyboard.
Locate the FILE INFORMATION section and review the Total Targets count. If your company file has more than 4,000,000, continue with the condense process.
Condense your QuickBooks Desktop company file
QuickBooks Desktop Pro/Premier 2012 or Enterprise 12.0 and newer
Make sure you're in Single-user Mode. Go to File and check if it displays Switch to Multi-user Mode. If not, select Switch to Single-user Mode.
Go to File, hover over Utilities, then select Condense Data….
Note: If you receive the prompt, Budget data may be moved during cleanup. Do you want to continue anyway? Select Yes.Select Remove the transactions you select from your company file Choose the transactions you want to remove. Then, select Next.
Select Transactions before a specific date, then select a specific date. QuickBooks removes closed transactions on or before this designated day.
Select Next.
Select how QuickBooks summarizes the removed transactions, then select Next. If you aren't sure, select Help Me Choose.
Review the recommended transactions for removal. Clear the checkbox for any transactions you want to keep, then select Next.
Clear the checkbox for any unused list entries you want to keep, then select Next.
Select Begin Condense. QuickBooks automatically creates an archived copy of your company file in its original folder before the condense process begins.
QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
Close all open transaction windows in QuickBooks before you begin, then condense your QuickBooks Desktop for Mac company file.
Verify your target count
After the condense process finishes, verify the new total target count.
Open the Product Information window:
Windows: Press F2 (or Ctrl + 1) on your keyboard.
Mac: Press Command (⌘) + 1 on your keyboard.
Locate the FILE INFORMATION section and review the Total Targets count. If your file contains fewer than 4,000,000 targets, you’re ready to move your QuickBooks Desktop (Windows or Mac) to QuickBooks Desktop or Intuit Enterprise Suite.
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