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January 5, 2021
Question

Asking for Administrator password

  • January 5, 2021
  • 2 replies
  • 71 views

After one of the latest updates, I believe it was last week or so, I'm now being asked to log in as an administrator.  I close out the request and that logs me into QB.  The issue is it should not be asking for admin privileges and want to stop this.  I am also now getting issues with another 3rd party software that syncs with QB because of this so I need to find out why and how to eliminate this.

 

 

2 replies

LieraMarie_A
Level 8
January 5, 2021

The Community has your back, @donloew.

 

You have the option to stay logged in to your QuickBooks company file, to which you're no longer required to log in every time you open your company file. Instead, you only have to log in with your username and password once the extended period has expired, or when you've explicitly logged off from the company file. The Admin can choose how long a user can remain logged in, with a maximum of 90 days (default is 2 days).

 

The admin can enable this option using the steps below:

  1. Go to the Company menu.
  2. Select Set Up Users and Passwords and choose Manage Login Settings.
  3. Under the Manage Login Settings section, select Keep user logged for and choose 1, 7, 30, 60, or 90 days.
  4. Click OK.

 

When this option is enabled, a user can close or exit QuickBooks and still be able to open the Company File, without having to enter their login credentials. You can check out this article for further information: Stay logged in to QuickBooks company file.

 

However, if you're having difficulties logging in as Admin, you can check out this article to help you: Reset your password for QuickBooks Desktop.

 

Please don't hesitate to touch base with me here if you need any additional assistance. I look forward to hearing from you again.

donloewAuthor
January 6, 2021

When I open QB it is asking me to put in an Administrator password.  It should NOT be asking for an administrator password.  I need to know how to STOP it from asking.  QB is asking for administrator access to my computer. 

 

My issue is not in logging into QB.  My issue is QB asking for administrator access to my computer.

QuickBooks Team
January 6, 2021

I'm here to share some insights about the password security in QuickBooks, donloew.

 

To secure sensitive information, QuickBooks requires a password when opening your company file. This will protect you and your customers’ information.

 

That said, we're unable to remove the Password Security. All users who have the Credit Card Protection feature on or whose data contains sensitive information will be asked to set up a password.

 

QuickBooks detects the presence of the following data and ensures strong control with the following:

  • Employee and Employer Social Security Number
  • Employer EIN
  • Employer Bank Details (Routing Number, Account Number)
  • Vendor Tax ID

 

For additional reference, I suggest checking this article: Password Security for QuickBooks Desktop.

 

Additionally, I've included an article that you can browse to learn more about changing passwords in QuickBooks: Password Reset.

 

Keep us updated if you have other QuickBooks related concerns. This way, we'll be able to help you out.

September 25, 2025

It is now almost 2026 and QB still hasn't fixed or doesn't understand this issue. What a joke.

 

They recommend QB Enterprise Desktop installs use a terminal server and that users connect over remote desktop, then, then have the software try to run utilities that require admin privileges on standard accounts.

 

The first person to use QB starts the service (or it fails to start if they don't have admin), then next time someone tries to open QB, it tries to run the DBManagerExe.exe to start the monitor service, unfortunately, that utility requires admin privileges. And no, we're not going to give standard users admin access on a terminal server...

 

This is what happens when terrible software developers continue developing on a 25+ year old piece of garbage software. How many THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of work hours have been lost to needless Intuit software problems? Their solution? Pay ridiculous fees to use QB in the cloud, where your data belongs to them and can be hacked and stolen or turned over to another party at their whim without you knowing.

 

I'm consulting for a company and having to deal with this joke of an issue. For anyone looking to escape Intuit for good, look at Odoo.