Attachments in QB for MAC 2020

Hello, @Electrician.

Awesome to have you in the Community. You're in the correct spot to get assistance.

For this matter, I'd check the file for any damage that happened during the upgrade. Follow these few simple steps, and you are on the way to success:

1. Go to File.
2. Then Utilities.
3. Run Rebuild Data.
4. When the rebuild completes, go through the same steps and verify data.

Once these steps complete, view the Verify Utility and QuickBooks.log file to get the specific errors.

If any further assistance is needed, I'm just a click away.

Hi Kayla,

What makes you think there is damage to the file?

If it is in fact a file, then that would be the reason why I can't use another app (like Finder in my MAC or Files on my iPhone) to search for individual PDF attachments that are inside of it like I could with Quickbooks for MAC 2016, since I believe that attachment library was a directory.  

Hi there, @Electrician.

iCloud Document Sharing allows you to work with your QuickBooks Desktop for Mac 2020 from multiple devices connected to iCloud. 

Since you just upgraded to the latest version, let's make sure your company file is sync to an iCloud shared folder (Documents). Once done, open the file through the shared file. This way, you can access the updated file or attachments on all connected devices.

I’m adding steps on how to share the iCloud Files:

1. Go to the Finder icon, then find the file you want to share.
2. Select the company data to highlight it.
3. Click the Share button, then select Add People.
4. Choose how you want to send the invitation, for example, mail, messages, or social media.
5. Click Share.

However, if you're still getting the same result, I'd recommend consulting our QuickBooks Mac Care Team. There they can check your account and can help you verify what's causing this odd behavior when accessing attachments through your iPhone. 

Here's how:

1. Click Help at the top menu and select QuickBooks Desktop Help.
2. In the Have a Question? window, select Contact us.
3. Go to the first section and enter the details of your concern.
4. Click Search and move to the second section.
5. Select how you want to interact with them (phone or chat).

For additional reference, you can use the following article to know more about the features available in QuickBooks Desktop for Mac 2020: User Guide. 

Drop me a comment below if you have any other questions. Have a great weekend. 

Thank you for the reply MaryGrace.  I am not int he office now so I cant try what you said until later.  

But I am curious because the Attachment library file is called "Attachments Library.qbattach".  When I double click on it in my MAC, it asks which app I want to use to open it.  It's not a directory.  Isn't that the reason why I cant find the PDF attachment files in iCloud?  

Good day, Electrician.

It will ask you what app/reader you want to use when opening a document if it's your first time doing it or you updated something on your device. Also, this happens if you have more than one reader on your device, like Adobe.

The update made on your QuickBooks triggered this behavior. Though, we can set a default application for opening an attachment.

1. Let's select any attachment we can open. Control-click to open the menu, and click Get Info.
2. From the Open with: section, choose your preferred application.
3. Hit Change All button, then click Continue.

If you can't see this option, simply double-click the attachment. When it ask you what app, just select your preferred application. Then, the attachment will automatically open using that app.

You can reply to this thread if you have any questions in mind. Have a great one!

I don’t think I am being clear.

I can’t find any of the attachments in the first place. Do you understand what I’m saying?

With QuickBooks 2016, I used to be able to search my computer or my iCloud for a customer’s name and the PDF attachment from inside the attachment library would come up in Finder or the Files app on my iPhone. 

no, I cannot find those files at all. The attachment library is a file itself, not a directory like it used to be. 

OK, so at least I know that everything is working as intended.

I agree that what I am talking about doing is not common, so I can’t expect changes to be made for this type of use.

I can live without doing this, I just wanted to be sure that I was not overlooking something.

Thank you 

Actually I misspoke. Its not a disk image - its a "package".   This is the same thing used to store the parts of an application.  On the Mac in the Finder you can control-click on it and choose "Show Package Contents". It will then open up as a standard folder - just like it used to be.  

I don't know if you can get the iPhone to open up a package and allow searching.  Still looking into it.

Thank you very much, I appreciate your looking into it.  

Re: "iCloud Document Sharing allows you to work with your QuickBooks Desktop for Mac 2020 from multiple devices connected to iCloud," is this a new feature with QB for Mac 2020? In a separate thread regarding an issue with QB Mac 2016, the apparently accepted answer indicated that there could be issues if the company file was saved on such a drive; that it really should be saved on the local hard drive or on a physically attached drive. It says, "The files are data bases and the shared file protocol isn't up to the task of facilitating data base access." Is that no longer true? 

here's why I'm asking (and I can make this a new thread if need be). I had been using iCloud drive to store my (2016) company file and attachments folder, because I am working from home during this COVID-19 "stay home" period. It worked fine initially. The files have been accessible from my MacBook Air at home, and I've been in business. 

Today I had to go in to the office to do some things that required physical presence, and I could not open the file on my desktop Mac there, because it said it was open on my MacBook Air. But it wasn't. I wisely brought it with me and made sure that it was closed and quit before I disconnected it from my home network, and it was definitely not running. I opened it and closed it several times on the laptop, even logged off the machine entirely, and on the desktop it still said that it was logged in on the laptop and so couldn't be opened. 

I thought a remedy might be to try using Microsoft OneDrive instead of iCloud Drive, and it kinda sorta works, both computers can open the company file, but now I can't get the program to recognize the existing Attachments folder. I use it primarily with Sales Receipts, and the existing transactions which I know have attachments are not showing any here. 

So I have one or multiple problems, not sure which. I just need to be able to open and use the company files and attachments from wherever I happen to be, whether it's in the office or out in the field. Seems a basic need, I think, though it may be tricky under the covers. Please advise! Thanks. 

Hello there, kgardner. 

I suggest getting in touch with our customer support team so they can look into your account and check our QuickBooks Desktop compatibility. They can screenshare with you and walk you through the detailed steps. 

1. Click this link: https://help.quickbooks.intuit.com/en_US/contact.
2. Select QuickBooks Desktop for Mac. 
3. Click Company File and scroll down to the page. 
4. Click Message us. 

I'm here if you have other questions. Take care always!

Hi @IntuitBrooks It's been a long time since I started this thread, I was wondering if you found any workaround? At this point my QB for MAC 2020 version has been unsupported and even if I move to QB Online I can't upload my attachment library.  So is there a way to get my attachments out of the attachment library manually?  Or are they locked in the library file and lost forever? 

@IntuitBrooks 

I know this is another question but it is related to finding a workaround. We can convert QB Desktop for Mac work files to QB Desktop Windows work files.

https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/data-security/convert-quickbooks-mac-...

How do we access the Attachments Folder after we open the working file on Windows?

https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/attach-file/manage-attachments-quickb...

I don't recall the specifics for 2020 but the attachments file is either a Disk Image file or (as in the latest version) a package file.  For a disk image file you can rename it to end in .dmg and then double click on it to open it in the finder. For a package file (more recent versions have a .qbattach file extension in the name) control click on it and select "Show Package Contents".  

Either way all the files are accessible from the Finder or whatever other program you want to use. They are stored inside of Folders with names that are uniquely generated (known as GUIDs techincally).  The GUIDs match what they are attached to in QuickBooks (invoice, account, whatever) and are unique identifiers there, too.

I don't know of any program that preserves the attachment link when converting to QuickBooks Windows or QuickBooks Online.

@IntuitBrooks  Thank you for the reply on the weekend, I appreciate it.

I was able to “show package contents” and get access to the PDFs like you mentioned, so at least they are not lost forever.

I have a question that you might be able to help me with. How much longer do you think I will be able to use QuickBooks for Mac 2020?  I am perfectly fine using it right now in it’s unsupported manner, the only thing I lost that I used was syncing with my bank account, which is not a big deal for me to do manually. My concern is that one day Apple will upgrade OSX and then QuickBooks will be corrupt and unusable and I will lose everything. Will that happen? If so, will it be for a long time? I know you can’t give me definite answers, just wondering if you could give any advice. 

No way to predict the future. I ran Quicken Mac 2007 for years after it was discontinued. If you don't update your macOS it will probably run longer. If you do update macOS you can do what I did with Quicken when it wouldn't run and run the older macOS in a Virtual Machine just to run that application. I used VMWare Fusion at the time but it was annoying as it didn't have graphics acceleration (the screen refresh was slow). But Parallels today has that and it works very well. 

I eventually bit the bullet and upgraded to the new version of Quicken, which is subscription (and not even an Intuit product any longer).  It works but I still liked the older one better.  And my financials got messed up switching (despite the converter working...  I'm not sure why). 

@IntuitBrooks thank you again for the great advice.

I’m in a bad predicament here. If I upgrade to QuickBooks Online I will have to do it without the last 10 years of attachments, which is what I would need if I ever got audited.  If I upgrade to QuickBooks for Mac 2023, I will now have to pay $350 per year for the same software I was paying $60 per year for. It’s not the money, it’s the principle.