Can't Open QB Desktop Pro 2017 and 2018 at the same time.

Hi JCarey5478,

We can run the QuickBooks Install Diagnostic tool to get this fixed. Let me guide you through how to do it.

1. Close any versions of QuickBooks you've open.
2. Click Installation Issues in the QuickBooks Install Diagnostic Hub.
3. Click QuickBooks Install Diagnostic Tool. This can take up to 20 minutes to run.
4. Restart your computer when done.
5. Update Windows. Update prevents and often fix install errors and more. Just visit Microsoft's website for the steps.

Once done, restart your computer and open your QuickBooks again.

You can refer to this article to download the QuickBooks Tools Hub: Fix QuickBooks Desktop install errors.

You might also want to check our page for future help: Reports and accounting.

Drop a comment below if you have other questions.

Thank you for your reply. Per the Hub, I needed to uninstall and then re-install 2018. This worked, so I didn't even need the Hub.

Yes.

I have the same issue with Pro 2018 and Pro 2019.  I have re-installed both versions of QB and done a hard re-start on my computer, to no avail.  I have the  latest Windows 10 updates.

Any ideas as to how to resolve?

Hi EAC-19,

Thanks for reaching out to us.

You can download and install the QuickBooks Tool Hub. Then, run the Quick Fix My Program tool to resolve this issue. Let me guide you through the steps.

1. Make sure to close QuickBooks.
2. Download the QuickBooks Tool Hub file. Next, save the file.
3. Open the file you downloaded (QuickBooksToolHub.exe).
4. Follow the prompts to successfully install the tool hub.
5. Double-click the icon on your Windows desktop to open the tool hub.

Once done, run the Quick Fix my Program tool to repair all the program files.

Here's how:

1. In the QuickBooks Tool Hub, select Program Problems.
2. Select Quick Fix my Program.
3. Start QuickBooks Desktop and open your data file.

You can refer on this article for detailed steps and visual guide: What To Do If You Can't Open QuickBooks Desktop.

Reply to this thread if you have any other concerns, We're here to help.

The Quickbooks Tool Hub did not help, either using the Quick Fix or the Program Diagnostic Tool Options.

What eventually worked for me was going to Programs & Features and uninstalling QB 2019 (started with this and planned to do 2018 as well) and then re-installing the program from the CD.  This is mentioned as a "clean install".  This worked and I did not have to repeat the process with QB 2018.  I did not have to restart my computer for this to work.

UPDATE - After updating my 2019 QB to the latest version, I again had the problem of not being able to open 2018 with 2019 running.  It would appear that there is something in the update that is creating this problem.

For now, I will again do a clean install of 2019 but will not update to the latest version.  Hopefully the developers will resolve this issue soon.

Hello, EAC-19.

Thank you for the feedback with the program not responding. Uninstalling and reinstalling can resolve the issue, but this can be time-consuming to complete. I suggest trying to run a reboot.bat on the programs first, this only takes a couple of seconds to complete. 

1. Completely close out QuickBooks Desktop.
2. Right-click the QuickBooks icon.
3. Choose Open file location.
4. Find reboot (reboot.bat) and double click.
5. A red command window will appear, don't close this.
6. Reboot the computer.

These simple steps will repair the application and have you up and running in no time. If you have any further question drop a post below.

This didn't work for me, I ran reboot on both QB 2018 and 2019. Still can't open both at once. It's year and and I have a new QB file so this is a big problem.

Hi, Kristin1.

Updating the QuickBooks Desktop release version is a good start when it comes to fixing program-related issues.

Here's how:

1. Go to the Help menu and select Update QuickBooks Desktop...
2. Go to the Update Now tab. Tip: You can select the Reset Update checkbox to clear all previous update downloads.
3. Select Get Updates to start the download.
   
4. When the download finishes, restart QuickBooks.
5. When prompted, accept the option to install the new release.

Once done, try opening the QuickBooks 2018 and 2019 versions. To learn more about this process, check out this article: Update QuickBooks Desktop to the latest release.

Also, you can visit these resources below in resolving QuickBooks Desktop issues:

• Fix QuickBooks Desktop install errors.
• What To Do If You Can't Open QuickBooks Desktop.

Let me know if you have other questions about this topic. I'll be here to provide further insights and help whenever you need one. Have a lovely week.

That was the first thing I tried. Didn't work. Installed QB Hub and tried all the utilities, didn't work. Guess I will install both 2018 and 2019 fresh and see if that works. Really frustrating, it's year end and this is costing me so much time.

Hi there, Kristin1,

Let's perform another way of opening both QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT)  2018 and 2019 at the same time.

You can right-click the QuickBooks icon, then run as admin. If it doesn't work, there might be damage to your company file. To fix this, you need to suppress the application.

Here's how:

1. Press and hold the CRTL key, then double-click the QBDT icon.
2. Don't release the key until you see the "No Company Open" window unless QuickBooks freezes or gives you an error.
3. Select a company file, then choose Open.

You can also refer to this article: QuickBooks Desktop doesn't start or won't open for other troubleshooting steps.

Let me know how this goes by clicking the Reply button below. I'm always around to help ensure your success.

I tried both fixes, neither worked. Last night I tried fixes 1 and 2 of the article link you posted and they didn't work either, I'll try steps 3 - 5 soon when I have time.