QuickBooks update cache folder cleanup

Thank you for posting your query here in the Community space, Brad.

To assist you in identifying which files can be safely removed, could you please provide us with the version of QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) that your customer is currently using? This information will help us determine which files can be safely deleted.

Additionally, we recommend making a backup copy of their QuickBooks company file before deleting any files from their folder. This precautionary measure ensures that their data is protected in case any unexpected issues arise during the cleanup process.

Once you have confirmed the QuickBooks version they are using, you can proceed with deleting only the files that do not match their existing QuickBooks version.

Moreover, you may also want to check out this website to learn about the latest platform changes and stay up-to-date with releases, news, events, and more on QuickBooks: Intuit Developer page.

Let me know how things are going by leaving a reply below. I'm ready to provide any necessary assistance you may need.

Thank you for your feedback. Our customers all have a wide variety of versions of QuickBooks on their desktops. The system I'm looking at now has these in our software audit:
QuickBooks Premier: Accountant Edition 2015
QuickBooks Premier: Accountant Edition 2016
QuickBooks Premier: Accountant Edition 2017
QuickBooks Premier: Accountant Edition 2018
QuickBooks Premier: Accountant Edition 2019
QuickBooks Premier: Accountant Edition 2020
QuickBooks Premier: Accountant Edition 2021
QuickBooks Premier: Accountant Edition 2022

My thoughts on these files and folders that are coming up in our disk usage audit is that these are patches that each version of QuickBooks has downloaded and was installed, but the software updater doesn't seem to clean up after itself once the package is installed. CAB files, for instance, are a common form of zip archive that Microsoft uses with installation packages.

I guess I'm asking for someone to officially confirm that is the purpose of these folders, and which ones I should leave alone.

Thank you again,

Brad

Hello Bradbrown,

Thank you for dropping by here in the Community. I'm here to help you get the support you need to identify the QuickBooks files in question on your computer.

I recommend having these files checked before cleaning up your disk usage to ensure it doesn't affect your QuickBooks program. You can reach our Technical Support Team to request a callback and further check the files.

Here's how you can reach them:

1. Open QuickBooks Desktop.
2. Click the Help tab at the top menu bar.
3. Select QuickBooks Desktop Help.
4. Enter your concern, then hit Continue.
5. Choose Get a callback.

QuickBooks Desktop uses different types of files to store different types of data. Check out this link for more information about common file types and extensions you may see in QuickBooks Desktop for Windows and Mac: File types and extensions used by QuickBooks Desktop.

Feel free to hit that Reply button if you need more assistance managing QuickBooks data. We'll be sure to help you out. Have a great day. 

Brad,

What was the final decision on this?  We're looking at the same issue in my org.  Thanks!

Is it safe to move Intuit folder in programdata to a network share?

 is it safe to move this Intuit folder from programdata to a network share?

QuickBooks is essential to your financial operations, making its reliability and security important. While moving files to a network share can enhance collaboration and provide centralized access, it also brings significant concerns related to data integrity, security, and overall system performance, Mian.

Moving this folder can disrupt the application’s ability to locate critical files, which may result in errors. Applications like QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) are specifically designed with certain expectations regarding the location of their data files.

If you’re considering using a network share for storing the Intuit folder, it’s vital to ensure that all users who require access to this folder have the appropriate permissions configured. This will help maintain a smooth and secure collaboration environment. That said, please know that frequent network connectivity issues can interrupt user access to Intuit data. Such disruptions can lead to significant operational inefficiencies.

Furthermore, I'll provide these resources to guide you in locating missing company files, restoring them, and resolving backup file issues:

• Restore your file
• Restore a backup of your company file
• Fix backup company file issues in QuickBooks Desktop

You're welcome to visit the Community anytime for assistance with any QBDT-related tasks. I'm always here to help ensure a secure and efficient setup for your financial operations.

@mianpor 

You need to reinstall your QB program to the new location.

@bradbrownjr 

RE: I've been collecting a list of QuickBooks folders that are occupying hundreds of gigabytes of space on our customer's local disks

Hundreds? Really? I checked and my C:\ProgramData\Intuit\ folder - which contains 16 QuickBooks version installations - is 24 GB.

Also, the \Data1.cab files are about 500MB each, so that's not much...

Note that C:\Users\All Users\Intuit\ is just a redirect to C:\ProgramData\Intuit\ (at least it is on my computers), and shows the same files.

To answer your question about the files:

The \PConfig\Data1.cab files contain the QuickBooks installation and are used by the installer. They're used when repairing a QuickBooks installation, which will probably fail without them.

The \SPatch\ and \EPatch\ folders contain QuickBooks patches. If you delete the contents, QuickBooks will likely be OK, but will also re-download whatever it wants for patching, and may recreate the whole set of files - or only some of them.