Toolbar location

Anonymous · ‎March 27, 2019

Good afternoon, QB 2019 desktop for Mac update V18.0.5.3312 R6 has downloaded and now my toolbar will not stay horizontally at the top of my desktop when I am not actively using the program. Preferences/Toolbar-tabs only gives me the option to "Display the toolbar" and the choice of either vertical or horizontal. How do I get the toolbar to stay put?
It worked just fine before this update.

Thank you,

Barbara

IntuitBrooks · ‎March 28, 2019

On the Mac by default floating windows like the toolbar disappear when the application isn't front most. This is true of all Mac applications: Photoshop is a good example - all the floating windows disappear when Photoshop goes into the background.

We originally shipped QuickBooks Mac with that behavior. But we discovered that users coming from Microsoft Windows would get confused. They'd close all the QB windows except the toolbar then switch QB into the background. When they did that the toolbar would disappear. Coming from Windows they thought this meant the QuickBooks application had quit. They'd then post here asking what happened to QuickBooks?

So... prior to R6 we had an option to keep the toolbar visible when QuickBooks wasn't the front most application. To do this we had to hack the standard Mac OS behavior. But it solved the issue with Windows users new to the platform. Unfortunately the hacks had a detrimental effect on other Mac OS behavior - in particular sometimes QB would lock up if you clicked on the Finder. It also caused problems with the Desktop Spaces feature of Mac OS.

To fix those issues we had to remove the option for the toolbar to stay visible when QuickBooks is in the background. It now is only visible when Quickbooks is frontmost - just like all other Mac OS applications. We just couldn't get it to work reliably bucking the OS default behavior. Sorry.

View solution in original post

JonpriL · ‎March 27, 2019

Hello @Anonymous,

As of the moment, there isn't an option to keep your toolbar in its place after leaving QuickBooks.

Yes, you're absolutely correct about setting your toolbar to show in horizontal or vertical position. In addition, your toolbar will show only when you open any window within your QuickBooks.

But your toolbar will be hidden when you open again your QuickBooks after leaving it.

Lastly, here's an article you can read to learn more about QuickBooks Mac updates: Recent changes, Improvements, and Fixes in QuickBooks Mac Desktop 2019.

Feel free to leave a comment below if you have any other questions about QuickBooks for Mac. It'll be always my pleasure to help.

SkinnyRaven · ‎March 27, 2019

Define "stay put", what exactly is or isn't happening.

Anonymous · ‎March 27, 2019

My Mac dock is on the right side of my desktop. When I have QuickBooks open, the tool bar is sitting horizontally in the upper left of my desktop, under the Mac menu bar. Before this update, as long as my QB program was open, the tool bar was In place, ready for me to access at any time even if I was working in another program. Now if I am not actively using QB, the tool bar disappears and in order to see it again, I have to select the QB program in the Mac dock in order to access the tool bar. Just an additional step added.

MaryGraceS · ‎March 27, 2019

Hi there, @Anonymous.

Thank you for getting back to the Community and for sharing more details about your question. I'll be happy help share the steps to make sure the Toolbar is in place.

Here's how:

Select QuickBooks.
Choose Preferences.
On the Preferences pane, select Toolbar.
Put a check mark in the Display Toolbar box.
The second checkbox refers to whether you can see the Toolbar even when QuickBooks is a background application.
Close the Preferences window.

I've attached an article about QuickBooks Mac 2019 for additional reference: QuickBooks Desktop for Mac 2019 User’s Guide (Toolbar preferences page 270).

That should point you in the right direction today. Keep me posted if you have any other question about toolbar location in QuickBooks. I'll be happy to help you further. Have a great day ahead.

Anonymous · ‎March 28, 2019

I've attached my tool bar options.

Anonymous · ‎March 28, 2019

Hello, Josienjoe.

Thanks for proving a screenshot about the options you’re currently having.

Since you’re not having the exact selections provided on the user manual, I’d recommend reaching out to our support team. They can launch a viewing session to further investigate your concern.

Here’s how you can reach them:

Visit this link: https://help.quickbooks.intuit.com/en_US/contact.
Select QuickBooks Mac Desktop.
Choose any main and sub topic.
Scroll down and click the Get Phone Number.

Visit us again if you have other concerns with QuickBooks.

dee-bdd · ‎March 28, 2019

I am having the same problem and do not have the option of choosing to keep it open when deactivated.

Anonymous · ‎March 28, 2019

Hello, dee-bdd.

Thanks for joining the thread and for sharing your experience about this.

We’ll need to further investigate this behavior to get the root cause of the issue so we can come up for possible solutions. To do this, we'll need you to reach out to support team over the phone:

1. Visit this link: https://help.quickbooks.intuit.com/en_US/contact.
2. Select QuickBooks Mac Desktop.
3. Choose any main and sub topic.
4. Scroll down and click the Get Phone Number.

For now, you’ll have to click the QuickBooks icon from your dock to bring it back to front. Having QuickBooks as the frontal application will keep the toolbar visible.

Please let me know if you have other questions with QuickBooks. I'll be around to help.

IntuitBrooks · ‎March 28, 2019

On the Mac by default floating windows like the toolbar disappear when the application isn't front most. This is true of all Mac applications: Photoshop is a good example - all the floating windows disappear when Photoshop goes into the background.

We originally shipped QuickBooks Mac with that behavior. But we discovered that users coming from Microsoft Windows would get confused. They'd close all the QB windows except the toolbar then switch QB into the background. When they did that the toolbar would disappear. Coming from Windows they thought this meant the QuickBooks application had quit. They'd then post here asking what happened to QuickBooks?

So... prior to R6 we had an option to keep the toolbar visible when QuickBooks wasn't the front most application. To do this we had to hack the standard Mac OS behavior. But it solved the issue with Windows users new to the platform. Unfortunately the hacks had a detrimental effect on other Mac OS behavior - in particular sometimes QB would lock up if you clicked on the Finder. It also caused problems with the Desktop Spaces feature of Mac OS.

To fix those issues we had to remove the option for the toolbar to stay visible when QuickBooks is in the background. It now is only visible when Quickbooks is frontmost - just like all other Mac OS applications. We just couldn't get it to work reliably bucking the OS default behavior. Sorry.

Anonymous · ‎March 29, 2019

That's a bummer. Also, yesterday the program "updated," today had my first crash. :-(

dee-bdd · ‎March 29, 2019

Thank you for you explanation. For the record, I am not a new to QuickBook for Mac user. I have been using it for 5 years. I find your wording is a little insulting.

IntuitBrooks · ‎March 30, 2019

I'm trying to explain the reasoning that went into the feature in the first place and the reasoning that went into removing it. Didn't mean to insult anyone. I can't guess the level of experience of everyone that reads this - QuickBooks users may have bene using the Mac since 1984 or they may have just started this week.

Anonymous · ‎April 01, 2019

I have adjusted my work flow and now keep the toolbar right next to the dock so it appears when I select the QB program .

I was not insulted at all with your explanation.

Thank you.

Barbara

CarCzar · ‎March 17, 2020

The text below the toolbar icons disappears each time I change windows and I have to go back to "customize toolbar" and reset it each time

MaryAnn_E · ‎March 17, 2020

Hi there, @CarCzar.

I'm here to help and ensure to isolate this problem, so you keep your QuickBooks up and running. Let’s update your QuickBooks Desktop for Mac to improve the program's functionality and fix known issues.

In-product update:

From the QuickBooks▼ drop-down menu, select Check for QuickBooks Updates.
If a newer version is available, select Install Update.
When prompted, select Install and Relaunch.
When the update is complete, QuickBooks for Mac automatically opens.

Manual update:

Close your QuickBooks.
From the Finder menu, select Go.
Choose Applications.
Select the QuickBooks icon and drag/move it to the Trash.
Then, reinstall the latest version
Go to QuickBooks Product Updates.
Select [Change] to choose your QuickBooks Desktop version.
Choose Download to download the installer file to your computer.
Double-click the downloaded .dmg file.
Drag the QuickBooks Desktop icon to the Applications folder to install.

Then, you can restore your company file in QuickBooks.

You can check this link for the details steps on how to reinstall the QuickBooks: Install and set up QuickBooks Mac Desktop.

I'm always here to help if you have any other questions. Have a good one.

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