Transferring QB Desktop for Mac 2019 to another computer

As I know, the migration tool only supports Windows based machines. You should install QBD on your new Mac, secure the backup file on on your old machine and restore it on the new one.

Welcome to the QuickBooks Community again, SD6099. Let me discuss how moving your QuickBooks Desktop for Mac works on a new device. Then, I'll make sure you can carry your program to a new laptop smoothly.

As mentioned by fiat the Migration Tool is only available in QuickBooks Desktop for Windows. That's the reason why the said feature does not appear in your existing QBDT software.

When transferring your QBDT Mac to another place, you have certain things that need to perform to make sure of a successful migration. With this, you'll have the option to either rename the company file or move it to a different folder after installing your QBDT Mac to your laptop. Beforehand, you'll have to make sure that you created a backup copy of your company file from your old computer to achieve the process.

Here's how:

1. In QuickBooks, select File and choose Back Up.
2. Select the folder to store your backup.
3. Click Start Backup.

Once done, the name of the backup will be your QuickBooks filename with the date and time the backup is completed. You have the option to view the file in Finder.

Then, you can now start renaming a company file since you mentioned that you have already been able to install the QB program. Please follow the steps below.

1. Open the New Finder window and find where your company file is located.
2. Select your company file.
3. Click the File menu, and then select Rename.
4. Enter a new name for the file, and select OK.

Also, you can follow these steps on how to move the backup copy of your company file to a new location.

1. Follow step 1 above. Then, copy the QuickBooks company file by selecting the file.
2. Go to the Edit menu, and select Copy.
3. Paste the file to another folder by selecting the file, going to the Edit menu again, and then choosing the Paste option. You can also create a new folder if you'd like.
4. Open your file in QuickBooks Mac. After opening QuickBooks, select Browse, go to the new location of the file, select the company file, and then click Open.
5. Delete the file from the original location.
6. Open the New Finder window again and browse to the original file location. Then, drag the file to the Trash icon.

Lastly, you may refer to this article to view details on what’s included in the QuickBooks Mac Plus 2023 release and how you can use them to benefit your business: What's new in QuickBooks Mac Plus 2023.

Please come back and click the Reply button below if you need further assistance with migrating your QuickBooks Desktop for Mac to a new laptop. I'm always here to assist, SD6099. Have a good one!

Hi

When I upgraded my mac mini to a newer model I used time machine to transfer all my data.

However when I use quickbooks it tells me that my version is not registered eventhough I registered it when I bought it direct from Intuit. I only have a limited amount of usage left.

I contacted Quickbooks Ireland (where I am from) but they didn't know how to correct this issue.

When I upgraded the computer it was around the same time as support was been dropped for the desktop version, I'm not sure if this contributed to the issue

Hope you can help

Eoghan

@clarelad 

Can you login to CAMPS as the Primary Contact and find your license code there?

https://camps.intuit.com/

Hi

Thanks for replying. I clicked on your link and I am already the Primary Contact.

The issue does not appear to be a license code which the program already has note of, but some sort of validation code is required. When I first registered Quickbooks I was given this no. over the phone.

I must get old computer from the attic and see if it still works.

Hello Eoghan,

Thank you for posting here in the Community space. I'm here to help you reactivate your QuickBooks Desktop for Mac.

When migrating to another Mac device, you need to register your QuickBooks program again. QuickBooks will prompt you to activate it, but you can also register it manually using these steps:

1. Open QuickBooks.
2. From the QuickBooks menu, select Register QuickBooks.
3. Enter the License and Product numbers, and select Next.
4. Choose either to Register Online or contact us.
   • Select Register Online and follow the steps on screen to complete the activation.
   • Or call the number provided on screen to complete the registration.

If the problem persists, you can reach our support team by requesting a callback. Our Customer Support Team for Pro, Premier and is available from 6 AM - 6 PM PT (Monday - Friday). For Enterprise, any time, any day. See the steps to get a hold of a specialist:

1. Open QuickBooks.
2. Click the Help tab at the top menu bar, then select QuickBooks Help.
3. Select Contact Us.
4. Give a brief description of your issue, then select Continue.
5. Sign in to your Intuit account and select Continue and then Continue with my account.
   • If you don't already have an account, make sure to Create a new account.
6. We'll email you a single use code. Enter your code and select Continue.
   • If you have more than one account, select the account you want to use and then Continue.
7. Select to chat with us or Have us call you.

Also, QuickBooks verify and rebuild tools to find the most common data issues in a company file and fix them. Check out this link to learn more about the process in the Mac version: Verify and rebuild data in QuickBooks Desktop for Mac.

Comment below if you have additional questions about registering your newly installed Mac version. We're always available to lend a hand. Take care always.

Hi

Thanks for your reply.

I rang quickbooks and spoke to spoke to someone from customer support.

I was informed that as the desktop version is no longer supported

a) My installed version was de registered and I only had a certain no. of times left that I could use it.

b) I could not get a new validation code

c) Even if I retrieved my old computer from the attic the same thing would occur

d) To access my data I would have to take out a subscription for the online version.

Seemingly the version I purchased was not a perpetual license but a subscription.

This means that even though my computer will run the program more than adequately for my purposes, Quickbooks has decided that I am not entitled to continue using it.

I think this is very unfair

@clarelad 

Which QB desktop year version did you use?

Which Mac OS do you have?

Quickbooks for mac 2019 on a late 2012 Mac Mini with 16gig Ram running Big Sur using OpenCoreLegacyPatcher

They sold QB Desktop 2019 with a one time license. If they refuse to generate an activation code because they do not recognize your license and cannot find it in your CAMPS. You may have the following options:

1. Buy a new one time license for QBD 2019 for Mac through a partner.

2. Use a one time license for QB Desktop (Windows). Your only need to buy Parallels and Windows 10 Home.  It will take some efforts to install but will be useful for a longer time (and much cheaper) than option #1.