Summary: In this blog, we’ve tried to compile everything there is to know about QuickBooks Company File Repair. A QuickBooks Company File (QBW) can become corrupt due to several reasons like large file size, improper system shutdown, virus attack, etc. The blog outlines these and other possible causes of the QuickBooks company file corruption, how you can know about it (symptoms), how to prevent this from happening. Also, it describes how corruption in QBW file can be fixed through free as well as professional QuickBooks File Repair tools.
If you’ve been working with QuickBooks® long enough, you know that it’s a business accounting software developed by Intuit and has small and medium-sized organizations as its target audience. QuickBooks® offers on-premise and cloud-based accounting to make managing & paying bills and payroll functions easier. For professionals and small-time entrepreneurs, QuickBooks is the go-to product to manage their financial activities with ease. And what makes such solid performance possible? A solid database, of course!
The Intuit database behind QuickBooks® is quite competent in handling business pressure and growing demands. However, like all other databases, it is prone to problems every now and then. Corruption in QuickBooks Company File is a common problem faced by users. And a corrupt QBW file cannot be opened and used until it is repaired.
In order to know when you need to repair a QBW file, it is important to identify corruption in the file.
Following are some problems that you may face due to corruption in QuickBooks Company File:
Data damage in Quickbooks comes in many forms and scenarios, but what’s most important to note is, that anything that makes the data look strange could be a sign of QuickBooks corruption.
Now that you know how to identify corruption in your QuickBooks database, the next logical step would be to investigate what causes QuickBooks data corruption. This might lend a helping hand in performing QuickBooks Company File Repair.
Some common reasons for data damage and corruption in QuickBooks include:
Though the reasons can broadly be classified in the above categories, it is important to remember that there can be other unknown reasons as well for QuickBooks database corruption.
A corrupt QBW file can be repaired manually, by using free tools or with the help of a professional QuickBooks Company File Repair software.
You can try to manually repair the QBW file by using Verify & Rebuild Data utility using the following steps:
The ‘Verify’ process could take some time depending on the size of the file. If this process takes too long or does not complete, you should do a complete rebuild as follows:
Once the rebuild is complete, save a copy of the repaired QBW file on the local machine as well as on the server. Refrain from hosting the file on the local machine and give the new file a different name than the original file.
Note: Complete rebuild takes even more time than the ‘Verify’ process. Until the process finishes, take care not to interrupt this process at any cost. If possible, do not use using the machine while the process is running.
Though the manual method is simple to implement, it often takes a lot of time to complete. A better approach could be to use a free QuickBooks Company File Repair tool.
Here are some popular QBW file repair tools:
Re-registers various QuickBooks related components with Microsoft Windows.
Diagnoses and repairs a number of problems, with the main focus being on the Microsoft .NET Framework.
It fixes problems that prevent QuickBooks from running.
It fixes certain kinds of file and data corruption, Windows setup problems, and network setup problems. Detailed information about this tool is available here.
Even free tools can’t fix all problems; hence, it is recommended to fix QuickBooks Company Data File corruption by using reliable and efficient third-party QuickBooks file repair software, such as Stellar Repair for QuickBooks® Software. This competent software repairs corrupt QuickBooks data (QBW) file and recover every bit of information stored in it. It also helps recover data from QuickBooks backup file (QBB).
Also, the software provides a free preview of recoverable data from corrupt QBW files.
Repairing your corrupt QBW file using this software is very easy. Follow these steps exactly in the order as described:
Step 1: Download, install and launch Stellar Repair for QuickBooks® Software.
Step 2: In the software’s main interface window, click Browse to choose the corrupt company file you want to repair, and then click Scan.
Note: If you are not aware of your QBW file location, click ‘Find’ to search for the file in a particular drive.
Step 3: Once the selected file is scanned, a window opens with details of the scanning process. Click OK.
Step 4: The software shows preview of all the recoverable QBW file components, including the Company, Customers, Vendors, and Employees.
Step 5: For saving the repaired file and its recoverable data, click Save.
Note: For saving the scanned QBW file, you need to register for Stellar Repair for QuickBooks® Software. If you have already registered for the software, proceed with the next step.
Read this: How to register or activate Stellar Repair for QuickBooks Software?
Step 6: In the Save File window that appears, choose any of these options:
Step 7: Click on the Save button to repair QuickBooks file that you have selected.
Step 8: Click OK when the ‘Repair process completed successfully’ message appears.
You can start using your new company file containing all the repaired data.
Once you have fixed QuickBooks Company File corruption, you cannot be sure that it won’t happen again. However, you can minimize the risk factors that contribute to its happening and protect your data by safeguarding it better. Here’s how:
Charanjeet is a Technical Content Writer at Stellar®who specializes in writing about databases, e-mail recovery, and e-mail migration solutions. She loves researching and developing content that helps database administrators, organizations and novices to fix multiple problems related to MS SQL and MySQL databases and Microsoft Exchange.
Do you have or recommend any tools for decreasing the size of quickbooks company files? ( Canadian version)
Hi Michel,
Before using any tools, you can try to reduce the size of your company file by creating a portable file. Once the file is created, restore it and QB will try to optimize the file by reducing its size to a small amount. Refer to this link for further information.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a tool for the Canadian version of QuickBooks that helps condense the company file. But, you can consider using SuperCondense for QuickBooks service for decreasing the file size.
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Hi Alenayadia, Thank you so much for subscribing to our blog. Keep reading!
I use to find good advice, from your blogs.
Thanks, Paras! Keep reading and do subscribe to our blog for future updates.
In my case, a Structural Damage was responsible for the majority of data loss. But, your software did all things smoothly to recover all things in an organized way.
I hope, this software will be helpful for other QuickBooks customers.
Hi Charlie,
According to our latest survey, most QuickBooks users are happy with the performance of Stellar Repair for QuickBooks Software.
I never imagined that a third party tool can help us to fix all annoying things in a few minutes. Really, your product is working as a life savior for our accounting data.
Hi George,
Anyone can download our software to ensure the performance of software on a damaged QuickBooks accounting database files.
You guys helped me to regain all important files again. I can say that it is a great Tool for business users.
Great STUFF!
But, the tool is not an opensource.
Yes!
But, you can verify the output of software in a preview mode.