Puzzled about what is QuickBooks Portable Company File Error & How to get fix it? It’s alright if yes. Well, QuickBooks is one of the most popular accounting software to keep a track of different financial expenses. The software is quite smooth to use but at times, it comes up with a few technical issues like company file-related errors.
The users may often encounter such an issue while attempting to create or open a portable Company file with an extension qbm. Therefore, it is necessary to settle the QuickBooks Portable Company File Error at the earliest so that you are allowed to use your portable company file to transfer your accounting data or repair your file. To get more info about the same, stay tuned with this write-up till the end.
QuickBooks Desktop Portable Company File: A Brief Description
A portable company file in QuickBooks is basically a compact copy or replica of the financial data which you send through email or any portable media such as flash or an external drive. This file doesn’t include templates, letters, images, and logos as well as any transaction log (*.tlg) file. It is one of the most convenient tools to repair data problems as QuickBooks desktop re-indexes the data while restoring the portable company file. However, sometimes it gives rise to the portable company file Creation Error in QuickBooks when you try to generate or access this file.
What triggers Portable Company File Error?
Before moving ahead to explore what is QuickBooks Portable Company File Error & how to get fix it, you must be familiar with the factors that might contribute to such kind of company file-related errors. Let’s have a look at the below section to know all the reasons for the same:
- Corrupted or damaged QuickBooks Company files may cause portable company file errors.
- If you’re applying the wrong methods to open particular file types, it may trigger the same issue.
- You can also end up with this kind of error if the file is already opened by another user on the shared network.
- Large files, reports, and several windows set to open automatically may freeze QuickBooks software and give rise to portable company file errors.
- Using an outdated QuickBooks version to open files.
- Issues like access permissions, encrypted or compressed files, problems with filename and extension, and corrupted file data can contribute to portable company file errors in QuickBooks.
Understand what is QuickBooks Portable Company File Error & How to get fix it!
There are a variety of fixation methods to get over QuickBooks Portable Company File Error depending on different scenarios such as creating or restoring portable company files. To eliminate such an error from your system, you are required to perform the below-listed troubleshooting steps in a given order. Here’s how:
Solution 1: Create a manual copy of the company file
- In the inception, tap on the Windows Start menu.
- Now, type File Explorer into the search bar and then run file explorer.
- Once done, you need to look for and locate the folder that is having your company file.
Next, carry out the steps depending on what you were doing i.e. creating or restoring QuickBooks Portable company file when you observed the error.
Case A: If you are creating a portable company file
- To begin with, search for the main company file with an extension .qbw. This would be visible like this [Your company file].qbw.
- Now, hit right-click on the file and click Copy.
- When all set, navigate to the Windows desktop and click right anywhere then tap on Paste.
- After this, open QuickBooks but don’t open your company file.
- You must select Opening or restore an existing file and later click the open a company file option.
- Next, browse your system and then open the copied company file pasted to your windows desktop.
- Under the open copy of the company file, hover over the File menu and hit Create Copy.
- Choose the Portable company file and then press Next.
- At last, you need to follow the on-screen prompts and create another portable company file.
If you create a company file, then the issue lies in the location of your original company file. It is imperative to use the copied company file as your main company file from now on. Afterward, give a name to your original company file and place “old” in the name so that you don’t have to use it again. However, if you’re still encountering the same error, move to the next fixation.
Case B: If you are restoring a portable company file
- First of all, look for the portable company file having a .qbm extension. This would display like this [Your company file].qbm.
- Next, hit right-click on the File and select Copy.
- Navigate to the Windows desktop and click right anywhere then click Paste.
- Now. open QuickBooks but avoid opening your company file.
- Thereafter, choose Opening or restore an existing file and then tap on the Restore a portable file option.
- You need to browse your system and open the copied portable company file pasted to your Windows desktop.
If you open the copied portable company file successfully, then you’re good to go. You can use it to move your accounting data from one device to another. Also, provide a unique name to the original portable file and type “old” in the name to avoid using it again.
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Solution 2: Open a sample company file
- To start off, open the QuickBooks desktop application.
- Now, instead of choosing your company file, tap on Open a Sample file. This opens one of the sample companies for you.
- Under the sample company file, you need to check out the steps to create a portable company file. Also, store it on your Windows desktop.
- Head to the File menu in QuickBooks and then select Close Company/Log off.
- Finally, implement the steps to open the portable company file you just created in the sample company.
When you are able to restore the portable company file from the sample company, the main company file may have certain issues. So, you’ll have to repair the data damage on your company file.
Procedure to create and open portable company files in QuickBooks Desktop!
Finding issues while creating and opening portable company files in QuickBooks Desktop? No worries, carry out the below-mentioned steps to do so with much more ease.
Create a Portable Company File
- In the beginning, open QuickBooks and log in as an Admin.
- Now, head to the File menu and click on Create Copy.
- Choose Portable company file and then hit the Next tab.
- Thereafter, give a unique name to your portable company file. This makes it easy to display apart from your regular company file.
- You have to select a location to save your portable company file and store it somewhere you can easily access, like your Windows desktop.
- When all set, tap on Save and then press OK.
Open a portable company file
- The initial step is to open QuickBooks and log in as an Administrator.
- Next, navigate to the File menu and then select Open or Restore Company.
- You need to click on Restore a portable file and then press Next.
- After this, select your portable company file. It should be visible like this: [Unique company file name].qbm. Then, hit the Open tab.
Important: Don’t use the same name for your portable company file and regular company file. If you will store them in the same folder, the portable file overwrites the regular one. Either you have to give a different name to the portable company file or move it to another folder.
- Read out the notes on where you want to restore the file page and then tap on Next.
- Once you’re ready to open your file, click Save.
Closure!
Still, not able to answer what is QuickBooks Portable Company File Error & How to get fix it? Don’t panic and immediately get in touch with our QuickBooks-certified experts to get all your issues rooted out in one go. So, just chill if you frequently experience issues while creating or accessing portable company files from scratch as our experts are now available to assist you whenever you’re in need.
