How to Change the Save Location of Your Company File
The company file (extension .QBW) is the heart and soul of a Quickbooks account. It contains all of your transactions, financial data, letters, customized logos, templates, images and more, all of which are located in a convenient and easily accessible file. Whenever you make a change to your Quickbooks account, your company file is updated to reflected the change.
You can open your company file simply by logging into your account and choosing File > Open Company, at which point you can navigate to the appropriate drive or location where the file is stored. Intuit recommends opening your company file using this method rather than double-clicking the file outside of Quickbooks. If you attempt to open your company file outside of Quickbooks, it could render some functions inaccessible. To err on the side caution, try to get into the habit of opening your company file within the Quickbooks program.
By default, Quickbooks saves the company file to C:\Users\Public\Documents\Intuit\QuickBooks\yourcompanyfile.qbw. If you ever need to transfer it, refer to this location on your computer’s hard drive. But what if you want to change the default location of where your company file is stored? Thankfully, there’s a quick and easy way to do this.
To change the location where your company file is stored, navigate to its current location, at which point you should right-click the file and select “Copy.” It’s important to choose Copy rather than Cut, as this may prevent you from changing its location. After copying your company file, navigation to the new location where you want to save it, right-click on an open area and select “Paste.” Assuming you copied the file, this should paste a new copy in this location.
You aren’t out of the woods just yet. Go ahead and open your Quickbooks software and choose ‘Open or restore an existing company,” followed by “Open a company file.” Click “Next” to proceed, at which point you’ll see a new window appear. Within this window, navigate to the new location of your copied company file. Select the file to highlight it and click “Open.” Your company file should now appear on the login screen.
Following the steps listed above should allow you to change the location where your Quickbooks company file is saved. It’s always a good idea to back up your company file before making any changes to it, including changing its save location.
Did this tutorial work for you? Let us know in the comments section below!