If QuickBooks displays one of the following prompts and your password is not accepted (or you are unable to contact someone who knows the password), see the suggestions belowon how to proceed.

Note: If you receive a password prompt other than these two examples, please call QuickBooks Technical Support for further assistance.

To gain access to the company file:

• If you need a User password: Login as the Administrator and reset the password for the user:
  
  
  1. From the QuickBooks Company menu, choose Set Up Users.
  2. Select the appropriate name from the User List, and click Edit User.
  3. Delete or change the password in the Password and Confirm Password text boxes, and click Next.
  4. Verify that the correct access level is selected, and click Next.
  5. If the user has access to selected areas of QuickBooks and you want to modify the choices, continue through each window, making changes as needed. If the access permissions are correct, or if the user has access to all areas of QuickBooks, click Finish, and then click Close on the User List.
  6. From the File menu, choose Open Company/Login.
  7. Choose the correct company name, and click Open.
  8. Type the user name and new password (if one was created), andclick OK.
  9. Users can change their passwords by choosing Change Your Password from the Company menu.
  
  
  
• If you need the Administrator password there are various options you can try:
  
  
  • Type the Administrator Login name Admin, and then click OK without typing a password.
  • Enter the password with a space before or after the actual password; it may have inadvertently been recorded with a space.
  • Type the password in Notepad or WordPad to make sure your keyboard is functioning properly:From the Windows Start menu, choose Programs, then Accessories, and then choose Notepad or WordPad.

    Note: If the password contains numbers, make sure the Num Lock keyboard feature is on.

  • Restart the computer and try accessing the company file again. If you are on a network, make sure that all users have logged off, and then restart all of the computers, including the server.
  • Try passwords for other QuickBooks company files, or for other software or program functions; you may be using a different password.
  • If you are upgrading from an older version of QuickBooks, try typing only the first 10 characters of the password, as later versions limit the number of characters allowed.
  • If the file is new, or there are not many transactions entered, you may want to start a new company file. From the File menu, choose New. The Easy Step Interview will guide you through the rest of the process.

    Important: Do not create a new company file if you use the QuickBooks Assisted Payroll Service.

  • If you recently created or changed the password, it may be useful to restore a recent backup that was made before you created or changed the password. To safely restore the backup without overwriting an existing company file:
    
    
    1. Copy the current company file to a different directory on the hard disk, and make note of the new location. This will leave the current file untouched. To find the current file location, with the file open, hold down the Ctrl key and press the number 1 on the left side of the keyboard (do not use the number pad) to open the Product Information window. Near the bottom of the window, you will see File Information, and Location. The path to the file will be listed next to Location. The path may be long enough to wrap to the next line, so be sure to note the information through ".qbw."
    2. Restore the backup.
    3. Any information entered in the company file since the backup was made will need to be manually reentered after you restore. Review the originalcompanyfile (thatwas copied to a new location)to determine what needs to be reentered.

       Note: It is not possible to export transactions from a QuickBooks company file.

    
    
    
  
  
  

If you are still unable to access the company file, or if you do not have a recent backup, Intuit can remove the password from your file. Please fill out our contact request form. You will receive an e-mail with contact information within four hours. There is a fee for password removal services.

• Password requested on a file that never had a password
• Message: "You need to login as QuickBooks Administrator to proceed. Please enter the admin (owner) password for the company."
• Password prompt received each time I log on to the Internet with QuickBooks and Windows 95
• Creating passwords for new users in QuickBooks
• Setting up the Administrator
• Warning: "Your list of user names and passwords appears to have been tampered with, or has become damaged. You may encounter problems logging in."