Troubleshoot problems restoring backups

If your QuickBooks backup won't successfully restore on your first attempt, try the following:

Restore the file again. You may have accidentally clicked Cancel, which causes QuickBooks to stop restoring. If the file still fails to restore, try another recent backup or review the remaining suggestions.
If you're restoring from a CD backup, make sure the file on the CD has a .qbb file extension. Occasionally users will copy the company file to a CD instead of making a backup of the company file to a CD. How?
1. Double-click the My Computer icon on your Windows desktop. (In Windows Vista, click the Start button and click Computer.)
2. Double-click on the CD drive, and then view the file.
  - If the file has a .qbb extension, you can try some of the other suggestions below for restoring it.
  - If the file has a .qbw file extension, you copied it to the CD instead of backing it up. Copy this file to your QuickBooks directory on your hard disk. You also may need to change the attribute. To do this, right-click the file and select Properties. At the bottom of the Properties window, select the Archive checkbox. This change allows you to copy the file to another system and try to open it there. Windows XP and Vista do this automatically, but Windows 2000 does not. In QuickBooks, go to the File menu, and then click Open or Restore Company.
Sometimes backup media can get damaged (scratches, bad sectors on the disk, and so on). If you're restoring a backup to a new computer and the old computer is still available, try using a new CD, Zip® disk, or USB flash drive to make another backup of your company file from the old computer, and then restore this newer backup on the new computer.
Your backup CD may be damaged. Try copying the CD to your hard disk. If it won't copy, the CD is probably damaged. If it will copy, try inserting a new CD and copying the information from the hard disk onto the new CD. Then try to restore the file again from the new CD.
If your backup is on different media, such as a Zip disk or USB flash drive, try copying the backup file from that media to your hard disk. Then try to restore by browsing to the file location on your hard drive. How?
1. Go to the File menu and click Open or Restore Company.
2. Click Restore a backup copy and then click Next.
3. In the Get Company Backup From section of the window, click the Browse button.
4. Click the Look in drop-down list and choose the hard disk backup location.
5. Select the backup file and click Open.
6. Continue restoring normally.
If the backup CD or other backup media is damaged and the file won't copy, or if you continue to experience other problems restoring the file, do not run SCAN DISK or any other disk-repair utility. The QuickBooks backup is a compressed file, and while a repair utility may fix a damaged sector on a disk, it will cause further problems with the backup file, preventing it from restoring at all.

If you can't restore a backup at all, including older backups, Intuit may be able to recover your data. The probability of recovery depends on the following:

If the CD is damaged, Intuit may be able to recover most of the information, although there may be gaps in the recovered data.
If you used another media to make the backup, such as a Zip disk, and the file can be copied to the hard disk, there is a good chance for recovery. However, Intuit can't accept damaged hard disks.

For help recovering damaged data, contact Technical Support for assistance. The typical turnaround time is about ten (10) working days. There is a fee for this service.

QuickBooks Online Backup

For help restoring files from QuickBooks Online Backup, visit our Go online QuickBooks Online Backup Customer Support site.

For additional help

Visit the Backing Up and Restoring Files forum on the Go online QuickBooks Community site. Many QuickBooks customers use the QuickBooks Community to ask and answer questions, share tips and advice, and act as peer support.