Transfer QuickBooks Old to a New Computer be it Mac or Windows

This article focuses on answering the question of how to “transfer QuickBooks to new computer” be it Mac or Windows and a few more.

There comes a time in every person’s professional life when they decide to upgrade their current workstation. It’s a pretty straightforward process you research to find a new laptop or computer that you think suits your requirements the best, you save up, and then you buy the new laptop or computer.

When you do that, the new workstation comes with a bunch of pre-installed software, and the other software, you have to install yourself. And of course, those people who use QuickBooks would also be wondering if they can download their QuickBooks software onto their new workstation with everything as it was on their old workstation.

How to Move or Transfer QuickBooks Desktop with the Use of QuickBooks Migrator Tool

The QuickBooks Migrator Tool is probably one of the best features that QuickBooks provides to its customer base. Any user who has administrator privileges can access the Migrator Tool, which is also sometimes referred to as the Move QuickBooks Tool. The admin will only have to create a password this one time and then just remember it.

The Migrator Tool is a great tool for people trying to move their company files from their workstations to an external storage device. They can transfer up to three company files along with the other documents. This tool is also very useful because it assists in the setup of the QuickBooks software on your new workstation.

How to Setup and Use the QuickBooks Migrator Tool

There are a couple of requirements that any user must keep in mind before they can start using the QuickBooks Migrator Tool.

System Requirements to Setup QuickBooks Migrator Tool

• The first and foremost thing that the user must keep in mind before they can start using the QuickBooks Migrator Tool is that both their workstations, old and new, must be successfully connected to the internet.
• The second thing that the user must keep in mind before they can start using the QuickBooks Migrator Tool is that the external storage device that they use has a good amount of free space on it.
• Typically, 150MB-200MB should be more than sufficient to store all the information.

Use the QuickBooks Migrator Tool

The usage of the QuickBooks Migrator Tool is a two-fold process. The first step is to start the process on the old computer.

• First, the user will have to go to the ‘File’ option that can be found in the menu bar.
• In this menu, the user needs to select ‘Utilities’, and then select ‘Move QuickBooks to Another Computer.
• Next, the user can just select ‘I’m Ready, and then create a one-time password.
• They can then just follow the instructions that come in front of them on their screen.
• They will have to choose the storage device that they have plugged into their workstation when asked.
• The files will then be copied to this external storage device.

The next step after the a forementioned steps have successfully been completed is to turn on the new workstation where QuickBooks is intended to be used by the user and follow these steps.

Move QuickBooks to New Location

• The QuickBooks Migrator Tool will not launch automatically on the new workstation once the external storage device is inserted.
• The user needs to open the folder of the external storage device on their new workstation and locate a file titled ‘Move_QuickBooks.bat’. Running this file will start the Migrator Tool successfully.
• At this point, the user will have to enter the one-time password that they created.
• Then they can select ‘Let’s Go.
• The Migrator tool will start running, and the user will have to wait for it to finish.
• The speed is dependent upon the size of the company files, the speed of the internet that the workstation is connected to, and the speed of the workstation.

After the steps have been completed, the migration would have successfully been completed.

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How to Manually Transfer, Move or Reinstall QuickBooks without the Migrator Tool

Any user using QuickBooks can easily install their QuickBooks software on their new workstation as well. And their QuickBooks license can also be easily transferred from their older workstation to their new workstation. Before the user can begin the very easy-to-follow transfer process, it is recommended that the user has the QuickBooks license number and product number in hand.

Transfer QuickBooks License from Old to New or Another Computer

These two numbers can be found easily by going to Help -> About QuickBooks. Clicking on ‘About QuickBooks’ will open a popup window on the user’s screen, which will contain the license number and the product number.

Download QuickBooks Desktop on New Computer

Once the user has retrieved their QuickBooks license number and product number, they can proceed to download the QuickBooks software on their new workstation. If the user has a disk with the installation files on it, they can simply insert the disk into the workstation, and the setup wizard will tell the user what to do at each juncture.

Or, they can simply go to https://downloads.quickbooks.com/app/qbdt/products and download the version of QuickBooks that they were previously using on their old workstation. If they do not have a disk with the QuickBooks installation files. The executable file can be in the ‘Downloads’ folder on the workstation by default.

Install QuickBooks Desktop

Once the user can locate the downloaded file, they can follow these steps.

• First, double-click on the executable file that was downloaded.
• Then, the user can follow the on-screen instructions and accept the license agreement, and press ‘Next’.
• At this point, the user will be asked to enter their license number and their product number.
• They can provide this information and hit ‘Next’.
• Now the user can activate the QuickBooks software by opening the application.
• Then, the user can go to ‘Help’, which can be found in the menu bar, and then go to ‘Activate QuickBooks Desktop’.
• Then the user can follow the on-screen instructions to verify their information.

Create a Backup Company File Before Transfer, Move, or Reinstall QuickBooks Desktop Via Manually

Scheduling automatic backups

• The user first needs to go to the ‘File’ menu and select ‘Switch to single-user mode.
• Then, they need to again navigate to the ‘File’ menu and hover their cursor over the ‘Back up Company’. Then, they need to select ‘Create Local Backup’.
• The user then needs to select ‘Local Backup’ and then hit ‘Next’.
• When the user reaches the ‘Local Backup Only’ section, they need to select ‘Browse’ and select the destination where they want their backup to be saved on their workstation.
• Then they need to select ‘Complete Verification. This step is done to ensure that the backup file is okay to save.
• The user needs to then select the ‘Save it now and schedule future backups’ radio button and hit ‘Next’. Or they can simply choose ‘Only schedule future backups’ if they do not wish to save a backup right now.
• After that, the user now needs to select the ‘Save backup copy automatically when I close my company file’ checkbox. The user also needs to set the number of times between each backup.
• The user can also create a schedule by selecting the ‘New’ button which is just below the aforementioned step. The user can fill out the data fields and create a backup schedule.
• Once all of the above steps have been completed successfully, the user can hit ‘OK’. They will be asked to enter their Windows sign-in credentials. Finally, the user can hit ‘Finish’.

Creating backups manually

• The user first needs to go to the ‘File’ menu and select ‘Switch to single-user mode.
• Then, they need to again navigate to the ‘File’ menu and hover their cursor over the ‘Back up Company’. Then, they need to select ‘Create Local Backup’.
• The user then needs to select ‘Local Backup’ and then hit ‘Next’.
• When the user reaches the ‘Local Backup Only’ section, they need to select ‘Browse’ and select the destination where they want their backup to be saved on their workstation.
• The user can then hit ‘OK’.
• Finally, they can simply select ‘Save it Now’ and hit ‘Next’.

When these steps are completed by the user, QuickBooks creates a single backup company file. The user will also receive a confirmation message from QuickBooks saying that the backup company file has successfully been created.

From this point onwards, the user can also adjust their backup settings. The user can see when the company file was backed up last time. When the user goes to the ‘File’ menu and hovers over ‘Back Up Company’, they will see the date and time when the last time their data was backed up.

They can also update their backup settings by following these easy steps:

• Select the ‘File’ option from the menu bar.
• Hover over the ‘Back Up Company’ option and select ‘Create Local Backup’.
• Select ‘Options’. Here the user can choose whether they want their data to be saved locally on their workstation or online.
• Finally, they can check their settings and hit ‘OK’.

Restore a company backup file

• This can be achieved by first going to the ‘File’ menu which can be found in the menu bar on the top of the screen, and then navigating to the ‘Open or Restore company’ option in the list. 
• Next, the user will have to click on the ‘Restore a backup company’ option and then hit ‘Next’. 
• QuickBooks will then provide a prompt to the user asking ‘Is the backup stored locally or online?’. If the backup is stored on the user’s workstation, an external hard drive, or a flash drive, they need to select the ‘Local backup’ option. Else, they will have to select the ‘Online’ option and finally hit ‘Next’.
• Now the user will have to find a copy of their most recent backup that they have available on their workstation. The software will send another prompt to the user asking where the location is where they want the software to look for the file. The user can then set the desired location and hit ‘OK’. When the software can locate the backup file, the user just needs to double-click on the file and again select ‘OK’.