How To Set Password In Quickbooks Desktop

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Kansas Eiffel

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Aug 3, 2024, 5:53:46 PM8/3/24

to tosymcangma

Next, I can open any other company (let's call it A) and I get the usual QuickBooks Desktop Login box, showing my company name, and telling me "You need to log in as QuickBooks Desktop Administrator to proceed. Please enter the admin (owner) password for the company." I enter the password I set in the past (and use for every company) and log in just fine.

I have tried every password I can think of for the Current Password -- The one I use for every company and that works for company A, or my Intuit online account password, or blank, or admin, etc. and nothing works. It always tells me "The old password you entered does not match your existing password."

The very weird part is when I hit "Forgot Password?" Clicking this doesn't allow me to reset my password, it just opens a "Have a Question?" help window telling me how to "Reset your Password for QuickBooks Desktop by QuickBooks, Updated May 21, 2021." I have been directed over and over to this information, and I know that I'm supposed to click "Forgot Password?" and then choose my email from a dropdown to get a token -- but I am NOT getting this dropdown! It just keeps opening this help window instead.

I spent 45 extremely frustrating minutes on the phone with support earlier, and the representative sent me a link to reset my Intuit online password, but could not reset the admin password or explain why hitting the "Forgot Password?" link does not actually allow me to reset the password, it just opens this help window.

I don't understand why there's even a password on this company when I did not set one yet. I have deleted all the files related to this company name and recreated it twice and I still get this error when I try to open it a second time. I can still open company A, but when I go to "Company > Set Up Users and Passwords > Change Your Password" it brings up the same kind of window with User Name - Admin, and asking for Current Password and New Password, and the password I used to open company A doesn't work in the Current Password field, and hitting "Forgot Password?" there also does not let me choose anything, it just opens that same help window.

Hello, I'm the OP of this thread and I don't know who's going to get a notification that I've replied again, but I needed to share this -- I stumbled on a way to save a company file if this idiotic error happens again!

This happened again to one of my files at the beginning of December 2022 when my computer crashed (and it was a newer file, so I did not have any EIN or sensitive data in the file). After the crash, I tried to open the company file I'd been working on and got the dreaded screen asking for my Old Admin Password and to create a New Password. That's the entire problem here, I had never created any admin password, so I was never able to get past this screen and I thought I'd have to recreate the file again, since the "reset my password" link also does not work.

However! After rebooting my computer a few times and trying everything, even the QB Tool Hub (which is a joke), one time I tried to open the file again -- and got a different screen! This time it didn't ask me to input the old password, I just got a "create a new password" screen! I was able to enter a password and open the file perfectly fine, as if nothing had happened. (Be sure to write down your new password somewhere safe immediately!)

I realized what was different -- I wasn't connected to the internet at the time! And I'm here to crow about it because the same thing happened AGAIN with a different file last night, and after fighting with the thing for a few hours today, I finally remembered how I'd solved the last one -- and when I disconnected my internet, and tried to reopen the file, it gave me the "create new password" screen WITHOUT asking for the old, nonexistent Admin password!!!

I hope this helps somebody. This error that they've never been able to fix, explain, or troubleshoot, on top of the fact I recently received a notice saying I won't be able to use the QB 2020 Desktop program that I purchased after May 31, 2023, and that I'll have to upgrade to their QB Online program, has got me looking for new software to migrate my data into. But for now, at least this solution will save your data if this happens to you. Cheers, Happy New Year!

I spent 45 minutes on the phone today with the Support Team and the woman told me that she "really wanted to help me" but there was nothing she could do, and refused to transfer me to anyone else who might help me. It's Case Number [Removed] if you'd like to listen to the whole frustrating call. Your link looks like it just takes me back to that support number I called today, so how do I contact a specialist to remote into my computer?

Thank you but that also does not work. The Automatic Password Reset Tool doesn't work for QuickBooks Desktop 2020 or newer. I get this message (see attached screenshot) when I try to download it and choose 2020+. "For version 2020 and above you can reset password from within the product." But when I try to reset the password from within the program, it doesn't let me, it just opens the help window.

I still have access to the other dozen companies I have created in the past, the only issue is this one new company I'm trying to create. I can't risk losing access to the other companies, but I really need to be able to create new ones like I've always done. Please send me instructions for the remote-in help because I'm completely frustrated.

Thank you but that also does not work. The Automatic Password Reset Tool doesn't work for QuickBooks Desktop 2020 or newer. I get this message (see attached screenshot) when I try to download it and choose 2020+. But when I try to reset the password from within the program, it doesn't let me, it just opens the help window.

After spending 2.5 hours on the phone with a support tech yesterday (on top of the 45 minutes the day before), and having him remote in to my computer to see what was happening, he was still unable to solve the problem.

We did figure out that the reason QuickBooks is requiring a password the second time I open the company file is because it reads that I am inputting EIN/SSN numbers. However it won't accept any admin password, and there is no way to reset the password, and even with the file open, there is no way to create a password (because in order to create a password you must input the admin password that doesn't exist).

With the tech's help I uploaded my file and they have escalated it to a higher team, which is what I asked the first tech the day before to do but she told me it wasn't possible, so now I have to wait. The work around is to not input any EIN/SSNs, even though that is an integral part of my file so that's very annoying, but at least I can continue to open the file. This whole experience has me looking for a different, non-QuickBooks solution for my business. Very frustrating.

Was this issue ever resolved? I have just created a new entity for the first time since updating to QB Desktop 2021 and have been asked to input a password I have not created. I am very concerned that I have to go back and redo all the work to create the entity the first time!

Hello, @Pattie B. I understand the urgency of getting this issue fixed. I'm here to share some details about password security for QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) and direct you to our support team.

To ensure the protection of your critical data, QuickBooks Desktop requires passwords for data files to meet certain complexity requirements. Setting a password is mandatory for users with sensitive information or credit card security. It ensures that only those who are authorized have access to your information.

For more details and the minimum requirements when setting up a password, you can click this article.

I'd also suggest reaching out to our Technical Support Team. They can look at your account and offer further suggestions for resolving the problem you're having.

Here's how:

Please check out this article for QuickBooks support hours: Contact QuickBooks Desktop Support.

In case you forgot your password you can check out this article: Reset your password for QuickBooks Desktop.

If you have any other problems logging into your QBDT account, please leave a comment. I'll be here to help you at any moment. Have a successful business!

I understand why you want a password on the account. That is not the issue. The issue is the known glitch in the Quickbooks software that asks me for a password to continue when I was never prompted to create a password in the first place, and there is no way for me to change any password. I am dead in the water at this point and will need to recreate my work to move forward. The original commenter had the exact same problem as me 3 months ago, talked to tech support who couldn't solve the problem, and then had the issue escalated. I just wonder if going through the time consuming process of talking to tech support will get me anywhere, or if I just do the work around of not putting an EIN in when I create the company.

Hi Pattie - I'm the original poster, and NO this issue was never resolved. I have to use the workaround with my new files and not put in the EIN. Their tech support/ escalation team took my file, looked at it, sent me back some bizarre alphanumeric password that I didn't create (and never would have created) to access the locked file, but I still can't use it to -change- the admin password. They also sent me the "fixed" file when I was in a time crunch at work, and since I didn't respond within 48 hours, now if I want to talk to anyone about it again and how my issue wasn't resolved, I'd have to do the whole process over, and I'm not wasting 4+ more hours on that. Sorry I can't help and sorry they won't, good luck!