All The Transactions I Entered Have Disappeared! Help!!!

by | Oct 24, 2014 | Company Setup & Management, QuickBooks for Mac, QuickBooks for Windows, QuickBooks Online

I got a call a few days ago from a concerned small business owner saying that some of the transactions she is entering into QuickBooks is simply disappearing and nowhere to be found. When I got there she opened the QuickBooks file in question, and indicated to me all the transactions she entered and where they should have been. I told her not to worry that I would find the transactions especially because it is impossible for them to just vanish into thin air. Possible Scenarios:

  • Work is being done in more than one backup files of the same company, and the transactions in question were entered in more than one – depending on which was opened at the time data were entered. (Only with Mac)
  • More than one company files were created for the same company, and transactions were entered into more than one – alternately – depending on which was opened at the time data were entered.
  • The company file was replaced or overwritten by an older version of the file when a backup was restored. (Only with PC)

I have been using QuickBooks for such a long time that it did not take much time for me to realize that there had to be another file housing the “missing” transactions, and so I set out to view the other QuickBooks files that were on the Mac. Sure enough, the transactions were entered in three different QuickBooks files. There were like 10 transactions in one file, which were possibly entered in one sitting, then the next 17 in another, and another 38 in the next. That is one very big difference between the Mac and PC versions of QuickBooks; unlike the PC versions, each time QuickBooks is backed up on a Mac, it creates a different backup file with an image titled “Disk Image”. This makes it particularly easy to use a different QB file each time an update is done, without actually noticing until you really need to. To prevent this happening again:

  • Always open the file (of the company in question) from within QuickBooks (instead of the desktop or wherever the file is stored) by going to File, then Open Recent and selecting the file on top, which would be the most recent file used.
  • Turn of automatic backup so it does not create multiple backup “Disk Images” which can be quite confusing (Mac users). To do this, go to QuickBooks and select Preferences, then in the Preferences window double click Backup. This will then take you to a new window with backup options. Uncheck all boxes to turn off automatic backup, or you can customize to suit your needs. I usually only check the Overwrite last backup box, which is not a wise choice for someone prone to making mistakes.
  • If you would prefer to keep the automatic backup running, and also open your files from wherever they are stored (instead of within QuickBooks), be sure to view the date each file was last modified and continue to use the one with the latest modification date.

So, this is what I did! I deleted all the QB files “Disk Images”, leaving only the one that was last modified which was also the one that most of the “missing” transactions were entered in. I then edited the backup preference and selected the option which was best suited to her, and that was, allowing manual QuickBooks backup instead of automatic. When she is ready to backup, she will then go to File, then Back Up…, and select the location (desktop or document) and file she would like to backup to.

Mission accomplished! Problem solved!