How to open a .QBW file without QuickBooks

A .QBW file is the company file that QuickBooks Desktop works in. It needs QuickBooks once, for a few minutes, and the free 30-day trial of QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise is enough. In the trial, you save the company as a portable company file (.QBM). superglue then reads the whole company from the .QBM file without QuickBooks: the accounts, the lists, the transactions with their history, and the payroll history.

Get the data out of a .QBW file

1. Copy the .QBW file. Work on a copy. If the file comes from an older QuickBooks version, QuickBooks asks to update it, and older versions cannot open the updated file.
2. Install the QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise trial. Intuit offers a free 30-day trial. It runs on Windows.
3. Open the company file. Select File > Open or Restore Company > Open a company file, choose the copy, and sign in as the Admin user. You need the Admin password if the file has one.
4. Create a portable company file. Select File > Create Copy, select Portable company file, then Save. QuickBooks writes a file that ends in .QBM.
5. Attach the .QBM file in superglue. Tell superglue what you need, for example "Read this QuickBooks file and list all open invoices by customer." superglue accepts portable company files up to 400 MB.

If you only have a backup (.QBB), restore it in the trial with File > Open or Restore Company > Restore a backup copy, then continue with step 4.

What you get from the file

• Lists. Accounts, customers and jobs, vendors, employees, items, classes, terms, other lists, and the company information.
• Transactions. Invoices, sales receipts, credit memos, payments, bills, checks, deposits, journal entries, purchase orders, estimates and sales orders. Payments stay applied to their invoices.
• Payroll history. Paychecks, payroll liability checks, liability adjustments and year-to-date payroll amounts.

QuickBooks encrypts tax IDs, social security numbers, bank account numbers and credit card numbers in the file, so these values cannot be read. Attached documents stay in the Attach folder next to the company file. Can you open a .QBM file without QuickBooks? has the full list of what the file contains.

For a migration to NetSuite, Sage Intacct, Business Central or another system, How to migrate a client off QuickBooks Desktop describes the process from this file to the cutover.

Common questions

Can you open a .QBW file without QuickBooks?

Not directly. A .QBW company file needs QuickBooks Desktop once. The free 30-day trial of QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise is enough: open the .QBW file in the trial, save it as a portable company file (.QBM), and attach the .QBM in superglue. superglue reads the whole company from the .QBM without QuickBooks.

Do I need a QuickBooks license to get the data out of a .QBW file?

No. Intuit offers a free 30-day trial of QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise. The trial can open the company file and create the portable company file that superglue reads.

What if I only have a .QBB backup?

Restore the backup in the QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise trial with File > Open or Restore Company > Restore a backup copy. Then save the company as a portable company file (.QBM) and attach it in superglue.

Does opening the .QBW file in the trial change it?

It can. If the file comes from an older QuickBooks version, QuickBooks asks to update it, and older versions cannot open the updated file. Work on a copy of the .QBW file so the original stays as it is.

What does superglue read from the .QBM file?

Accounts, customers and jobs, vendors, employees, items and other lists, the company information, transactions such as invoices, bills, payments, checks and journal entries, and the payroll history. Encrypted values such as tax IDs and bank account numbers cannot be read, and attachments stay in the Attach folder next to the company file.