What to do before upgrading QuickBooks Desktop

Backup both Acctivate and QuickBooks first, and you'll be ready for a successful QuickBooks update.

It's VERY IMPORTANT to back up both Acctivate and your QuickBooks file when you are upgrading your version of QuickBooks. You should not have any problems updating QuickBooks, but it's better to be safe than sorry!

The following steps will result in a successful upgrade of QuickBooks:

1. Sync with QuickBooks and ensure that all items have a green checkmark ✅
2. Install the QuickBooks Update. Be sure to save the QuickBooks Backup file in a folder that gets backed up, like Microsoft OneDrive.
3. Backup the Acctivate database from the File > Backup Company menu in Acctivate. The backup file will be saved on your server.
4. In QuickBooks, switch to Single-User Mode from File > Switch to Singe-user Mode
5. Sync with QuickBooks again. It might very slow if the QuickBooks update changed the modification timestamps on many records. It will speed up again in the next 24 hours.
6. In QuickBooks, switch back to Multi-User Mode from File > Switch to Multi-user Mode

For more information on how to back up Acctivate click here.
For more information on how to back up QuickBooks click here.

Click here to read our article that explains why QuickBooks Sync is slow after an update.