QuickBooks Auto data recovery tool to recover your lost QuickBooks data

Although Intuit works hard on constantly improving and updating the QuickBooks software to ensure that users can manage their finances and tax files hassle free, it can happen that company data files get damaged or even lost. To deal with these kind of issues, Intuit introduced the QuickBooks Auto Data Recovery tool in QuickBooks 2011 R6 and QuickBooks 2010 R12 (US editions and for the Pro and Premier versions only).

By working with these versions you might notice that an additional folder will show up by itself, containing a couple of new files. This is the QuickBooks Auto Data Recovery folder with .QBW.ADR files, which are the same size as the regular company data files, and the .QBW.TLG.ADR files, which are usually smaller in the beginning and grow over time. These are backup copies for your QuickBooks company files with the matching transaction log.

The Auto Data Recoverty feature runs automatically in the background, performing internal diagnostics on your opened company file. If the file passes the test, the ADR tool creates a backup copy in the ADR folder. This happens about one hour after opening the file. Now every 12 hours the Auto Data Recovery feature makes another copy. For this to happen, your QuickBooks Desktop software has to be open. You will always find the copies in the ADR folder – one being named “old”. The “old” copy is up to 24 hours old and the new copy up to 12 hours.

It allows the use of certain special features of the Auto Replication to reproduce the damaged or lost QuickBooks Company Files (files ending with .QBW) and the QuickBooks Transaction Log Files (ending with .QBW.tlg).

Essentially, the Auto Data Recovery tool can help you reproduce the damaged or lost QuickBooks Company Files (.QBW) and the QuickBooks Transaction Log Files (.QBW.tlg); recreating lost transactions with your existing Transaction Log Files and also the copies of your company data files.

Here is a important list of things to consider before using the QuickBooks Auto data recovery tool:

• The QuickBooks ADR tool is obtainable only for QuickBooks Desktop versions (Pro, Premier & Enterprise) on computers with the operating system Microsoft Windows.
• The tool is not yet available for the current Accountant versions.
• The size-limitation for the files that need to be recovered is 1.5 Gigabytes. Should you require the recovery of a larger file, you can not use the Auto Data Recovery tool.

• Make sure that your QuickBooks Desktop software has all the latest updates.

Here are some methods to recover lost data with the QuickBooks Auto Data Recovery tool

Method 1 – Use the original Transaction Log File and the Auto Data Recovery File version

By using the original .TLG file with the .QBW.adr file of your company data file, you should be able to recover the most recent transactions.

• Create a new folder on the desktop of your computer. Name it QB_Test12hrs
• Find and open the folder where you usually save your company files. To help you find the company file location, you can go to Product Information Screen and the No Company Open Window.
• Make a copy of the Corresponding.tlg file and place it into the newly created QB_Test folder.
• Now to reflect the file extensions, press the key with the Windows symbol in combination with the letter E to open the File Explorer.
• Select Organise and then choose Folder and the search option. Select View and choose Filename Extension if your computer runs with Windows 8 , 8.1 or 10.
• Choose Hide Extensions and select Apply and then OK.
• After completing these first couple of steps, go ahead and open the QuickBooks Auto Data Recovery folder.
• Make a copy of the QBW.adr file and place it into the QB_Test folder.
• Now, with a right-click from your cursor on the QBW.adr file, select Rename from the menu.
• Proceed by deleting the .adr -ending from the file.
• Restart your QuickBooks again and open newly created file from the QB_Test folder. Check if all the lost transactions are reappearing again.
• To make sure that this new company data file is valid, run Verify Utility.
• Should the recovered company file work, you can relocate the old, damaged file to a dedicated folder.
• Now it is safe to move a copy of the the newly created file from the QB_Test folder to the original location of the former, damaged company file.

Method 2 – Use the .adr version for .QBW and .TLG files

This method is going to recover the last 12 hours of added transactions by using .QBW.adr and .TLG.adr files.

• Create a new folder on the desktop of your computer and name it QB_Test.
• Open the folder QuickBooksAutoDataRecovery. To find the company file locaton, go to Product Information Screen.
• Copy both of the .QBW.adr and the .TLG.adr files and place them into the new QB_Test folder.
• To show the file extensions, press the key with the Windows symbol in combination with the letter E to open the File Explorer.
• Select Organise and then choose Folder and the search option. Select View and choose Filename Extension if your computer runs with Windows 8 , 8.1 or 10.
• Choose Hide Extensions and select Apply and then OK.
• Remove the ending .adr from the .QBW and .TLG files that are in the QB_Test folder.
• Restart you QuickBooks software and open the company data file that you just modified. Check if all the previously missing transactions are back in the system.
• To make sure that the company file is valid, go ahead an use Verify Utility.
• Should the problem be solved and the company file is verified, shift the original, damaged company file to another dedicated folder on your computer.

• Now it is safe to move a copy of the the newly created file from the QB_Test folder to the original location of the former, damaged company file.

Conclusion: Taking care of proper backups is crucial and highly recommended for any business, no matter what size. Facing issues with lost or damaged data can be daunting and very stressful. We hope that this blog post gave you informational insight on how to use the QuickBooks Auto Data Recovery tool to prevent permanent data loss.

Should you still not feel confident enough to tackle the problem alone, do not risk further substantial data loss that would cause operational delays for your business. Contact a professional QuickBooks ProAdvisor for reliable and gratifying assistance.