The features offered by QuickBooks Desktop are remarkable, The multi-user capability in QuickBooks Desktop is one of those features that allows multiple users to simultaneously access and work on a company file with the multi-user hosting mode feature tuned on. However, users may encounter “QuickBooks Error H202” when attempting to switch to multi-user mode.

To make a file accessible from multiple PCs, the QuickBooks database server manager is installed on the host computer, allowing QuickBooks Desktop to function in multi-user environment to share company files across with client workstations through a network share drive.

Error H202 in QuickBooks appears when a security program or a network firewall prevents the QuickBooks database server manager from being accessed over the network due to limited permissions or auto exceptions set within the firewall settings.

As a result, when a QuickBooks user attempts to switch to multi-user mode or open a file, the program detects this as an invalid file path and displays QuickBooks Error H202.

The message that prompts on your screen looks something like this:

“QuickBooks needs help as it is unable to connect to the host computer to open your company file.”

This article will help you resolve Error H202 when switching to multi-user mode using QB tools hub and best practices to help you quickly reconnect to your company file without any operational delays.

Furthermore, this tutorial demonstrates how to restore lost connections between your host computer and workstations when using QB Desktop 2022-2023 in versions Pro, Premier, or Enterprise.

How to start troubleshooting Error H202 in QuickBooks?

Firstly, make sure you have the QuickBooks database server manager installed on the host computer that is hosting your data.

When opening company data, users may encounter more than one error, in addition to Error H202. This guide will also assist you in resolving other common multi-user setup errors in QB Desktop, such as H101 and Error H505.

These methods may require some technical skills. We recommend that you pay close attention during the troubleshooting procedures to avoid causing any damage to your accounting data.

Meanwhile, create a backup of your company files before you begin, and double-check that QB multi-user mode is properly configured.

And than follow along to learn what this error means and when it occurs, Perform these 12 proven steps to fix QuickBooks error h202 server 2012 step by step.

What is Error H202 in QuickBooks?

When QB attempts to connect to your company file, it looks for the.ND file, which is a short text file with the same name as your company file stored as .ND extension. The.QBW extension is also present in the same folders, and it contains the information needed to connect to the server’s port and IP address.

Now QB desktop can specify if the.QBW extension is in use.

If QB is able to locate the.ND extension and confirm that .QBW is operable, it tries to communicate with the host computer.

• QB will open your data if the communication is successful.
• But if you see the H202 code on your computer, this means that the connection to the host computer was lost, and thus QuickBooks was unable to communicate with the database manager.

9 Reasons to causes QuickBooks error h202 switching to multi-user mode

Here is a list of the most common and default components that are required and can cause a connection issue with your database while using QuickBooks in multi-user mode.

1. The server firewall is interrupting incoming and outgoing communication.
2. Damage to the QuickBooks database
3. DNS server damage or confliction can cause this issue.
4. QuickBooksDBxx service is not running on the host computer.
5. QBCFMonitor is not running on this computer error.
6. A corrupted database could be one of main reasons to this error.
7. QB is unable to locate the IP address of the Host computer.
8. The standard hosting configuration is defective or faulty.
9. missing or damaged. ND files.

Also, read network connection problems occurred due to QBDBMgrN not running.

12 steps to fix QuickBooks Error h202

Important: We recommend you perform a backup of your QBW data before initiating the troubleshooting steps mentioned below. By doing this, you can be certain of restoring the original data from backup if required.

Complete these steps one by one to identify the connection issue between the server and the computer in your network and successfully get the h202 error in QuickBooks fixed.

1) Start by configuring your firewall settings.

Error code h202 in QuickBooks may occur when the firewall is blocking internet access for specific functions of the QB software.

Always begin with updating your firewall to the latest version, which might help in resolving the issue. Additionally, check to confirm that your firewall is set to allow connection to the host computer.

Install and download QuickBooks File Doctor to scan your company files and connection issues. If the file doctor is unable to find the cause and does not fix QuickBooks multi-user problem code h202, then re-configure the firewall manually.

Configure firewall manually

• Open the Start menu in Windows.
• Type “Windows Firewall” into the search bar to open Windows Firewall.
• Go to Advanced Settings
• On the left, select Inbound Rules.
• Select a New Rule.
• Check Port and hit Next.

• Select TCP from the box.
• Choose the specific ports from the list below, which is categorized by the software version, and enter the correct port in the local port field.

• Choose Port:

  • 2020 QuickBooks Firewall Ports: 8019, XXXXX.
  • 2019 QB Firewall Port: 8019, XXXXX
  • 2018 QB Firewall Port: 55378, 56728.55382, 8019
  • 2017 QB Firewall Port: 55373, 56727.55377, 8019.

Note: The latest editions of QuickBooks use dynamic ports, which are specified firewall ports assigned automatically while installing QB. So, as you can see, 8019 and XXXXX are the default ports for QB 2019 and later versions.

2) Fix error H202 when contacting Windows Server 2012.

If the QuickBooksDBxx server service has stopped running due to the QuickBooks enterprise error code h202 prompting on your computer screen, this step will help you find the QuickBooksDBxx service files and restart the services to ensure that they are running properly on your server computer.

Here’s how:

• Press the Windows key and the letter R simultaneously.
• Now type services.msc in the run box and press Enter.
• Find and use the QuickBooksDBXX services in the list.

Note: XX refers to the version of QuickBooks running on your server.

• Double click on QuickBooksDBXX to open properties.
• Set the startup type to Automatic.
• Select Start if the service status is not running or did not get started. Automatically

Here is an infographic to help you further with this step.

• Next Click on the Recovery tab now.
• Select Restart the Service in all the sections for first failures, second failures, and subsequent failures.
• Finally, to save the changes, Click Apply and then OK.

Now that we have completed the above steps, let’s go ahead and open QB on the user’s workstations.

First of all, turn multi-user mode back on in QB. If you can access your data without the H202, then great! Your problem has been resolved.

3) Resolve H202 Error multi-user mode in Windows Control Panel

• Make sure to close QB on all the workstations.
• Open programs and features from the Window Start Menu.
• In the installed programs list, find QB > right click on the program > select Change/repair
• In the next window Check all the options.
• Wait until Windows has completed repairing QB .
• Next, open your software and check for the latest updates. Go to Help from the top menu > Choose Update QuickBooks desktop from the drop-down list > Update now > once the update is complete Restart computer.

This step should resolve the QuickBooks 2019 h202 error multi-user if the problem was caused by the program. You might not have any more communication problems with the workstations after restarting your server.

4) Now add the QuickBooks server to the Windows host file.

Before you continue with this step, obtain admin user rights to get the IP address and computer name for your server and workstations both.

Note: Your server hosts the original A QBW extension, and a workstation is a user computer from which you access the data stored on the server.

Now let us apply the following steps on your server computer first and then on your workstations.

Here’s how to get your IP address and computer name.

• Open the Run windows by pressing Windows + R on the keyboard.
• Type “cmd” in the Run window and hit Enter.
• Type “ipconfig space/all” and press Enter.
• Now make note of the hostname and the IP address.

Here is an image to show how it should appear on your screen.

Following that, we’ll demonstrate how to change and save the Windows Host file. These actions will be performed on both the workstations and the server where the problem is occurring.

• Go to the Windows start menu and type the following:

C:WindowsSyswow64Driversetc

• Select the host file from the list.
• Right-click on the file and choose to open it with Notepad.

• Now enter the IP address and the computer name you obtained earlier in the host area on this notepad. Follow the image below.

Look at this image to get an idea on where to enter the IP address and the server name:

Reminder: Make sure you have updated the server name and IP address on both the workstations and the server.

Let’s go ahead and save the modifications you just made to the host file, assuming you followed all of the preceding procedures successfully.

• Press Ctrl + S and, as you would generally attempt to save a notepad.
• Save it as “hosts,” along with the quotation marks.
• Make sure to save it on the desktop.
• Return back to the file location.

C:WindowsSyswow64Driversetc

C:WindowsSyswow32Driversetc

• Right-click and rename the file to Hosts Old.
• On your keyboard press Ctrl + S and close the notepad.
• Close the notepad.

Now open your QB to see if the previous procedures have resolved your issue with switching to multi-user mode, or if we need to move on to the next step.

Note: Keep the server name handy as you will need it while performing the next step.

5) Run a Network Connection Test

In the following step, we will send a query/ping using the command window to check the connection between the host machine and the workstations.

• Open QuickBooks Desktop
• Go to file > utilities > select turn off hosting mode.
• Go to the Windows search bar and type “run” to open the run window.
• Type CMD and click OK.

Here is an image of the window that will open up on your screen:

• Type ping space “[server name]”, excluding brackets from the sides of the server name.
• Continue to ping on each workstation experiencing being connected to the network.

If you observe a delayed response or packet loss when pinging your server from workstations, you should contact a QuickBooks specialist for assistance with network issues before proceeding any further.

Additionally here you can find out how to rename a file server to fix H202 Error?

6) Move the company’s data to a different location.

• Open Quickbooks in single-user mode and log in.
• Press F2 to see the product information.
• Copy the location from under File Information.
• Open file explorer and paste the location path and press enter.

  

• Right-click and copy the.TLG and.QBW files from the folder.
• Go to your desktop screen.
• Right-click and choose to create a new folder.
• Paste both .TLG and .QBW into the new folder.
• Set Windows access permissions for the new folder.
• Turn host mode on and try to access your data now.

If the problem persists while accessing your data in multi-user mode, then continue troubleshooting with the following steps.

7) Run QuickBooks File Doctor Tool

Here’s how you can download and run the File Doctor tool to resolve network issues related to error code h202 in QuickBooks 2020.

• Install the tool on your computer.
• Click on the “browse” button to choose your database.
• Click here to continue to scan your data for problems.

Once the tool completes the scan of your data, open QB in multi-user mode to check if the problem has been resolved.

Continue with the next step if the problem is not fixed.

8) Run the QuickBooks connection diagnostic tool to fix H202 Error

Read this Article to learn about the connection diagnostic tool before you continue.

The QB connection diagnostic tool can help you repair damages and errors in your company file that cause network problems when communicating with the company file from the host computer and fix H-series errors.

Once you have downloaded the Connection Diagnostic Tool.

• Go to the Utilities menu and select Repair Network Problems.
• “YES” in the next window and press Continue.
• Choose the damaged file from the list and click “show advanced settings”.
• Select the error or problem you are facing with your network from the dropdown list.
• Now log in to continue.

Wait while the diagnostic tool repairs your damaged data and fixes the network issues related to multi-user mode compatibility. This may take some time.

Once the scan is complete, restart your software and try to access your data from a workstation to confirm if error code H202 in QuickBooks has been fixed. If not, go to the next step.

9) Reinstate the database server manager

Sometimes, something as simple as just restarting the database manager has helped many users solve the H202 Error.

Let’s perform the following steps to see if this is the solution to fix this error:

• Press Windows key + Run to open the run box.
• type of service. MSC and click OK.
• From the list of services, find QuickBooksDB28 for [2018], QBDB29 for [2019], and QBDB30 for [2020].
• Double click on your version of the software and select stop to disable it.
• Right-Click and choose the startup type as “Automatic.”
• Again, right-click on the service and select Restart the QuickBooksDB service from the drop-down.
• Now exit and restart your computer.

After your machine has been switched back on, open QB desktop and see if you can now connect in multi-user mode.

if you still can’t access your data files because the database manager isn’t working than rename or recreate the.TLG and.ND files from the backup folder

10) How to rename the.ND and.TLG files?

As we mentioned earlier in this article, when QB is trying to communicate with the host computer, it looks for the .ND and the.QBW files in the same directory and ensures that they are in use to re-establish a connection successfully.

That is to say, if QB is unable to locate these files, then error code h202 QuickBooks 2019 will occur, but don’t worry, let’s recreate the.ND and .TLG on the computer with the error.

• Navigate to the company file backup folder to locate the.ND extension.
• Or simply type *.ND in the window’s search bar.
• If you can choose to keep the damage .ND file, than rename it with a prefix (.ND.OLD).
• Or right-click and choose Delete.
• Confirm deletion if prompted on the screen.
• Find the.TLG extension in the same directory and rename it too (.TLG.OLD).
• Next, open the database server manager to recreate the new.ND and.TLG files in the same folder.
• Press the “Scan folder” tab.
• Click Add and browse to the location of the company file folder.
• Choose the company file causing Error H202 and press Ok.
• Start the scan and wait for the scan results to be completed.
• After the database manager has completed the scan, restart completed QB.

11) Use the QuickBooks Tools Hub to fix the H202 Error.

The Tools hub was introduced by intuit to repair common problems related to the QuickBooks Desktop application. issues related to your software, multi-user connection issues, company file errors, installation issues, and more.

For a detailed understanding of learning more about the QuickBooks tools hub, please read this article and Download tools hub here.

After you’ve downloaded the tools hub, you’ll have access to all of the capabilities you require, as well as a number of tools that solve various difficulties relating to QuickBooks multi-user issues and your company file.

For example:

• Company file issues: This tab can help you with problems related to QBW, such as being unable to open the company file, lost lists or data, and errors such as 6000, 6000-77.
• Network problems: Run the tool on your server computer and use this tab to fix the QB H202 Error or H505.
• Program Problems: If you are having trouble accessing QB, such as the program won’t start or QB crashes or stops working, use this feature to find a solution, including any PDF or printing-related issues from QB.
• Installation Issues: If you are unable to install QB, you will get a 1904 or 3371 error. Use this tab to fix installation issues.
• Password Reset: This feature will help you reset passwords on your company data file.

Once the tool has repaired the company data successfully from here on moving forward switching to multi-user mode should not be a problem anymore.

12) Update Windows to repair QB

Perform a Windows version update check on every computer, including the server where QuickBooks is installed and the user’s PCs where the h202 error is occurring. Most importantly, all newer versions of QB from 2019 onwards should run on Windows 10. If you are using an older version, certainly now is the time to update your operating system.

Proceed to update your Windows operating system.

• Go to the search bar and type “Windows Update.”
• From the list of search results, choose Windows Update Settings or simply click on Check for Updates. Once you are on the page, you will see the last checked date and time.
• Now click on the “Check for updates” button.
• Windows will run a scan to see if there are new updates available and automatically update the required drivers, files, and programs.
• After the updates have been completed, go ahead and restart your computer.
• Once you are back on, login to your PC, open QuickBooks, and try to access the same company file on which you initially experienced the error.
• If you are still unable to open the data file, then go ahead and repair QB as shown above in step 3.

Conclusion

To sum up being a QuickBooks Pro Advisor, we are interested in guiding our readers with quick solutions to problems they might face while operating the QB desktop software. In this post, we have covered all the proven and effective technical steps that have helped hundreds of users find a solution to fix QuickBooks error H202.

Get in touch with our QuickBooks team if you need any further help. You can contact support via phone at +1 (805) 669-7851.

You can send us an email: help@accountingproadvisor.net

Additionally, you can also Log in to leave a query and receive help via our Expert’s community.

Related to this Post:

• Convert QuickBooks Desktop to Online
• “QuickBooks Error 6073: Comprehensive Guide”
• “QuickBooks Error H505” A Step-By-Step Guide To Fix It
• Resolving QuickBooks Error 6177,0: Troubleshooting Guide
• “Solving QuickBooks Error 6144 82: Expert Tips”