Fix a moved, renamed or restored company file

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During setup, the connection records where your company file lives, for example C:\Users\Public\Documents\Intuit\QuickBooks\Company Files\Northwind.qbw. The Web Connector uses that location to open the file when QuickBooks is closed. If the file is no longer there, QuickBooks cannot open it, and the app’s requests fail.

What you see

The app shows a message like this:

QuickBooks Desktop could not find the company file. If it was moved or renamed, open it in QuickBooks, then try again.

Or, if a different company is open:

The open company file does not match the one that was connected. Please contact the application provider.

Why it happens

Any of these changes the location the connection recorded:

You moved the .qbw file to another folder, drive or server.
You renamed the file.
You changed how the computer reaches the file, for example a new mapped drive letter, or a new server name after an IT change.
You restored a backup to a new location or under a new name.
You moved to a new computer and the file now lives somewhere else. See Move the connection to a new computer.

A restore of the same company is fine. The connection identifies the company, not only the file name, so a restored backup of the same company keeps working once QuickBooks can find it.

How to fix it

On the computer that runs the Web Connector, open QuickBooks Desktop.
Open the company file from its new location, the one you plan to keep using, and leave it open.
Ask the app for a setup link and open it on that computer. The first page asks What changed? Choose The company file moved or was renamed.
Keep the existing row in the Web Connector. Click Use the open file. The page tests the connection with the file that is open in QuickBooks and confirms when it works.

If you cannot get a setup link, the app’s support team can do the same thing with the Reset company file path action for your connection. Keep the file open in QuickBooks until the app’s next request records the new location.

From then on, the Web Connector can open the file from its new location even when QuickBooks is closed.

If you restored a backup made before the app was connected

When the Web Connector adds an app, it stores a small registration inside the company file. A backup made before that moment does not contain it, so restoring that backup removes the registration. The Web Connector still shows the app and the saved password, but QuickBooks refuses its requests and the app’s requests time out. Follow Requests stop working after restoring a backup.

If the app says the company file does not match

The connection refuses a company file that belongs to a different company than the one you set up. This protects you from the app writing into the wrong books. It happens when:

someone opened a different company file on that computer,
the file is a copy that QuickBooks treats as a separate company,
you pointed QuickBooks at a test or sample file.

Open the correct company file in QuickBooks. If you are not sure which file is correct, or you want the app to use a different company from now on, contact the app’s support team. They can reset the path or send you a new setup link for the other company.

Check that it worked

Close QuickBooks completely, then do something in the app that needs QuickBooks. If the request succeeds, the Web Connector opened the file from the new location by itself.
If that fails, see The company file cannot be found.

When to contact the app’s support team

Contact them for the path reset, and again if the error comes back after the reset. Send:

the old and new location of the company file, if you know them,
the time of the error and the exact message,
a screenshot of the app’s row in the Web Connector.