Payroll Support

Passwords can be rejected for any of the following reasons:

• Passwords are case-sensitive. Are Caps Lock or Num Lock on, or could one of them have been on when you created the password.
• Accessibility Settings can stop a password from being accepted. Open the control panel and choose Accessibility Options, make sure none of the boxes on any of the tabs are checked.
• Spaces are part of the password. Could a space have been recorded inadvertently when you created or entered the password.
• The keyboard might not be functioning correctly. Enter the password in a text editor program such as Notepad to be sure the keyboard works properly.
• An incorrect login screen appears. A login screen that asks for a password but not a user name is the administrator's login screen. If the administrator's login screen appears, close QuickBooks, and then reopen it.

If you have lost or forgotten the password or if the password you have is still rejected after trying these suggestions, ask your QuickBooks administrator to reset the user password.

Administrator password

The same problems and possible solutions described for the user password also apply to the administrator password. Several additional solutions apply to the administrator password:

• Be sure you are opening the company file associated with the password.
  1. Click Cancel on the login screen.
  2. Select the File menu, select Open Previous Company.
  3. Try to open several files to see if your password works in any of them.
• Restore a backup copy of the company file. If a backup copy was created prior to adding the password, restore the backup copy.
  Important: If you use the QuickBooks Assisted Payroll Service, do not restore a backup.
• 1. Move the password-protected company file to a new location on your hard disk so that the backup does not overwrite it.
  2. Retain the password-protected file in case you need to send it to Intuit for recovery.
  3. Manually enter any data that was added after the backup was made.
• If you are converting the data file and the password is rejected, try removing the Administrator password in the previous version before starting the convert.

If the QuickBooks administrator password still does not work, access the QuickBooks Automated Password Removal Service.

For additional information on passwords and working with the QuickBooks Login window, please select one of the following articles:

• Working with the QuickBooks Login window
• Who is the QuickBooks Administrator?
• Set up QuickBooks Administrator
• Company file is suddenly asking for a password