How To Quickly Eliminate QuickBooks Company File In Use
                     Usable Measures To 
Fix QuickBooks 
Company File In Use 
Error
QuickBooks company files contain the overall information of the users, including 
their business data and all the transaction records. QuickBooks Company File 
In Use Error Message can sometimes appear while accessing the company file. 
If you also come across this error message on your PC, read this entire blog to 
figure out its reasons and the methods to eliminate it quickly.
Engage our QB support team for quick troubleshooting by giving them a 
call at 1-855-856-0042.

Reasons
This rare issue develops when you try opening the company file in your 
QuickBooks. The reasons you fail to open the data file after the error message 
comes up on the screen are mentioned below-
• Multiple systems are trying to host the company file, which causes the multi-
user network to break down.
• QuickBooks services running in the background might get blocked by an 
antivirus or the Windows Defender Firewall.
• QuickBooks company file is already running in single-user mode on a 
workstation or server.
Solutions
You’ll bump into this error even after multiple attempts until you take the 
necessary measures to tackle the issue. The countermeasures applicable to 
rectify the company file error from your PC are mentioned below-
Solution 1- Do not let the Workstations host the file 
to ensure there aren’t multiple host computers
You’ll see a ‘Company file in use. Please wait’ error message while 
accessing a company file if multiple computers try to host the company file. 
This issue can also develop if the company file is opened in single-user 
mode on the server computer. For a successful multi-user network setup, the 
company file must be hosted by the server computer in multi-user mode, and 
all the workstations must run in single-user mode. Apply the following steps 
to remove the data file issue-
• Open QuickBooks on all your workstations and access the File menu.
• Click the Utilities option and select Stop hosting multi-user access to 
switch the software to single-user mode.
• If you see Host multi-user access, then the software is already in single-
user mode.
• Go to the Server computer and open the File menu.
• Tap Utilities and click the Host multi-user access option.
• Open the QB Data file again.
If the error message stops you from opening the data file, move to the next 
solution.
Solution 2- Relaunch the QuickBooks services on the 
server computer
You can also come across this data file error message in QuickBooks if the 
software services crash in the background or they get blocked by the Windows 
Firewall. You can easily resolve the issue by stopping the QB services and 
restarting them on your PC, as shown in the following steps-
• Close QuickBooks on all the workstations and approach the server computer.
• Open the Run window on your PC and type ‘services.msc’ in the search field.
• Go to the name column and choose QuickBooksDBXX (XX is the version) 
according to your product.
• Click the Stop option and click the Start option.
• Reopen QuickBooks and open the company file again.
Conclusion
We have reached the finishing of this blog, which aims to provide the reasons for 
the QuickBooks Company File In Use Error message coming up while 
accessing a data file. The methods to tackle the data file issue are also present in 
the blog, which you must use to terminate the error from your PC.
Consult a QB expert at 1-855-856-0042 to resolve your remaining doubts about 
the data file issue.