Here Is a Simple Guide To Fix QuickBooks Company file in use
                     How to Easily 
Troubleshooting the 
QuickBooks Company 
File in Use Error?
QuickBooks is accounting software that records all the financial data of a company in a 
company file. The application is user-friendly and safe. However, QuickBooks is prone to 
error. The most common error you might encounter while using QuickBooks is the 
company file error or the multi-user error. Not being able to use the QuickBooks 
company file while it’s open in another workstation is called the multi-user error. The 
error usually occurs due to issues with the database server manager. You can restart 
your QuickBooks services on the server to resolve the error. The solutions depend on 
the cause of the error, so implement the solutions accordingly. The information provided 
below explains the solutions and the causes of the QuickBooks Company file in use 
error. Read the complete article to know more.
If you need help with the error’s troubleshooting, dial at 1.855.856.0042 and get 
technical assistance from a QuickBooks Professional.

How to Troubleshoot Company File in Use Error in 
QuickBooks?
Stop Hosting Multi-user access from all Workstation
The error can get triggered if a lot of workstations are hosting Multi-user access. You need to 
stop hosting multi-user access from all the workstations to fix the error. The steps to stop hosting 
multi-user access are listed below: 
• First, open the QuickBooks application.
• Select File menu.
• Choose Utilities.
a. Select Stop hosting Multi-user Access if the option appears on the window and click Yes 
to save the changes.
b. If Host Multi-user Access is listed in the options, don’t make any changes.
• Then close QuickBooks and repeat the steps mentioned above on all the workstations.
• At last, check if the error is resolved. 
Stop your QuickBooks services and Restart again on the 
Server.
If the previous solution didn’t help fix the error, you can stop your QuickBooks services on the 
server and then restart the services again to resolve the
 company file in use error. Follow the steps provide below to stop and restart the services:
• First, make sure QuickBooks is closed on all the workstations.
• Next, go to your server computer and open the Windows Start menu.
• Type Run in the textbox and then press the Enter key.
• In the run window, type services.msc in the textbox and then click Ok.
• Choose the QuickBooksDBXX from the name column.
Note: XX in the name indicates the version of QuickBooks. For example-
a. QuickBooksDB30=QuickBooks 2020 
b.    QuickBooksDB29=QuickBooks 2019
c.    QuickBooksDB28=QuickBooks 2018
 
Conclusion:
This article describes the solutions and the causes of the 
QuickBooks Company file in use error. The solutions explained above are stopping and 
restarting the QuickBooks services on the server and checking for multiple host 
computers. If the solutions given above in this article didn’t fix the error, you need to use 
QuickBooks Tool Hub on the server to fix the error. However, if the error is still not 
resolved, dial at 1.855.856.0042 and get help from a QuickBooks Expert.