A Guide to Condense Data If QuickBooks File Size Too Large

Condensing the company file is not a hit-and-trial thing, which means you should know what you are doing when you are condensing the company file. It is risky, and you can lose crucial company data during this process.

Here are some things you must know before you go ahead and condense the company data.

Non-Reversible

Remember, you can’t undo it after you have condensed the company data. Therefore, if there are other solutions, you can try to use them. 

Here are some advisable situations when you need to condense a company file:

• The file is nearing a list limit.
• You are upgrading QuickBooks
• You find the QuickBooks file size too large.

Might Not Change the Size of the Company File

Condensing usually reduces the size of the company file, but it is not guaranteed. If the transactions are open, they won’t be condensed and thus, this will not affect file size. If there are no major changes to the company file, condense won’t be available.

Might Not Fix Data Damage

Condensing the company file might or might not resolve the data damage. To fix the data damage, the more recommended thing to do is run the verify and rebuild utility on the company file.

Might Not Remove Specific transactions

Condensing company files often might not remove transactions like:

• Invoices, payments, credit memos, and refund checks
• Payments recorded to Undeposited Funds
• Bills, bill credits, and bill payment checks
• Sales tax not paid in Pay Sales Tax
• Estimates linked to invoices
• Transactions linked to a non-condensable transaction
• Payroll transactions

Affects Several Reports

When you condense the data, various reports get affected, such as:

• Sales and Purchase Detail reports
• Reports filtered by class
• Audit Trail reports
• Item-based reports
• Cash Basis reports
• Sales Tax Liability reports
• Reconciliation
• A/R Collections reports

Therefore, before condensing the company file:

• Reconcile all accounts
• Take a printout of all reconciliation and discrepancy reports or save them as a PDF.
• Back up the company file.

Now that you know the consequences of using the Condense Data utility on the company file, let’s see how to do so.

If you find that the QuickBooks file size too large, let us show you how to condense it. However, before you reduce the size of a QuickBooks data file, it is advisable to save its backup. This will ensure you can restore the data you need in the future.

How to Backup a QuickBooks Company File

Although many QuickBooks users schedule automatic backups of their company files, you can always create a manual backup.

Here is how you can back up your QB company manually.

• Launch QB Desktop and open the File menu.
• Just to ensure your QuickBooks is not in multi-user mode, check if you see the option to Switch to Single-user Mode. If you do, select it, and If you don’t, move to the next step.
• Open the File menu again and then keep the cursor over the Back up Company option.
• Click on Create Local Backup.
• Now, choose Local Backup, followed by Next.
• Go to the Local Backup Only section and click on Browse. Then, choose where to store the company file backup.
• Optionally, you can also choose how many backups you wish to keep.
• Now, QB will run a quick check to find if your company file is in a healthy shape to be backed up.
• Once done, choose OK followed by Save it now.
• Finally, select Next.

If you want to condense the company file but remove no transactions, here’s how to do so.

• Login to the QB company and open the File menu.
• Choose Utilities and go to Condense Data.
• Now, choose to keep all transactions, but remove audit trail info to date. 
• Click on Next.
• Continue with condensing, and when it’s complete, choose Close.

This will condense your company data but keep all the transactions.