Summary: This blog discusses about the QuickBooks Auto Data Recovery (ADR) feature. It explains how you can use ADR to recover lost or corrupted QuickBooks® (QB) data. The ADR tool relies on a readable backup file (QBB) to perform data recovery. If the QBB file is not available or corrupted, try using Stellar Repair for QuickBooks® Software to recover the QB data.
As QuickBooks® users, you may be using Intuit Data Services to recover data from damaged or corrupted QuickBooks data files. However, the data recovery process can take time, preventing you from using the data files for several days. But, using the QuickBooks Auto Data Recovery (ADR) feature, you can quickly recover your data in case of data loss or corruption.
Note: Intuit recommends using the ADR feature only after troubleshooting the QB issue using the appropriate solutions.
What is QuickBooks Auto Data Recovery and How it Works?
Auto Data Recovery (ADR) is a built-in recovery feature of QuickBooks® Desktop (QBDT). It helps recover and restore lost QB data by performing any of these actions:
- Use the latest Transaction Log (.TLG Log) file and a copy of the Company file (.QBW) to restore the recent transactions.
- Use a copy of both .QBW file and .TLG file to restore all the data except for the transactions performed in the last few hours.
Before discussing the solutions to recover lost data using ADR, a few pointers to consider:
- ADR feature is available in QuickBooks® Pro, Premier, and Enterprise Editions for Windows. It is not available in Accountant Editions.
- QB cannot generate an ADR file exceeding 1.5 Gigabytes.
Tip! If you want to recover data from a corrupted backup file greater than 1.5 GB, try using a QuickBooks® data recovery tool that can repair and recover a backup file of any size.
- Install latest updates on QuickBooks® Desktop.
Solutions to Recover QuickBooks® Data using Auto Data Recovery Tool
There are two solutions to recover QB data using the ADR tool:
Solution 1 – Use .TLG file with .QBW.adr File to Recover Recent Transactions
This solution requires using the original Transaction Log (.TLG) file and ADR version of the QBW file to recover the recent transactions. Here’s how:
- On your Windows desktop, create a new folder, let’s say QBTest.
- Next, browse and open the folder where your company file is saved.
Tip: If you are not aware of the company file location, you can find it by clicking the ‘Product Information’ screen and then the ‘No Company Open Window’.
- Once you’ve located your company file’s folder, search the .tlg file by finding a file with the same name as the company file. If you cannot find a file with .tlg extension, perform these steps to show file extensions:
- Open File Explorer by clicking ‘Windows+E’ on your keyboard.
- In the File Explorer window, click Organize, and then select Folder and search options.
Note: For Windows 10, 8.1 & 8 system: Click View and choose File name extension.
- Check the “Hide extensions for known file types” checkbox.
- Click Apply, and then press the OK button.
- Copy the Transaction Log (.TLG) file of your company file, and paste the copied file to the QBTest folder (created in Step 1).
- Now open the QuickBooksAutoDataRecovery folder. The folder is located in the same folder as the company (QBW) file.
- Copy and paste the .QBW.adr file to the QBTest folder.
- You will now have both a .TLG and .QBW.adr file on the QBTest folder.
- Rename the QBW.adr file by right-clicking on it, and choosing Rename in the QBTest folder.
- Delete .adr at the end of the newly renamed QBW.adr file.
Solution 2 – Use Copies of Company File and Transaction Log Files to Recover Transactions
- Now open QuickBooks and open the company file saved on the QBTest folder.
- Use your account register to verify all transactions are there.
- Next, check the integrity of the recovered file data by clicking File > Utilities > Verify Data.
- If the copy of the company file contains the data you want, move the corrupted company file (QBW) to a different location. And then, and save the copy of QBW file from QBTest to the original location.
This solution requires using the .QBW.adr and .TLG.adr files to recover all the transactions except the last 12 hours of transactions. For this, do the following:
- Create a new folder named QBTest or any other on desktop.
- Open the folder containing the QBW file and search for QuickBooksAutoDataRecovery folder.
- In the QuickBooksAutoDataRecovery folder, locate the .TLG.adr and .QBW.adr files. The files have the same name as the company file. For example, if the name of company file is “MyCompanyName.QBW”, then the look for ‘My CompanyName.QBW.adr and “MyCompanyName.TLG.adr”.
Note: If you fail to identify the .QBW.adr and .TLG.adr files, your files might be hidden. In that case, you’ll need to show file extensions.
- Copy and paste the .TLG.adr and .QBW.adr files to the QBTest folder.
- In the QBTest folder, remove .adr from the end of the Transaction Log and Company files name.
- Open QuickBooks® and then open your company file that is located in the QBTest folder. Verify all the transactions by using your account register.
- Use the Verify Data utility to check the accuracy of the data of the recovered file. To open the utility, click File, hover over Utilities, and then click Verify Data.
- If the copy of the company file (i.e., the recovered file) has all the data you need, move the damaged QBW file to a different location and save the QBW file’s copy from QBTest to the original location.
What Else Can You Do to Recover Lost QuickBooks® Data?
If the QuickBooks Auto Data File Recovery feature fails to restore the lost data, use Stellar Repair for QuickBooks® Software to recover all the data. The software can repair severely corrupted company file (QBW) and backup file (QBB) and recover all the data from the corrupted files in just a few clicks. It supports QuickBooks version 2021, 2020, 2019, and earlier versions.
Steps to Recover Lost Data Using Stellar Repair for Quickbooks® Software
- Launch the software. This will open the software main interface window with options to ‘Browse’ or ‘Find’ the corrupted QuickBooks® QBW file.
- After selecting the file you want to repair, click ‘Scan’.
- A ‘Scan Log’ dialog box opens with details of the present and deleted items in the Company, Customers, Vendors, and Employees. Click ‘OK’.
- The software displays preview of recoverable Company file data of your QBW file. To preview recoverable data of the Customers, Vendors, and Employees, click on the respective tabs. After verifying the recoverable data’s data integrity in the preview window, click Save for saving the recovered file.
- In ‘Save File’ window that appears, click ‘Browse’ to select a location to save the new company file with all the recovered data. Alternatively, you can select a QuickBooks® backup file (QBB) for better data recovery.
- Save the recovered data by clicking the ‘Save’button.
The recovered file will be saved at the selected location.
Conclusion
Auto Data Recovery is a built-in feature of QuickBooks Desktop that is designed for quick recovery of lost or corrupted data from QB files. It uses a Transaction Log (.TLG) file and a backup copy of Company file (.QBW) to recover the recent transactions. If the original.TLG file is not available, you can use a copy of the .TLG file and .QBW file to recover all data except for the recent transactions. However, ADR won’t work if you not have a copy of your company file. Also, it cannot recover data from QBB file greater than 1.5 GB. A better alternative is to use Stellar Repair for QuickBooks® Software, a tool purpose-built to recover data from corrupted QBW and QBB files regardless of their size.
