Businesses understand the importance of company data, and accounting and bookkeeping software should ensure data security. Therefore, it is important to take regular data backups. A tiny data loss can hamper big operations and increase the workload for you and your business.
Therefore, to stay away from all such dreadful instances, you must utilize the QuickBooks Auto Data Recovery Tool. It keeps a backup of all the company data; thus, you can recover it easily whenever lost. The tool uses the current transaction log file and a copy of the company file to restore the lost transaction. Moreover, it will restore all your transactions except the ones that were done at the last moment. Before proceeding, you should understand what exactly auto data recovery means.
Need Immediate assistance to recover your lost data? Get in touch with our experts by placing a call on our Asquare Cloud Hosting Helpline Number at +1.855.738.0359 to fix QB data repair services-related errors or issues.
What is QuickBooks Auto Data Recovery – A Brief Overview
The QB makers are constantly improving and updating the software so that the users can manage their finances seamlessly. Despite this, your company data files get damaged or even lost. For this, Intuit came up with the QuickBooks file recovery tool in QuickBooks 2011 R6 and QuickBooks 2010 R12(Pro and Premier versions only). While working with these versions, an additional folder called QuickBooks Auto Data Recovery folder with .QBW.ADR & .QBW.TLG.ADR files appear themselves. These are the backups of your company files.
The ADR feature works on its own on the opened company file. After this, a backup is created by the ADR tool after an hour of opening the file. This repeats after every 12 hours. The one being named “old” is 24 hours old, and the new copy is 12 hours old. The Auto replication feature is used to recover the damaged company (.QBW) and transaction log (.QBW.tlg) files. However, you can recover the lost company files of your business with ADR in one of the below-mentioned ways:
- Restore the lost transactions using the current Transaction Log file (.QBW.tlg) and a copy of the Company file (.QBW).
- By restoring all but the last few hours of transactions with a copy of both the Company (.QBW) file and QuickBooks Transaction Log (.QBW.tlg) file.
After getting a brief idea of the QuickBooks desktop file restoration tool, you might be wondering how it can help recover lost data. Well, before that, there are certain factors that you must consider before using the QuickBooks file recovery tool of the QB application.
A few Reminders Before You Proceed To Recover Corrupt QuickBooks Data
We understand that time is important, and you want to recover your data as soon as you can. But, to undergo an error-free recovery procedure, you need to take into account some factors. This is crucial to ensure that you don’t lose a fraction of, or complete data during the recovery process.
- QuickBooks data recovery is accessible only for QuickBooks Pro, Premier, and Enterprise versions of Windows.
- This feature is not available in the Accountant Edition of QB.
- The file size must be 1.5 Gigabytes. If the size is more than that, then QuickBooks will not generate an ADR file.
- You must have the updated version of QuickBooks Desktop.
Now, you must be aware of all the important aspects associated with ADR a QuickBooks data recovery software. Thus, you can try to follow the below-mentioned methods to recover deleted or lost QuickBooks Company files after an update.
How To Recover Lost Data With QuickBooks Auto Data Recovery Tool?
When you lose important company files, or documents in QuickBooks, you might panic. However, the Auto Data Recovery Tool (ADR) helps you recover lost or damaged data. But the data recovery process takes time, therefore, remember that you might not be able to use the data right away.
In general, there are two methods to recover lost or corrupted data using ADR.
- By using the original .TLG file with .QBW.adr file
- By utilizing the .QBW. adr and .TLG.adr files
ADR, a QuickBooks file repair service, is considered one of the fastest ways that assist in recovering lost data. Let’s go ahead and discuss both methods in detail one by one.
Method 1: Use the Original .TLG file with .QBW.adr file
Follow the below steps to recover the lost data by using the original Transaction Log file and the current version of ADR:
- Firstly, you have to make a new folder on your desktop and name it QBTest. Then, open the folder where you have saved the company file. The company file location can be seen on the Product Information screen and No Company Open Window.
Note: Open the Product information screen by pressing the F2 or Ctrl+1 keys simultaneously.
- Afterward, search for the .tlg file in your company file’s folder. The company file that you are searching for will have the same name as your company file.
- If you are unable to find the .tlg file, then follow the below-mentioned steps to show the file extension:
- Press the Windows +E keys together to open File Explorer.
- To move further, choose the option Organize followed by Folder and Search options.
- Now, click on the View option followed by the FileName Extension for Windows 10, 8.1, and 8.
- After that, choose Hide Extensions for the Known file types option and then click on Apply and OK, respectively.
- On finding the .tlg file, copy and paste it into the QBTest folder created earlier on your desktop.
- After this, open the QuickBooks Auto Data Recovery folder located in the same place where your company file is stored.
- Now, copy the QBW.adr file and paste it into the QBTest folder.
- Open the QBTest folder and right-click on the .QBW.adr file, and then select the Rename option. Then, delete .adr from the end of the file name.
- In QuickBooks, open the company file that you have saved in the QBTest folder. Then, verify all your transactions by using the account register.
- Follow the given series of actions to check the recovered file’s data integrity: File> Utilities> Verify Data.
- You can save the damaged company file to a different location if this copy of the file is in a stable state. However, you have to transfer the copy from the QBTest folder to the original location.
Method 2: Make use of .QBW. adr and .TLG.adr files
If you are wondering how to recover your QuickBooks company file? Then, this method can prove to be a great help. However, you must know that it will only recover the transactions of the last 12 hours.
- To begin, make a new folder on your Desktop and name it QBTest.
- Now, open the QuickBooksAutoDataRecovery folder.
- After that, copy the .TLG.adr and .QBW.adr files and paste them to the QBTest folder.

Before you begin, ensure that Windows is set to display hidden files.
- In the QBTest folder, remove .adr from the end of the file name. it will give you .qbw & .tlg files.

- Then, open QuickBooks, followed by the company file saved on the QBTest folder. Make sure that all your transactions are there.

- Go to File> Utilities> Verify Data to check if your data is intact.
- If this copy of the company file is fine, you can move the damaged file to a different location. Also, you’ll be able to transfer the copy from the QBTest folder and paste it into the original QuickBooks company file folder.
Also Read: How To Backup QuickBooks To Flash Drive/USB/Memory stick?
Need Technical Assistance to Recover Lost or Damaged Data?
Through the methods mentioned above, you will be aware of how to use the QuickBooks auto data recovery tool to recover lost company files. However, if you get stuck with QB auto data recovery error while following the above steps, feel free to give us a call on our Asquare Cloud Hosting Helpline Number at +1(855)-738-0359. Our team will provide you with the best technical services to recover lost data from the auto data recovery Tool.
Frequently Asked Questions On Auto Data Recovery (ADR)
1. In which versions of QB can I access the Auto Data Recovery feature?
QuickBooks Auto Data Recovery (ADR) tool is available in QuickBooks Premier, Pro, and Enterprise Windows editions. However, the ADR tool is not available in the QuickBooks accountant edition. Moreover, update your QuickBooks to the latest version before running the auto data recovery tool.
2. How to recover QuickBooks data from a hard drive?
The below-given steps will help you find to recover the QB data from the hard drive:
Firstly, open the search dialog box and type *.qbw. Then, press the Enter key. With the date-modified feature, try to find out the most updated file. Once found, copy it to CD-ROM and remove all the remaining files. At last, paste the copied file to its original location.
3. What is a .tlg file (log file) in QuickBooks?
The TLG file, or .tlg extension file is the log file in QuickBooks and has crucial role to play in the data restoration process. QuickBooks uses the transaction log file (.tlg fiel) during backups. When you want to restore the backup file, which has an extension .QBB, you can copy and paste the tlg file in the directory.
4. How Does QuickBooks Auto Data Recovery Work?
QuickBooks Auto Data Recovery tool utilizes transaction log files (tlg) and QBW.adr file to restore the lost transactions. Therefore, using the transaction log file and the older company file, QuickBooks is able to recover lost or corrupted data.
5. Does QuickBooks do automatic backups?
QuickBooks has the option of automatically saving backups, but in QuickBooks Desktop, you have to schedule it. However, in QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks automatically backs up your data in an online server with a high level of data security.
6. Where does QuickBooks auto backup?
QuickBooks Desktop saves the backup in a folder called Auto Backup on your computer. However, the name and location of the backup folder rely on the user and PC settings. But you can easily find the location using the backup tool.