You're fighting a hopeless call everyone.  No solution. (I held on to 2015 desktop for some clients because you don't have to use password protect in that version.  But I don't have to download for those clients. And you can't go backward. ) QB is deaf to your requests. They are protecting themselves. I started using QB when they first came out, before that I did general accounting and bookkeeping by hand.   I now use a QB online and desktop for a variety of clients. No matter how many requests you make, QB is now a monopoly and they are looking after themselves.  They will not respond if it is not in their interests.  I am pretty sure they got sued at some point because somebody breached a file and made away with money.   Then that user sued QB for not doing a better job of what they (the user) should have been protecting. The result is QB does not care if it's a inconvenient/time consuming for their customers (after all -- who are they going to go to for another program?).   Believe me I have had this experience in a variety of areas (try changing the admin on the desktop program when the previous admin has fled or is dead and you'll think not being able to bypass password is a breeze.)  Quickbooks, if  you're listening -- respond to your customers needs -- get them to sign a liability waiver as to the dangers of not having a password to protect and then let them use the program the way THEY want to use it.  You provide a great desktop program but the problems of administration in your organization are many (and this is one of the MINOR ones.).   I cannot recommend Quickbooks for these reasons to those ask me -- which is fairly often -- and anytime anyone does I tell them that they'll need to use QB because it's the only one of its kind really -- but they probably won't be happy.  A fact of life with a monopoly. Satisfied?