Vanessa,

Even EASIER.....

It has been months since I needed to get a backup of a client's QBO or convert a client to desktop. That said, attempting this yesterday (08/01/18) caused much frustration and ultimately I gave up for the day. In the past, this was a rather SIMPLE task! NOT anymore. Here is what I finally figured out, that NONE of the Intuit dialogue boxes or "help" will tell you.

1. Open your desktop QB in ADMINISTRATOR MODE! (this is KEY and not mentioned ANYWHERE in the QBO instructions as you are creating/downloading/converting the file!).

To do this, right click the QB desktop icon, and click "Run as administrator." If a company file opens, close it so that you are at the main QB screen to choose what company to open.

2. Open Internet Explorer in ADMINISTRATOR MODE! (again, key and not mentioned by Intuit). Do this the same way as above for QB Admin Mode. Also of note, you MUST USE IE for this process. You cannot use ANY other browser. If you do not have IE, go get it. 

3. AS SOON AS YOU OPEN Internet Explorer, BEFORE you login to QBO, you MUST turn off your pop-up blocker. Attempting to do this AFTER logging into QBO and while you're in the process of converting will serve only to lock up the QBO website!

To turn off the pop up blocker in IE, go to the tools icon, choose Internet Options. Go to the "Privacy" tab. UN-check "Turn on Pop-up Blocker". 

4. Login to your QBO account. Click the gear icon, select "Export Data".

From that point forward, it is pretty self explanatory, and by following the on-screen instructions you should have your desktop backup/working file in no time. It would have saved me HOURS had steps 1 - 3 above been included in the instructions AT the QBO account. Intuit FAIL!