I'm glad you reached out to us today, Megan10.

I want to ensure you'll be able to back up your QuickBooks file. Let's get this scheduled backup working for you.

There are things that we need to check first before bucking up your QuickBooks data file.

• File Name Too Long - having a Company file name that exceeds 65 characters definitely can be the cause of your backup failing. We also have seen this when the file name has a lot of spaces, underscores, and special characters.
• File Too Big - If you're attempting to back up a QuickBooks file that's more than 3 GIG in size.
• Improper Drive or Insufficient Access Rights - Nothing will stop a QuickBooks Backup faster than attempting to shuttle it off onto an external drive or flash drive, or into a directory where not only you but the QuickBooks Database Server, hasn’t received the necessary Windows access rights (full permissions).

• Preference Setting Conflict - Another cause for automatic or scheduled backups failing stems from the use of the "Keep QuickBooks running for quick startups" feature. While QuickBooks goes through the motions of creating the backup until the very end, it never actually finishes. In these cases, a .tmp file is usually created in the QuickBooks directory where your file is resident.

Once you're done checking these things, you can try to schedule a backup again. If you're getting the same issue, repairing QuickBooks is a good start when it comes to fixing program-related issues.

Windows 10, 8/8.1, and 7. Don't be misled by references to the Installation Wizard. It is the Installation Wizard that runs Repair:

1. Restart your computer to close unnecessary programs interfering with QuickBooks.
2. Back up your QuickBooks company file.
3. Select Start and then Control Panel. (In Windows 8/8.1: From the Start menu, open Search and type Control Panel. From the results, select Control Panel.)
4. Select Programs and Features. If necessary, choose Uninstall a program.
   (If you don't see these options, select Programs, then Program Features.)
5. Select QuickBooks in the list of programs and choose Uninstall/Change.
6. Select Continue, then Next.
7. Select Repair then Next. Wait for the Repair to complete.
8. Choose Finish. Restart your computer if prompted.
9. Don't forget to download the latest QuickBooks release and the latest payroll tax table when you open QuickBooks.

You can get more details in this article: Fix QuickBooks Desktop (Windows).

I’d appreciate if you can update me on how it goes or if you ran into a different situation by leaving a reply below. I’m always here to help you with backing up your data.