Hi there, ireneybeenie.
There are two Condense features available in QuickBooks Desktop. The updated Condense feature provides an option to remove the audit trail which reduces your file size but leaves all the detailed transactions.
The traditional File Condense feature which removes transaction detail and creates a consolidated journal entry for data before the selected date. This is also a much faster method than the standard File Condense.
You can choose the Keep all transactions, but remove audit trail info to date option for your version when condensing the file.
About creating a copy o the file, you can either choose the Backup copy or Portable company file.
If you select Backup copy, QuickBooks creates a copy of everything that you have on the company file. While the Portable company file doesn't contain letters, logos, images, or templates.
You can email or simply save a portable file if you want to, for example, send it through email. I'm adding these articles for more details about this.
Keep me posted if there's anything else you need about condensing your company file. I'll be right here to provide the information that you need.
