How to See the List of Users in Your QuickBooks Company File

Last reviewed 2026-10-26

In QuickBooks Desktop, every person who can open your company file appears on one screen. Sign in as the Admin, open the Company menu, choose Set Up Users and Passwords, then Set Up Users, and the User List window shows each user name along with the access it has. We walk through that list below, what it does and does not tell you, and where the edges are.

The user list lives inside the company file

User names and passwords are stored in the company file itself, not in Windows and not in a separate list on your computer. That has three practical consequences. Open the file from any workstation on the network and you see the same users. Copy the file or restore a backup, and the users travel with it. Restore an old backup, and the list reverts to whoever existed when that backup was made.

How do you open the User List in QuickBooks Desktop?

1. Open the company file and sign in as the Admin. User management is an admin-only task, and QuickBooks will ask for the Admin password if you are signed in as someone else.
2. From the Company menu, choose Set Up Users and Passwords, then Set Up Users.
3. The User List window opens. It shows each user name and a short description of that user's level of access.
4. Double-click any name to review or change what that person can do. QuickBooks steps you through the same wizard used at creation, so you can grant all areas or selected areas only.
5. Use Add User for a new person, or select a name and use Delete User to take access away.

Some changes prompt you to switch to single-user mode. If QuickBooks reports that others are currently logged in, have everyone close the file first and try again. Up to two users can be flagged as External Accountant, which gives an accountant broad access without using one of your licensed seats.

Do QuickBooks users need Windows accounts?

No, and this is the part that confuses most people. The two lists are unrelated. Windows decides who can sign in to the computer and reach the shared folder where the company file sits. QuickBooks decides who can open the file once they get there. A colleague can hold a Windows account and no QuickBooks access, or the reverse. Setting up multi-user hosting requires no matching between the two.

Can you see who last signed in or what they changed?

The User List shows names and permissions only. There is no column for the last sign-in date, and you cannot sort the list by recent activity. For activity, run the Audit Trail report: Reports, then Accountant & Taxes, then Audit Trail. It lists every transaction entered or edited, with the user name and time attached, and you can filter it to a date range or a single person. Desktop keeps no separate record of sign-ins and sign-outs.

How does the user list work in QuickBooks Online?

Online keeps its users on the web rather than in the file. Click the Settings gear, then Manage Users, and you will see each person's email, their role, and whether their invitation is still pending. How many users you can add depends on your subscription plan. For activity, the audit log under Settings records sign-ins and changes, and you can filter it by user.

What should you check before changing the list?

Make a fresh backup first; user changes are quick to make and tedious to reverse by hand. Note the exact Admin name and password somewhere safe, because that account is the master key and there is no managing users without it. Do the work while nobody else has the file open. Afterwards, sign out and back in as each affected user to confirm their access behaves as expected.

When is it time to hand the file to our team?

Two situations are worth sending to us. The first is an Admin password nobody can supply: if the challenge question fails and Intuit's automated reset tool does not come through, our QuickBooks admin password recovery service removes or resets it. The second is a file that misbehaves at the sign-in screen: garbled or duplicated user names after a crash or a failed update usually point to damage inside the file, and our QuickBooks data recovery service rebuilds it with the users intact.

Before you touch anything on the list, write down the Admin password and store a current backup. Both take five minutes and spare you an afternoon.