QuickBooks is currently running with a file open" message explained
This message means a tool cannot read your company file because QuickBooks has it locked while it is open.
You are in the right place if you saw this message:
“Unfortunately, if QuickBooks is currently running with a file open - it cannot access get the file version because of how QuickBooks locks the file.”
Despite how it reads, this is not an error in your data. It is a simple access problem. Some program, usually a conversion or repair tool, needs to read your company file directly. QuickBooks locks the file while it is open, so nothing else can read it. The message is telling you to close QuickBooks first and try again.
What the message actually means
QuickBooks Desktop opens a company file with an exclusive lock. That lock is a good thing: it stops two programs from writing to the file at once and corrupting it. The side effect is that any other tool that wants to inspect the file, even just to check which version created it, gets refused until QuickBooks lets go.
So the message is not saying your file is damaged. It is saying the door is closed, and you hold the key.
Close QuickBooks and try again
Close the company file, then close QuickBooks itself. On a single machine that is usually enough. Wait a few seconds after the program closes, because QuickBooks can take a moment to release the lock, then run your tool again.
If you use QuickBooks in multi-user mode, the file may also be open on other workstations or held by the hosting computer. Everyone needs to close the file, and the QuickBooks Database Server Manager on the host must release it too. Restarting the hosting machine is the blunt but reliable way to be sure.
Check for background processes still holding the file
Sometimes QuickBooks looks closed but a background process still has the file open. Open Task Manager and end any QuickBooks processes you find, then try again. Logging out and back in, or a restart of the machine, accomplishes the same thing with less guesswork.
If the message persists after everything is closed
If QuickBooks is fully closed, no other user has the file, and the tool still reports a lock, the cause is usually one of two things. Either a stalled process never released the file, or the file itself is in a state the tool cannot read. The first is fixed by a restart. The second may mean the file needs professional attention, and we would rather tell you that plainly than have you guess.
Our engineers can examine the file directly and tell you what state it is in. There is no charge for an initial evaluation, and cost and timing depend entirely on what we find. If you are mid-way through a conversion or downgrade that keeps failing, see our QuickBooks data migration service for what we handle.
A useful next step
Restart the machine, confirm QuickBooks is not running, and run your tool once more. If the message still appears, contact E-Tech with a description of what you were doing and we will take a look at the file for you.