How to Fix QBWC1013: Error Connecting to QuickBooks

QBWC1013: Error connecting to QuickBooks means Web Connector tried to open your QuickBooks Desktop company file and couldn't. Sometimes the message adds Could not start QuickBooks. The app you're syncing (your store, order system or warehouse app) is fine; it's the link between Web Connector and QuickBooks that broke.

Why it happens

• QuickBooks isn't allowed to start for Web Connector. The integrated-application permission for the app was never set to run when QuickBooks is closed, or was turned off.
• QuickBooks is busy or blocked. A pop-up, an update prompt, a Rebuild data message or another user holding the file in single-user mode stops Web Connector getting in.
• The company file moved or was renamed. Web Connector still points at the old path.
• Different Windows users. Web Connector runs as one Windows user and QuickBooks was set up under another, so permissions don't match.
• A pending QuickBooks update that hasn't finished installing.

The fixes, quickest first

1. Restart both. Close QuickBooks and Web Connector (right-click the tray icon, then Exit), open QuickBooks, open the company file, then open Web Connector and click Update Selected.
2. Clear anything waiting on screen. Look for a dialog box behind other windows: updates, backups, Your trial is ending, or a login prompt. Close it and sync again.
3. Check the integrated-application permission. In QuickBooks, sign in as the Admin user in single-user mode, go to Edit → Preferences → Integrated Applications → Company Preferences, select the app and click Properties. Tick Allow this application to read and modify this company file and Allow this application to login automatically, choose the Admin user, and save.
4. Point it at the right file. If the company file moved, remove the app from Web Connector and add its .qwc file again with the company file open, so it picks up the new location.
5. Run under the same Windows user. Start Web Connector as the same Windows user that set up the integration. If you use a service account, make sure it can open the company file folder.
6. Finish QuickBooks updates. Go to Help → Update QuickBooks Desktop, install any pending update, and restart the computer.

Check the log

Web Connector records every attempt in C:\ProgramData\Intuit\QBWebConnector\log\QWCLog.txt. Search it for QBWC1013: the lines around it show which app failed and when, which tells you whether it's one app or all of them.

Catch it the next time

QBWC1013 tends to come back after updates and restarts, and Web Connector only shows it in a window nobody is watching. SyncGuard reads that same log every few minutes and emails or texts you the moment an app reports QBWC1013, then again when it's syncing again.

See also: QuickBooks Web Connector not syncing? 9 fixes and Keeping QuickBooks syncing overnight.