QuickBooks plays a vital role in maintaining customer’s database. However, it is fairly common in every firm to lose a few clients for various reasons. Nobody wants to clog up their database with useless information about a client who has left them. In these circumstances, you can delete Customer in QuickBooks and remove it from your database. You can do this in both QuickBooks desktop and online version. Moreover, If you don’t want to delete a customer, you can always make a customer inactive.
Wondering how to Delete Customer in QuickBooks? Get in touch with our experts at +1(855)-955-1942 to get a quick answer.
Difference Between Making a Customer Inactive and Deleting a Customer
If you make a Customer Inactive in QuickBooks, it means that it won’t appear in your Chart of Account. Although it does not mean that you won’t be charged a fee for QuickBooks Online as the subscription fee is fixed. You can merge a new account and an inactive account while a similar feature is not available while deleting an account. Deleting an account means permanently removing an account in QuickBooks.
Please keep in mind that even if you delete clients in QBO, the transactions related to them will remain in your company data Reports. A parent customer’s sub-customers will also be deleted if the parent customer is deleted.
Steps to Make a Customer Inactive in QuickBooks
In comparison to completely eliminating a customer, making them inactive is a safer choice. The name of your customer will be hidden in the Customer list, but you can find it if necessary. This process keeps a record of all the transactions that happened between you and your Customer in order to verify that the financial data for the year-end reporting and tax filling is absolutely correct. Follow these steps to make a customer inactive in QB:-

- Click on the Sales menu.
- Select the Customers tab.
- Tick the box next to the Customer’s name that you want to remove.
- Choose the Batch actions dropdown.
- Click on make active.
- Now press Yes to confirm your action.
There is another way through which you can make customers inactive one at a time. It is great if you don’t have many customers you want to make inactive. Follow these steps in order to do so-
- Click on the Sales menu at the left panel and then choose the Customers tab.
- Choose the Customer you want to make inactive, and then click on Edit.
- Now click on Make inactive and then press Yes in order to complete the process.


How to Permanently Delete a Customer in QuickBooks?
You are only allowed to remove a customer in QuickBooks that have no transactions under their name. It is to ensure that there are no discrepancies while filing taxes. There are different methods for deleting a customer in QuickBooks for QBD and QBO.
Deleting a Customer in QuickBooks Desktop
Follow the steps to delete customer in QuickBooks Desktop version:
- Run’ QuickBooks Desktop‘ and Click on ‘Customer‘.
- Go to ‘Customer Centre‘.
- Find the name of the Customer you want to delete under ‘Customer and Jobs’.
- Now click on the ‘Edit” menu.
- Click on the option that says ‘Delete Customer Job.’
- A message will pop up stating, “Are You Sure You Want to Delete This Customer Job?“. Now press “Yes” to continue.
- Now close the ‘Window.’

Deleting Customer in QuickBooks Online
Follow the steps to delete a customer in QuickBooks Online version:
- Open the Customer Menu in QuickBooks and Choose “Customer Centre“.
- Now Press Enter and click on the “Customer & Job” section.
- Select that Customer you want to Delete.
- Click on ‘Edit’ and then choose ‘Delete Customer Job’ and delete all customers in QuickBooks you wish to delete.
How to Restore an Inactive Customer in QuickBooks?
It is not unusual in a business that your old customers get back to you. In that case, you can either open a whole new customer account for them or restore their previous deleted account. Follow these steps if you want to restore deleted Customer in QuickBooks:-
NOTE: This feature is only available for QuickBooks Online Version.
- Click on the Sales button in the left menu.
- Now choose Customer at the top.
- Check the Include inactive box in the Settings (Gear icon beside the Export Button).
- Look for the inactive customer button and then click on Make active link below the Action button.

Now you can Go to the search bar and find the Customer you just made active.
Get Experts Help To Remove A Customer in QuickBooks!
So, we hope that this post has clarified what you need to do in QuickBooks to inactive a customer account, delete a customer account, and reactivate the inactive customers. If you get stuck while following any of the above steps and need expert assistance, get in touch with our experts by placing a call on QuickBooks Data Service Solutions Helpline Number +1(855)-955-1942.