[GNC] problem obtaining lock

[David T.]

Your best bet is to put it into its own folder in your Documents: 
\Users\Admin\Documents\GnuCash

Just move the data file there and double click it to open it from Explorer. [Others will tell you to use GnuCash to File->Save As into the new folder, which moves the file and allows GnuCash to know where the file has gone. Potato, po-tah-to.] 

David T. 

On August 12, 2026 9:20:05 PM GMT+05:30, Marty Landman <martster at gmail.com> wrote:
>I'm not sure how it ended up there, what is the suggested location and how do I change it?
>
>On 8/12/2026 11:49 AM, David T. wrote:
>> On a side question: why are you putting your GnuCash data file in the (hidden) system folder AppData? I'm not sure that's advised...
>> 
>> 
>> On August 12, 2026 8:32:21 PM GMT+05:30, Robert Heller <heller at deepsoft.com> wrote:
>> 
>>     To expand on Wm Tarr's response, GnuCash create a "lock" file when
>>     it opens your books (at startup) and will delete the lock file
>>     when it closes your books (or when you exit). You should always
>>     cleanly exit from GnuCash before you logout, shutdown, or reboot
>>     your computer. At Wed, 12 Aug 2026 09:55:25 -0400 Marty Landman
>>     <martster at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>>         My wife and I have been using Gnucash for a few years now for
>>         our small business, and the one problem that keeps happening
>>         is after my Windows 11 Home edition updates and I have to
>>         restart Gnucash I get the following message: Gnucash could not
>>         obtain the lock for C:
>>         \Users\Admin\AppData\Local\GnuCash.gnucash That database may
>>         be in use by another user, in which case you should not open
>>         the database. What would you like to do? I select 'open
>>         anyway', then open, close, and then reopen it and the error
>>         goes away.���� ����What is going on? How can I prevent this
>>         error from happening in the first place? Marty
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