If you run more than one Point of Sale store, you may see Error 193: Primary key for dept keywords is not unique when you send a mailbag from Headquarters to a remote store, or when you receive a mailbag at the remote store. The store exchange stops and the stores fall out of sync.

Read this first. Store exchange in QuickBooks Desktop Point of Sale relied partly on Intuit's connected services, and Intuit lists Intuit Store Exchange among the services it discontinued on October 3, 2023, along with the product itself (version 19.0). These steps repair the data side of the problem and may not restore a connection that depended on those services. See Intuit's notice.

What the error means

The remote store's database already contains a record that the incoming mailbag is trying to add again, so Point of Sale refuses it. Typical reasons:

  • There are duplicate department names or codes.
  • Customer records were deleted or merged at one store but not the other.
  • One of the store-exchange data files (.qbt files) is damaged.

Always make a backup of both Headquarters and the affected remote store before you try the fixes below.

Fix 1: Update every workstation

Mismatched software versions cause plenty of store-exchange problems.

  1. On each Point of Sale computer, choose Help > Software Updates > Check for Updates and install what it finds.
  2. Retry the store exchange.

Fix 2: Clear the list that contains the error

Start with the customer list, which is the usual source. The checking tip below tells you which list is really at fault.

At the remote store:

  1. Send a mailbag to Headquarters first, then receive it.
  2. Choose Customers > Customer List.
  3. Delete the customers until the list is empty. To avoid clicking one at a time: in versions 10 and 12, click the first customer, hold Shift and click the last; in version 9, press Ctrl + A.

Don't worry about losing customers. The master records are held at Headquarters and are sent back to the store.

At Headquarters:

  1. Choose File > Utilities > Resend Files.
  2. Click Resend.
  3. Receive the resulting mailbag at the remote store.

Tip: open the store-exchange activity log. It names the kind of data that triggered the error, which tells you whether the customer list was the right place to look.

Fix 3: Delete the `.qbt` files and rebuild the remote file

Use this when the first two fixes fail, because it rebuilds the remote store's company.

  1. Delete the `.qbt` files at Headquarters and at every remote store. The default location is C:\ProgramData\Intuit\QuickBooks Point of Sale <version>\STex. If you cannot find them, use Windows search for *.qbt, delete what it finds, and empty the Recycle Bin.
  2. Create a new remote company file at the remote store: choose File > Company Operations > Create a new company, enter the company name, pick Remote Store, and type the store number.
  3. Resend the mailbag from Headquarters to the remote store.

Prevent it

  • Keep the department list tidy: no duplicate names or codes.
  • Avoid deleting or merging customers at only one store.
  • Keep every store on the same Point of Sale version and update level.

Sources

Point of SaleQuickBooks POSTroubleshooting