How Do I Change an Onscreen Form Such As Create Invoices To Show More Line Items?

Making changes to the windows of QuickBooks is easy.

Let’s use the Create Invoices window as an example.  By default, this window shows just 2 invoice lines.  In this article, we’ll change the default look.  An important point to keep in mind is that you should not close the Create Invoices window until you’ve completed all the steps in this article.  Otherwise, you’ll lose your work and need to start over.

Here’s the Create Invoices window in its smallest form.  Pay close attention to the right border.  We’ve positioned our mouse pointer directly on the border, and it’s now turned into a left-right arrow.  It only provides this functionality when your mouse is positioned directly on the border; if you move it off the border, your pointer shape and function will change.

With your mouse pointer positioned directly on the border, make the Create Invoices window bigger by dragging this border to the right.  To drag something in Windows, hold down your primary mouse button while moving it to the desired position.  Since we started with the smallest form, we can’t drag it to the left.  Next, drag the bottom border down and watch more invoice line items immediately appear.  Re-size the window to fit your needs.

Let’s carry our customization 1 step further.  Position your mouse directly on the fine line between any 2 columns, such as the one between U/M and Rate.  Your mouse pointer will change to another type of left-right arrow.

To change the width of a column, drag the pointer when it’s positioned directly on the line between 2 columns and is in the shape shown above.  Again, it only provides this functionality when your mouse is positioned directly between 2 columns; if you move it away from this position, your pointer shape and function will change.  One common need in re-sizing a window such as the Create Invoices window is to increase the width of the description field.  With this knowledge, that’s now an easy task.  Re-size any column to suit your needs.

Once you’ve completed customizing the look of your Create Invoices window, you need to save your work.  To do that, do not close the Create Invoices window.  Instead, go to the Edit->Preferences menu, and choose Desktop View from the submenu shown.  Since QuickBooks can store different desktop settings for individual users, be sure you’re on the My Preferences tab.

Click the radio button Save current desktop and click OK.  Your changes to the Create Invoices window are now saved.  To confirm that, close the Create Invoices window and re-open it.  It should now open to your customized size and layout.  Since you’ve just saved your desktop with the Create Invoices window open, that window will open the next time you start QuickBooks.  If you want different windows to open by default, simply open them and save the desktop in that state.

This same technique can be applied to most, if not all, data entry screens in QuickBooks.

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