QuickBooks Error 15106: Fixing an Update Blocked by Antivirus or a Bad Install Path

Error 15106 interrupts a QuickBooks update, usually pointing at either security software blocking the process or the update running from an unexpected install location.

Why this happens

• Antivirus or endpoint security software is blocking update.exe
• QuickBooks was installed to a non-default, restricted, or read-only folder
• The Windows user account doesn’t have write access to the install directory
• A prior update left the installation in an inconsistent state

Steps to fix it

1. Add a QuickBooks folder exclusion in your antivirus settings (typically C:\Program Files\Intuit\), rather than disabling protection entirely.
2. Confirm QuickBooks is installed in its default location — reinstalling to the default path resolves this if it was originally installed somewhere unusual.
3. Run QuickBooks as an administrator for the update attempt, right-click the icon → Run as administrator.
4. Run Quick Fix my Program from the QuickBooks Tool Hub to reset update-related files.
5. Manually download the update from Intuit’s official site if the in-app updater keeps failing after the above steps.

When to get help

On a managed business computer, antivirus and folder permissions are often controlled by IT policy rather than something you can change yourself — if that’s the case here, it’s faster to get help updating the exclusion list than to keep retrying. See Intuit’s official guide to fixing QuickBooks Desktop update errors for more detail.