my quicken data reverted to an old one after signing in

Unknown

I logged into my quicken on a different computer, and it reverted my quicken data to older quicken data... I cannot find a backup... Please tell me It is there somewhere...

Greg_the_Geek

Why are you using a "different computer"? What happened to the other computer?

Unknown

I use a laptop at home, but I have a desktop at work.  I wanted to quickly categorize a transaction while I was remembering.  I have the laptop with me though, but then when I opened the file on it, it had reverted back also.  My quicken data is stored in my Dropbox, so theoretically, it should have opened the correct one.

Greg_the_Geek

First, you should never store your Quicken data file in Dropbox. You can backup to Dropbox though. I would suggest checking the file on your desktop when you get home.

Unknown

Kim Parsons said:

I use a laptop at home, but I have a desktop at work.  I wanted to quickly categorize a transaction while I was remembering.  I have the laptop with me though, but then when I opened the file on it, it had reverted back also.  My quicken data is stored in my Dropbox, so theoretically, it should have opened the correct one.

Something's amiss here.

Where is your actual LIVE Quicken data file located?

It should NOT be on a shared drive, networked drive or cloud based drive.

It should be on your local hard drive...therefore opening Quicken on one PC would have zero to do with the data file on your other PC, as the two data files would be separate.

You can BACKUP your data file to a cloud based system, and then restore it to the other PC...and repeat when you are done.  But keeping it on Dropbox, Google Drive, etc is a recipe for disaster.  

If you data file is not on your local hard drive, then I suspect that you have corrupted your data file.  Restoring an older backup might help...as might a Quicken COPY of your data file followed by a VALIDATE AND REPAIR of that Quicken copy.

But there's no guarantee validate and repair will fix your data file.  It may be destroyed beyond repair.  

Unknown

It isn't on my desktop.  I have the laptop with me.

Greg_the_Geek

Well, apparently it's not on your laptop either.

Unknown

OK, so we have established that storing my data file on Dropbox was a very bad idea.  That doesn't help me at this point, but I will definitely change that for the future. Doesn't Quicken do an automatic backup?  If so, can someone please tell me where to find that.

Greg_the_Geek

In the folder that contains your Quicken file, there should be a sub-folder called BACKUP.

jacobs

So, unless you manually moved the location of your data file, the default location is in a folder Apple hides by default, so many people have a hard time finding it. In the Finder, hold down Option and pull down the View menu; select Library. Within Library, open Application Support. Within that, look for a folder called Quicken (if you're using the current Quicken 2018) or Quicken 2017 (or 2016 or 2015) depending on what version you are using. In that folder, look for a folder called Backups, and within that, Automatic Backups. Check the Date Modified column to make sure you locate the most recent backup.

Unknown

Thank you Jacobs! You were most helpful.  For some reason though, my Quicken was not creating automatic backups.   I am making sure that it is backing up now though, and it is helpful to know where to look for the backups.