Use on both mac and windows computers?

Debbie Horsfall

Do I have to purchase two applications of quicken if I want to use it on both my mac and windows computers?

UKR

No. A single purchase of the subscription version of Quicken allows you to install on both Mac and Windows computers.
You cannot share the same Quicken data file across multiple computers. Between Mac and Windows the data file formats are incompatible.

smayer97

No. A single purchase of the subscription version of Quicken allows you to install on both Mac and Windows computers.
You cannot share the same Quicken data file across multiple computers. Between Mac and Windows the data file formats are incompatible.

If your intention is to share data files, consider using these approaches instead. First, you need to understand that Quicken is not designed for multi-user usage, so, the options to "share" a data file are work-arounds.  Even sharing a data file between computers with the "same" user is seen by the some OSes as separate users. Here are a number of options:

• the first option is to move the data back and forth between users. In your case, you could move a copy of the data to a shared location, e.g. Drop Box, and each take turns updating the data. You would have to develop a sign-out process to make sure you do not both update a copy and overwrite each other's work. However, do not store and use the data file stored online directly. This often leads to a corrupted data file. Best practice is to compress the data file before moving it to a cloud based storage to prevent problems with file permissions.
• you can create a new user on your computer and use and store the data file in that user (do not store the data file in a shared folder)
• If you have mobile devices (iOS or Android) and if all you want to sync is cash, bank, and credit card accounts (i.e. non-investment transactions), consider using Quicken Mobile on a mobile device. You can sync more than one mobile to the same data file located on one of your computers, as long as you use the same Intuit ID associated to the data file. Note that this is limited to sync 24 months plus new transactions.
• use remote access software (several free options, e.g. NoMachine and Teamviewer) to access Quicken on one computer from the other, or even mobile devices (see this great article for complete review of many options (most are free): http://machow2.com/rdp-for-mac/ ). Though this article was written primarily with Macs in mind, there are many solutions offered that work for Windows too. The advantage of these solutions is that you retain access to all the features of Quicken, unlike Quicken Mobile. The trade-off is that the host computer cannot really be used for anything else while using Quicken with these remote solutions. 

These options would require you to settle on only ONE of the two platforms and sync your device(s) to or access that one platform.

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