I want to start all over How do I do this?

Judy Bulcroft

How do I start all over like a clean slate with Quicken 2017 home and business. My categories are all jumbled, I need to purge and begin again.

Dan Glynhampton

The simplest thing would be to create a new file (on the File dropdown menu there’s an item for New File), you’ll then have a blank canvas with default categories.

It does of course mean you'll have to set everything up again in the new file, so ask if you need guidance with that, or give more specific details if you don’t want to start with a new, empty file. 

Dan Glynhampton

That’s fine, start a new file as I outlined above and you can set it up as you need it to be. Your old file will still be there for you to refer to. 

One thought though, if you have reminder transactions set up in you old file, be sure to delete them once they are set up in your new file, otherwise if you open your old file in six months time it will try and apply all of the reminders for that period. 

Ps56k2

I would always vote for keeping the tangled mess of 3 years worth of data - and just untangle it....

I would start with the Category List - and scroll thru it and review what's used.
For each category item, you can click on the "count" and see where/how it was used.

Dan Glynhampton

Judy Bulcroft said:

I need guidance with setting up a new file, is there a narrative with step by step instructions somewhere. I find the Quicken Help tab difficult to understand.

There’s a very high level guide to creating the new file here.

And there are a collection of videos here that might help. 

After that, if you’ve got any specific questions, start a new thread on the forum and someone should be able to help. 

Ps56k2

What do you mean - My categories are all jumbled

Dan Glynhampton

The simplest thing would be to create a new file (on the File dropdown menu there’s an item for New File), you’ll then have a blank canvas with default categories.

It does of course mean you'll have to set everything up again in the new file, so ask if you need guidance with that, or give more specific details if you don’t want to start with a new, empty file. 

Judy Bulcroft

I mixed up personal expenses with business expenses. I tried to straighten out my categories but its so far gone and I have so many duplicates with slight variations, I created a nightmare. I feel like I need a fresh start and would rather start again then deal with the mess of 3 years os disordered categories and tags. 

Judy Bulcroft

I am having a problem editing the categories. It is probably because in the last 3 years worth of transaction entry I used the category somewhere. 

Dan Glynhampton

That’s fine, start a new file as I outlined above and you can set it up as you need it to be. Your old file will still be there for you to refer to. 

One thought though, if you have reminder transactions set up in you old file, be sure to delete them once they are set up in your new file, otherwise if you open your old file in six months time it will try and apply all of the reminders for that period. 

Judy Bulcroft

Thank you, I will try the new file. This time I will try to keep things easier. 
I have an example for you, to comment on. I run a small business and have several wholesale accounts. I used subcategories under my Business Income category, if I used tags instead, I wonder if it would be easier for me to keep my categories straightened out. 

Ps56k2

I would always vote for keeping the tangled mess of 3 years worth of data - and just untangle it....

I would start with the Category List - and scroll thru it and review what's used.
For each category item, you can click on the "count" and see where/how it was used.

Judy Bulcroft

I need guidance with setting up a new file, is there a narrative with step by step instructions somewhere. I find the Quicken Help tab difficult to understand.

Dan Glynhampton

Judy Bulcroft said:

I need guidance with setting up a new file, is there a narrative with step by step instructions somewhere. I find the Quicken Help tab difficult to understand.

There’s a very high level guide to creating the new file here.

And there are a collection of videos here that might help. 

After that, if you’ve got any specific questions, start a new thread on the forum and someone should be able to help.