Is there a way....

Garilynns

Is there a way to open a .qfx file in something other than quicken? A pdf, csv, excel file....a read only solution would be helpful. Thank you all!

smayer97

A QFX file is simply a text file so can be opened in a simple text editor, etc.

That said, it is fairly cryptic but does not take long to get familiar with the contents.

smayer97

A QFX file is simply a text file so can be opened in a simple text editor, etc.

That said, it is fairly cryptic but does not take long to get familiar with the contents.

Garilynns

I'll give it a try. Thanks

Garilynns

One more question:
Can you open a backup as a new account instead of a restored account?

NotACPA

@Garilynns,

Some clarification of terminology is needed. 

A "backup" is a Quicken data file.  Like your primary data file, it contains multiple accounts.

SO, when you restore a backup, you're restoring the entire file ... including all of the accounts therein.  It's not possible to restore only certain accounts ... it's "all or nothing".

SO, with that clarification, can you please re-state your question?

Garilynns

Hello and thank you. I made a mess of my Quicken Premier 2019. I found that I had lost all my data (file didn't exist) when I opened Quicken last week and have been reconstructing it ever since. I've been on the phone with quicken support and have received some help from other users on this site as well. I'm older; a younger friend helped me find some partial backups. I downloaded as much as I could from the bank and and have been filing in as much info as I can.
My online bank balance doesn't jive with my Quicken balance. It did this morning. I think it's because this afternoon I inadvertently imported some transactions from an old QFX file but I cant tell which ones they are. Everything is "reconciled". I have a backup file "Primary. Garilynn's Finances 2019-05-31.quickenbackup" that I backed up to my external drive before I started working on my register today. I would like to open it as a new account so I can compare the two files rather than restore the file. Is that possible? Or do I just restore and start over today?
AND: What do old QFX. files do? What are they for?
I'm very upset about this. UGH!

smayer97

A QFX file is simply a download of data from your financial institution or bank. It contains a transaction ID for every transaction in the file. When you try to open one, Quicken simply tries to load the data into the Quicken data file. If the account in the QFX file has never been matched to a Quicken account register, you would be prompted to select the account to associate with the downloaded data.

Quicken records and creates a "link" so the next time you download data in a QFX file and open it, Quicken will already knows which account register to load the data into.

If you try to open a QFX data file that has already been loaded into Quicken, Quicken tracks and remembers which transaction IDs have already been loaded and does not load that data again, even if you delete the data from the register. But if that data has never been loaded into that same Quicken account register, Quicken will load that data. This is how Quicken prevents duplicate entries.

If you accidentally delete data already loaded via a QFX file but want to reload the same data, one way to get around that is to load the data into a new register (which will create a "link" to the FI/Bank account). Once you have loaded all the old data, you can move all the data from the new account register into the "old" desired register. Then deactivate the link. This way, the next time you load the next QFX data file, you can re-link it to the "old"/current account register moving forward. 

I hope you were able to follow that and I have not confused you too much.

Garilynns

Wow! I have no doubt that the solution to my problem is contained in your response. It is a bit complicated; more than I bargained for and it will take me some time to go through it. I so appreciate you taking the time to respond. I may need to check back with you if I get stuck. One of my take-aways is that I am unlikely to duplicate transactions by opening and importing .QFX files…is that correct? I have old quicken essentials (.quicken data) file that covers 2011 through 2016. Does opening that file follow the same rules you outlined in your reply? Thank you again and have a great weekend.

Kind regards,

Gari

Garilynn Stanfield, PhD, LCSW

smayer97

Yes, all Quicken versions handle importing QFX data the same and reduces the chances of getting duplicates.

jacobs

As you're working on reconstructing and importing things, just make sure to make a backup copy of your data file before each major change, so that if something unexpected happens, you can just toss the data file and go back to the backup. You can make backups from within Quicken, or in the Finder by duplicating the data file (when Quicken is not running).