Can't find my Quicken file

Jeff Stephens

Had to erase my drive. Backup disk not reliable and had to reload all applications from scratch. Can't find my Quicken data file on either the Cloud or the backup files. Any suggestions on where to look?

John_in_NC

I don't think any of us will know where (or if) you backed up files: you have to manually specify those backup locations.

The default location for the actual quicken file is hidden in your user library. It will be ~user/Library/Application Support/Quicken/Documents/(your file.quicken) Maybe your backup will be reliable enough to find it there. I attached a screenshot to show the path.

Jeff Stephens

Thanks, John. I looked in my backup file - Library/Application Support, but I don't have a Quicken folder there. I finally searched iCloud.com and found a Quicken backup file date Sep 2018 and it restored all my files - but only up to Sep 18. Can't figure out why it worked for 2018 but not since. Not sure how to proceed as there are too many entries to try and recover for the last 13 months.

jacobs

Jeff, If you open that September 2018 Quicken file and go to Preferences > General, and look at the location it's specifying for backups at the bottom of the screen. If you had set it to somewhere other than the default location, this might give you the clue where to look.

But I wonder if we've missed something before going down that road. It's fishy that you don't have any Quicken folder in your Library > Application Support. Even if you choose to store your Quicken data file elsewhere, the installation of Quicken almost always creates a Quicken folder in that location. So can we double back to this make make sure you are searching in your User Library, not the System Library? (Confusingly, both have an Application Support folder.) The System Library is what you see if you open Macintosh HD and see folders like System, Applications, Library, Users. If you open this Library, there is an Application Support folder -- but that's not the one Quicken uses.

There's also a Library folder in your User folder -- but Apple, in its infinite wisdom, typically hides this folder to prevent users from mucking around in stuff Apple believes you don't need to access. The way to get into this Library folder is to be in the Finder, pull down the Go menu, and hold down the Option key -- as you click or release Option, you'll see Library appear and disappear. So with Option held down, select the Library folder. Then open Application Support. And there, you should see a Quicken folder.

Jeff Stephens

Interesting things happening. I go to my backup files and go thru the procedure above; but when I use the option key and click on Library, the system automatically transfers me from the backup disk to my Mac HD. It dutifully finds the Quicken folder created this AM when I uploaded the 2018 file, with both that file and the one when I just started Quicken from scratch (no entries at all.) When using Time Machine years ago, I did specify not to save the operating system on my backups; so that is probably why I can't find a Library for users on the backup disk - but everything else seems to be there. If that's the case, I can't understand where that 2018 backup on the Cloud came from. Think I might try the chat w/Quicken to see if they have any ideas about transitioning from the 2018 file to today.
Appreciate your help.

jacobs

Quicken Support isn't going to be able to offer much help for your 13 months of missing transactions since your September 2018 backup. You can download from your financial institutions whatever they make available for download (which depends on each financial institution, not Quicken).

But going back to your backup… It sounds like you never got to look in your backup's User Library file. If your backup is Time Machine, here's a trick on how to do that. In the Finder, first go to your User > Library > Application Support folder (by holding Option and selecting Library from the Go menu). With Application Support as the active open window in Finder, now Enter Time Machine. You should see the Application Support window, and now you can navigate back in time on the right side of the Time Machine calendar. Go back to before you wiped your hard drive, and see if you see the Quicken folder there, and the Backup folder inside it. 

Jeff Stephens

Maybe we've found my problem why I couldn't restore in the first place. When I go into Time Machine, there is no history shown! The only choice is 'Now'. All the files I see on the backup disk show dates, etc.; but none of them register in Time Machine. Really at a loss, here.
About ready to just chuck it all and download what I can from financial institutions; and zero other stuff (checking Accts., and go from there. Appreciate your continuing help.