I cannot open old Quicken files to lessen the capital gains taxes of selling my home. Help!

knitwitit

I have always updated my Quicken files and thought that I was doing the right thing. Now I understand I was foolish. I need to access old files from before 2006. Can anyone help me.

Just Lurking

Please provide significantly more details as there is not enough information to help you.

For example, could you clarify what you mean by "have always updated" your Quicken files? Do you not have all your Quicken data in one master file? What happens when you try to open the old file? What version of Quicken are you running, what is your operating system version, etc.

knitwitit

I use a Mac and Quicken 10.15.2. I have used Quicken for over 20 years. Whenever I was told to upgrade, I did. I also paid extra last year so that I would have good recovery of old files (I thought). When I try to open the old ones from my former life as a married person, I get the message that the files cannot be opened by the newer Quicken. I was told by someone at Quicken that I needed to find the discs for the 2004 install. Who keeps those things???

volvogirl

So each time you updated the program you didn't also open each data file and convert it to the newer version?  That is one of the main reasons we recommend not breaking up your years and to keep all your data in one file.

volvogirl

See this support article
https://www.quicken.com/support/how-and-when-use-intermediate-version-convert-older-versions-quicken

knitwitit

I didn't know I was supposed to do that. I'm 72 and am not a whiz on the computer!

Just Lurking

knitwitit said:

I didn't know I was supposed to do that. I'm 72 and am not a whiz on the computer!

I'm sorry this has happened to you - I'm sure this must be frustrating. I'm relatively new to Quicken myself, but I believe the general advice (as @volvogirl mentioned) is to keep the same data file and not split up your files into separate years. In any case, that doesn't help your current issue, but it may help you down the road.

There appears to be a way to access very old Quicken data, but unless you are very fortunate, it's likely going to be quite time consuming and cost you some money. You will need to weigh the value of this data against the difficulty of recovering it. 

I found a thread in which another user has a similar issue as you. Apparently, you need to perform a two-step conversion. Quicken for Mac 2007 (or possibly 2006, although it's not supported) should be able to open and convert your old Quicken files. Then, the latest version of Quicken (2020) should be able to import the converted 2007 files. In order to accomplish this you would need to acquire an old copy of Quicken (Quicken 2007) AND get access to a very old PowerPC Mac.

More information in the below thread. I hope this helps. If you have any tech whizzes in your life I highly suggest you recruit them to help you!

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7851084/converting-from-2004-file-q-mac

Ps56k2

unfortunately - I have never understood why Quicken suggests that people do this - with the Year End menu choices.... There is a major difference for "bills" vs "investments"...
Sure, for bills, might be nice to have them all arranged by year, but what about any kind of investment.... you would never split up the paper work by year rather than just keep an ongoing collection of statements related to that investment.... Cost Basis, etc -