Are there any "gotchas" when upgrading from QMac 2017 to QMac 2020

NewMac2017

I am going to be upgrading my Quicken 2017 Deluxe version to 2020. Does anyone know about any issues or things to prepare for when downloading the new version? Will the new version recognize the old version and convert the data over?

jacobs

You may need to update some reports if you've been using a workaround for the fact that Quicken 2017 wouldn't include transfers in reports. Quicken 2017 allowed transactions to be both a transfer and have a category, but in Quicken 2020 they've sightly limited that, and they have said they are in the process of doing away with it entirely. They can make that change because Quicken 2020 has recently acquired the ability to specify whether to include transfers, and if so, from which accounts, in a report. Some users devised clever workarounds before this functionality was available, but their workarounds required adjusting once the reports changed.

(In general, if you used the old Category Summary report, it's a good idea to recreate your report(s) using the new reports engine for creating the reports; they're much more configurable than the old reports (and eventually, the old reports will be retired from Quicken), and there are some missing data bugs that have been reported with the Category Summary report. 

smayer97

Also given that you are moving to the new Subscription model, one other gotcha is if you ever let your subscription expire. If you are using Starter the your data will become read-only. If you are using Deluxe or better, you will continue to be able to perform data entry manually but will lose online and download functionality, except the use of CSV files for importing security prices.

In all versions after expiry, Quicken does use about 25% of your screen for advertising, especially to remind you to renew. They see this as the price for not renewing. If you dislike this business decision, you can add your VOTE to Quicken Inc should eliminate or at least minimize the LARGE Advertising space used when a subscription expires.

First, click on the underlined link above to go there, then click the little grey triangle under the VOTE count at the top of page 1 in the blue banner, so your vote will count for THIS feature and increase its visibility to the developers by seeking to have the features you need or desire end up in the latest version (it may take a moment for your vote to register).

Your VOTES matter!

John_in_NC

I have never heard of any "gotchas" or required pre-flight tasks. The upgrade is relatively straightforward and automatic.

Run 2020, and it will update your file. Your old file/version of 2017 will remain untouched if you wish to go back to look at things in the older version.

jacobs

You may need to update some reports if you've been using a workaround for the fact that Quicken 2017 wouldn't include transfers in reports. Quicken 2017 allowed transactions to be both a transfer and have a category, but in Quicken 2020 they've sightly limited that, and they have said they are in the process of doing away with it entirely. They can make that change because Quicken 2020 has recently acquired the ability to specify whether to include transfers, and if so, from which accounts, in a report. Some users devised clever workarounds before this functionality was available, but their workarounds required adjusting once the reports changed.

(In general, if you used the old Category Summary report, it's a good idea to recreate your report(s) using the new reports engine for creating the reports; they're much more configurable than the old reports (and eventually, the old reports will be retired from Quicken), and there are some missing data bugs that have been reported with the Category Summary report. 

smayer97

Also given that you are moving to the new Subscription model, one other gotcha is if you ever let your subscription expire. If you are using Starter the your data will become read-only. If you are using Deluxe or better, you will continue to be able to perform data entry manually but will lose online and download functionality, except the use of CSV files for importing security prices.

In all versions after expiry, Quicken does use about 25% of your screen for advertising, especially to remind you to renew. They see this as the price for not renewing. If you dislike this business decision, you can add your VOTE to Quicken Inc should eliminate or at least minimize the LARGE Advertising space used when a subscription expires.

First, click on the underlined link above to go there, then click the little grey triangle under the VOTE count at the top of page 1 in the blue banner, so your vote will count for THIS feature and increase its visibility to the developers by seeking to have the features you need or desire end up in the latest version (it may take a moment for your vote to register).

Your VOTES matter!

Scott Rose

I've had lots of problems. This process is not seamless or reliable. See all of my posts from today.

smayer97

@Scott Rose I know some people have had trouble with QM2007 to new QMac... but this thread is for 2017 to 2020.

Scott Rose

Oh, sorry. I'm continuously confused about which forum I'm in! 😱