Missing backup files

H3MD

Greetings. My understanding is that my Quicken file back-ups are stored in Quicken's cloud. My preferences are set for automatic backup whenever there is a new entry or other change. I have computers that access quicken in two residences. My last use and changes were made March 17 on comptuer A. I used Quicken on comptuter March 10. However, "Restore from Backup" only shows March 10 and earlier dates. How to I access the March 17 backup on comptuer B.

Thanks! H3MD

jacobs

Your understanding is incorrect; backups of your Quicken data file are not in the "Quicken cloud". Quicken's cloud is used for storing a subset of your data if you have enabled syncing to use the mobile app and/or web interface. That is not a complete backup for your data, and cannot be used to restore from. 

If you have Quicken Mac set to make automatic backups (which is good!), the backup files are stored on your local Mac*. By default, Quicken uses the same default location as it uses for your data file. (In Finder, hold down the Option ket and select Library from the Go menu; then Navigate to Application Support > Quicken > Backups > Automatic Backups.) You can change the location of your backups by going to Quicken > Preferences and clicking the "Backup Folder" button at the bottom of the screen.

*The location you select for your automatic backups could be on your local Mac, but could also be on a commercial Cloud storage service like Dropbox or iCloud.

If you do not use a service like Dropbox, you need to manually move your latest backup files between your two computers (either via flash drive or emailing to yourself). Quicken is not really engineered to be used from multiple locations -- but many people do it, and as long as you are diligent about keeping straight which computer has the latest current file, you should be fine. 

One more note: you can choose to move your automatic backup files, or you can quit Quicken, click on your live data file, and select File > Compress in the Finder. This results in a .zip file which is safe to move between computers. 

jacobs

Yes, if you set the location for your backups to be in your Documents folder, and you have iCloud set to back up Desktop & Documents, then you should have your backups safely stored in iCloud.

Just make sure that if you restore from a backup, you should not place your live Quicken data file in iCloud (e.g. not in Desktop or Documents) while using Quicken. Quicken can get confused about file permissions and end up locking you out of your file if the live data file is in cloud storage like iCloud or Dropbox.

jacobs

Your understanding is incorrect; backups of your Quicken data file are not in the "Quicken cloud". Quicken's cloud is used for storing a subset of your data if you have enabled syncing to use the mobile app and/or web interface. That is not a complete backup for your data, and cannot be used to restore from. 

If you have Quicken Mac set to make automatic backups (which is good!), the backup files are stored on your local Mac*. By default, Quicken uses the same default location as it uses for your data file. (In Finder, hold down the Option ket and select Library from the Go menu; then Navigate to Application Support > Quicken > Backups > Automatic Backups.) You can change the location of your backups by going to Quicken > Preferences and clicking the "Backup Folder" button at the bottom of the screen.

*The location you select for your automatic backups could be on your local Mac, but could also be on a commercial Cloud storage service like Dropbox or iCloud.

If you do not use a service like Dropbox, you need to manually move your latest backup files between your two computers (either via flash drive or emailing to yourself). Quicken is not really engineered to be used from multiple locations -- but many people do it, and as long as you are diligent about keeping straight which computer has the latest current file, you should be fine. 

One more note: you can choose to move your automatic backup files, or you can quit Quicken, click on your live data file, and select File > Compress in the Finder. This results in a .zip file which is safe to move between computers. 

H3MD

Thanks very much -- very helpful! Realizing my own error: in the past, my Quicken program was on my desktop, hence the latest version always available on any of 4 linked computers (my and my wife's iMacs, the one in our second home, and my MacBook Air). Somewhere along the line that icon was mistakenly removed. I was forgetting that it was backed up in iCloud, not Quicken.com.

You obviously understand Apple devices and systems as well as Quicken. If I may confirm my understanding now: iCloud is set for automatic storage of all my documents and the documents sub-folders. I could assure my Quicken backups would be available from iCloud if I switch their loctation to a documents sub-folder, instead of the automatic backups folder in Library. It looks like I can do this simply and directly via Quicken preferences and select a proper location/file instead of the default to "Backup Folder". Right?

Thanks again-- H3MD

jacobs

Yes, if you set the location for your backups to be in your Documents folder, and you have iCloud set to back up Desktop & Documents, then you should have your backups safely stored in iCloud.

Just make sure that if you restore from a backup, you should not place your live Quicken data file in iCloud (e.g. not in Desktop or Documents) while using Quicken. Quicken can get confused about file permissions and end up locking you out of your file if the live data file is in cloud storage like iCloud or Dropbox.

H3MD

Hmm.... I don't understand how to avoid placing the live file on the desktop and hence in iCloud. If the primary icon to my home finances is on the desktop, isn't that where the data file is?

I hope there will be no need to restore backup file in the future. All this came up when my desktop icon went missing a few weeks ago -- I think mistakenly trashed when doing routine desktop clean-up (and emptied the trash file). That was the first time in a decade of using Quicken that I had to restore from backup; with care it's unlikely to happen again. One of the advantages of iCloud, via which effectively the cloud and 4 computers back each other up -- in addition to two iPhones and two iPads. (We're sending at least one Apple exec's kid to Harvard, I think....) Anyway, I'll copy and save this instruction in event I have to restore from a backup in the future!

Thanks again -- great service! H3MD

jacobs

@H3MD  you can put your live data file anywhere on your Mac. If you use the macOS feature to store your Desktop and Documents folders on iCloud, you just need to put your data file elsewhere.

Quicken's default location for data files and backups is in an obscure location: your User Library folder > Application Support > Quicken . (Because Apple, in its infinite wisdom, hides the User Library folder by default, you can navigate there by holding down the Option key in the Finder and selecting Library from the Go menu; Library is only visible in that menu if you're holding the Option key.)

Since it's cumbersome to navigate there if you need to access your data file for any reason, you could place it somewhere easier to get to. If you open Macintosh HD and click on Users, then select your home folder, inside there is where your Desktop folder, Documents folder and several other folders live. You could create a Quickien folder there and put your data file in it -- and that will live on your Mac and not on iCloud.

With all the data and Macs you have, I'd also recommend strongly that you use either Time Machine, Apple's built-in backup software, or a cloud-based backup service like BackBlaze or iDrive. Time Machine is easy: attach an inexpensive external hard drive to your Mac, say yes when it asks if you want to use it for a Time Machine backup, and macOS will do the rest, backup up your Mac hourly. Time Machine backups are particularly useful if you need to restore a Quicken data file from a particular date, because it's easy to navigate back in time through all of Time Machine's backups. If you get a large hard drive -- for around $100, you can get a reliable 1 TB hard drive -- and you can have multiple computers connect to the computer with the drive attached so each one has its own Time Machine backup.