Opening a Quicken QDF "efile" from OneDrive

colnana08

I use One Drive to save all my files; when I renewed my account in the fall, it started saving what used to be QDF files to efiles (they all have the little e in front of them) and I can't open them. Can someone please assist????? Thanks in advance. Kathleen

Sherlock

colnana08 said:

I did try reinstalling, did not change anything. I realize I'm showing my ignorance of computers....I did the Ctrl + ) and nothing happened. The extended file name does show QDF but no Quicken affiliation. I did the Open with... and there was no Quicken Windows app. Went to the app store and it wasn't there. I did try to copy the file (with the explorer symbol in front of it because it's the one I need) and it would let me rename it on the desk top but the explorer symbol remained.....what the heck am I doing incorrectly? And thank you for your patience!

Press and release the Windows key and then type quicken

If Quicken is properly installed, Windows should find the Quicken App.

Open the Quicken App.

Quicken should open the Quicken file you had opened most recently.

Press Ctrl + O or select File > Open Quicken File...

Quicken should launch Open Quicken File window which you may use to navigate and select the Quicken file you would like to open.

======

One way to rename a file on the desktop is to right-click on the file, select Rename, and type the new name.

Chris_QPW

I use OneDrive and I have no idea what a "efile" is.
Can you capture an image of what you are seeing and include it in a comment?
If you don't see the picture icon to include a picture in the comment you should be able to still drag an image to the comment box to include it.

Ps56k2

colnana08 said: One Drive started saving what used to be QDF files to efiles (they all have the little e in front of them)

Could you share the exact name you are seeing ?

And - are you saying that your Quicken opens your QDF file
directly from your OneDrive ?

[EDIT] - updated topic title to better reflect actual Q&A

colnana08

Please see the attached for a picture of what I see when I open the folder then when I click on the file.

NotACPA

That e, with the slash thru it, indicates that you're using Window's Internet Explorer as your browser ... nothing more, and it has nothing to with Q.

Check your File Associations, to make sure that QDF files are associated with QW.exe.

Also, what Q  product are you running, and what BUILD of that product?  Do HELP, About Quicken for this info.

Sherlock

Before opening the Quicken file, I suggest you copy the Quicken file to a folder on the local drive not being managed by OneDrive.  I also suggest you rename the file to a short (8.3) name.  For example, QData.QDF

Chris_QPW

That "E" is the icon of Internet Explorer.  Somehow your .QDF files are now associated with Internet Explorer instead of Quicken.  As in when you try to open them, instead of opening in Quicken then are opening with Internet Explorer, which of course will not work.

The first thing I would do is turn on to view the type suffix to make sure it is still .QDF.
In File Explorer -> View -> select File name extensions
With that you should see:


If that is correct, then it is definitely the "association" that is wrong.  And even judging by the type yours shows "QDF File" suggests that you will see the .qdf, but it is not associated with Quicken (notice that mine starts with Quicken in the type).  If somehow the .qdf got changed to some other type you can try changing it to .qdf.

But to fix an "file association" problem I suggest that you use this procedure to get a clean uninstall and then download and install Quicken again (it is the install that creates this association).
https://www.quicken.com/support/using-qcleanui-uninstall-quicken

You can find the Quicken install in either your Quicken.com account or from here:
https://www.quicken.com/support/how-do-i-download-quicken-quickencom-after-i-buy-it

colnana08

If I uninstall and reinstall will that erase what I have "saved" (i.e. my end of year 2020 file and the 2021 file I started?)

Chris_QPW

Uninstalling and reinstalling doesn't touch the data files, so you should be fine.

BTW one advantage of having your data files on OneDrive is that if for some reason they ever got deleted you should be able to go to the OneDrive website and restore them from the Recycle Bin there.

colnana08

I'll give it a try.....thanks much.

Sherlock

Instead of reinstalling Quicken, you may either open the Quicken file from within the Quicken program (press Ctrl + O) or you may correct the type association.

One way to correct the type association is to right-click on the Quicken file, select Open with..., choose the Quicken Windows app, check the box to the left of Always use this app to open .QDF files, and select OK.

Again, I still suggest you copy the Quicken file to a folder on the local drive not being managed by OneDrive.  I also suggest you rename the file to a short (8.3) name.  For example, QData.QDF

colnana08

I did try reinstalling, did not change anything. I realize I'm showing my ignorance of computers....I did the Ctrl + ) and nothing happened. The extended file name does show QDF but no Quicken affiliation. I did the Open with... and there was no Quicken Windows app. Went to the app store and it wasn't there. I did try to copy the file (with the explorer symbol in front of it because it's the one I need) and it would let me rename it on the desk top but the explorer symbol remained.....what the heck am I doing incorrectly? And thank you for your patience!

Ps56k2

colnana08

Why are you even clicking on the QDF file ?

You should just click and start the Quicken program and let it find the QDF files.

colnana08

I guess I've always done it that way. I just started Quicken, reconciled a couple of line items, went to close, wanted to back up and darn if it didn't show up as an Explorer QDF file. What the heck am I doing wrong?

Chris_QPW

For Open with... Quicken isn't a "store app" so you can't look there.
After you select the "Open With" dialog select More apps.  It should be there.
If it isn't scroll to the bottom of that list and select Look for another app on this PC.

Then browse and select:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Quicken\qw.exe

Ps56k2

Chris_QPW said:

For Open with... Quicken isn't a "store app" so you can't look there.
C:\Program Files (x86)\Quicken\qw.exe

yes - I had just walked the process, and was also goinig to post....

--> More Apps -> if not there, you need to find the program folder  -->

--> scroll to bottom --> Look For Another App On PC -->
--> opens files in /Program Files/
--> but you need to find /Program Files(x86)/
--> go to \Program Files(x86) and open the folder --> \Quicken\

--> look for qw.exe --> and click on that - hopefully done

Don't forget that --> [X] Always Use This App to Open QDF files

Sherlock

colnana08 said:

I did try reinstalling, did not change anything. I realize I'm showing my ignorance of computers....I did the Ctrl + ) and nothing happened. The extended file name does show QDF but no Quicken affiliation. I did the Open with... and there was no Quicken Windows app. Went to the app store and it wasn't there. I did try to copy the file (with the explorer symbol in front of it because it's the one I need) and it would let me rename it on the desk top but the explorer symbol remained.....what the heck am I doing incorrectly? And thank you for your patience!

Press and release the Windows key and then type quicken

If Quicken is properly installed, Windows should find the Quicken App.

Open the Quicken App.

Quicken should open the Quicken file you had opened most recently.

Press Ctrl + O or select File > Open Quicken File...

Quicken should launch Open Quicken File window which you may use to navigate and select the Quicken file you would like to open.

======

One way to rename a file on the desktop is to right-click on the file, select Rename, and type the new name.

colnana08

You are my hero.....it worked perfectly! Thanks all for hanging in there with me..it's so heart warming to have a community of people to turn to when my technology needs exceed my abilities! Again...my thanks. <3 <3