can't open Quicken, getting a message: unable to write to data file (Q Mac)

Marla

I get a message that says: Unable to write to file. You do not have permission to write to the file. Change your allowed permissions to read/write for the data file, then open it again. How do I fix this?

Quicken Francisco

Hello @Marla

Thank you for reaching out to the Community regarding your issue, though I am sorry to hear that you are experiencing this. 

Being that the issue you are experiencing can have multiple causes I do recommend contacting Quicken Support  via chat or phone and sharing your screen with one of our support reps, if you feel comfortable doing so, to have the matter looked at and hopefully fixed promptly. I'll leave our hours down below so you can find a time that works best for you.

Thanks,

Quicken Francisco

Quicken Phone Support Current Hours of Operation:

Monday through Friday

5:00 am to 5:00 pm PDT

 

Quicken Chat Support Current Hours of Operation:

Monday through Sunday

5:00 am to 5:00 pm PDT

jacobs

@Marla  Do you by any chance have your data file stored on a cloud storage service, such as Dropbox or iCloud. (iCloud can include having your folder in your desktop or your Documents folder if your Mac's iCloud Drive is set to store those folders in the cloud.) A variety of file permission problems can come up if you store your data file anywhere but locally on your hard drive.

Also, have you recently moved your file between computers? That can also result in permission problems if you don't compress the file first (either using File > Compress in the Finder or saving a backup file within Quicken).

If neither of those have happened, what else about your environment has changed since you started getting this message. (Or, I should ask, were you using it successfully previously, and it suddenly started showing this message?)

Stephanie47

I am having the same issue. I did the chat with Quicken and it did not fix it. They told me is an Apple issue and I will need to contact them. Apple says it is a Quicken issue. If you find a solution please post, I don't know what to do.

jacobs

@Stephanie47  Please read my post above and answer those questions, and hopefully we'll be able to offer some help.

Marla

The issues were resolved by restoring my data that was automatically stored upon closing quicken. I talked to Quicken for mac help and also may have been transferred to a mac specialist. I do remember the quicken tech doing one of those computer share setups where they can see what's going on in your computer. Not sure exactly how it was resolved other than the tech asked if I had backup and I told her that every time I closed Quicken out it would say it was backing up the data. That was the saved data that restored the system. I had the most recent version of Quicken and everything else was okay too. They never did tell me what had caused it. Everything's been fine since then.