Upgrade to QUICKEN DELUXE 2019 Mac

daleslad

Hi, I decided it was time to upgrade from Quicken for Mac 2007 so I just purchased Quicken Deluxe 2019 and downloaded it. I followed the instructions and opened the first page with the heading " Are you upgrading from Quicken 2007 ? ". As it was in the form of a question I was looking for a way to acknowledge that I was but it just had a picture of a data file from my 2007 Quicken. It also had a choice of two options one of which was already chosen. This one said Upgrade to the new version of Quicken using the data from this file.
The only other links on this page was a help icon, a Start Over link and a Next link.
I obviously clicked on the Next link and the window flickered as if it was going to change but it returned to the same page again.
Needless to say I'm pretty frustrated that right off the bat I'm running into problems. It doesn't bode well for the rest of the upgrade.
Does anyone have any suggestions that will get me off square one.
I'm using Mojave OS if that's of any help.
Thank you kindly.

jacobs

@daleslad  I'm confused about where you ran into a problem. When you launch Quicken, you should have come to the Let's Get Started screen. (If not, File > New should get you there.)

You select to Start from a Quicken for Mac 2007 file and click Next. On the next screen, you click the button to select the Quicken 2007 data file you wish to convert:

Once you select the Quicken 2007 file to convert and click Next, Quicken proceeds to convert the data to the new file format. 

Also, just to clarify, you said you "just purchased Quicken 2019." As it's now 2021, that's obviously not the current version. Perhaps you found an old box in a store? In fact, Quicken no longer uses a year with the product, it's simply "Quicken" now. (Even if you purchased an older box labeled as Quicken 2019, it should have immediately downloaded an update to the current version.) So to confirm, what version number does it report when you select About Quicken from the Quicken menu? If it shows version 6.1.1, you are running the latest release. 

daleslad

Thanks jacobs for the help. I started again from scratch and this time I got the window that you show, which was a relief. Now however I'm having trouble selecting a file to convert. I went to my Quicken backup folder and tried to find the latest backup. I never could figure out why the backup folder was so messed up, there was never any type of order to the backup files. I decided to open up my 2007 quicken and then quit it so I could enter to days date for the backup date on the file. However when I selected that file to convert, it said there was nothing in it. So I'm floundering around again.
When I purchased the new Quicken I got from the Quicken website. They were offering 40% off Quicken Deluxe , I didn't see a date anywhere but on the email confirmation it said "QUICKEN DELUXE 2019 DIRECT DOWNLOAD 1YR 1 $51.99" I got it for $31.19. I did check the version and it is 6.1.1

jacobs

Wow, that Quicken confirmation email referencing "Quicken 2019" is surprising and (should be) embarrassing for them. It doesn't matter, as long as you got the current version -- which you did.

Okay, to the Quicken 2007 data file. What version of macOS are you running? Is it High Sierra or Mojave? If so, could you click on your start drive (typically "Macintosh HD") and do Get Info (Command-I). About the 5th line down is Format. Does it show MacOS Extended (Journaled) or APFS? If the latter, it would explain why your Quicken 2007 backup file was empty, as Quicken 2007 can't create backup files on drives which use APFS format.

Or, re-reading your message above, it's possible that Quicken Mac needs a true Quicken 2007 data file, not a backup file.

Go back to open Quicken 2007. Open Lists > Accounts, and the title bar of that window will show the exact name of your current Quicken 2007 data file, such as "Jacobs Quicken.qdfm". This is the filename of the data file you need to find on your Mac. Quit Quicken 2007. Unfortunately, Quicken 2007 didn't have any default location for data files so it could be wherever you originally placed it. (For many people, this might be in some folder inside your Documents folder.) To find it, open Spotlight -- the magnifying glass icon on the far right of your Mac's menu bar -- and type the name of the Quicken data file. Click Show All in Finder at the bottom of the list of found files so you can locate your data file and figure out exactly where it is.

Now you can go back to modern Quicken, go to File > New if you're not on the Let's Get started page, and navigate to your live Quicken 2007 data file. Don't worry, Quicken Mac will not tamper with that file; you'll still be able to use it with Quicken 2007. Quicken Mac makes a copy of your Quicken 2007 data file and uses that to export and import into a new file. 

daleslad

Thanks Jacobs, I'm running Mojave. I did as you asked and went to lists and accounts and the heading is Backup-Schools 7-12-19: Accounts
I did a search for that heading and came up with a data file Backup-Schools 7-12-19, now that I think about it, whenever I went to save on Quicken that would be the date that was in the save window. I found the file and clicked on it and the picture of the data file had one corner of curled over. I started again and found the file the program did it's importing and now I'm going to have to do the grand tour and see if I can find where my checking account is.
I can't thank you enough Jacobs for all of your excellent directions, I'd buy you a pint of Newcastle Brown Ale if I could. Cheers
Thanks again.

jacobs

Glad it worked and you're on your way! I will try to enjoy the ale virtually.

daleslad

I guess I spoke too soon, I was able to view my checking account register but it's not like the 2007 one, it has no lines between transactions. I can't figure out how to add a transaction to it. There doesn't appear to be an empty slot to add the transaction.

jacobs

@daleslad  Yes, the user interface is a bit different than Quicken 2007, so it's a bit jarring at first -- and most Quicken 2007 users have an immediate knee-jerk negative reaction. Once you use it awhile, you will hopefully find it's at least okay, if not actually like it better. (I originally wanted the old 2-line register back when I started using modern Quicken Mac, but over time, I flipped my opinion and now greatly prefer the interface of modern Quicken to that of Quicken 2007. But I still make some mistakes in data entry as I have more than two decades of muscle memory with the legacy Quicken to reprogram in my eye-brain-hand coordination!)

If you're just trying to jump in, I suggest you seek out some videos and other getting started materials to introduce you to the user interface and basic operations. 

Quicken has this getting started guide on their website. 

A fellow user compiled a list of other Quicken Mac training resources.

I especially recommend the videos made by a fellow Quicken Mac user when the new Quicken Mac came out in 2015. There have been some changes to the interface since then, but the basic concepts and look of things like registers are largely the same as today, and seeing them in a video can be very helpful.

Also, Quicken now has a program for new users to subscription Quicken where you can sign up for a one-hour phone/screen sharing one-on-one training session with a Quicken Support staff member to help you get started. To sign up for this program, called Quicken 1-2-3, click here. 

After you've done some of those basics, I think you'll be a lot more comfortable with the new Quicken Mac… and then you can come back to this forum if you have how-to questions, many of which have doubtless been asked and answered before by other new users.

I'll quickly address the specifics in your note above…

• No there are no lines between each line in the register. Because every line is a new transaction, there really isn't a need for a separator like there was with the old 2-line display. But every other line in a register is shaded a light gray, to help users look across wide lines without losing their place.
• Adding transactions is done by clicking the New button in the bottom toolbar, selecting Transactions > New from the menu, or simply pressing Command-N. (If your bottom toolbar isn't visible all the time, I suggest turning it on; go to Preferences > Register and set "Register Toolbar" to "Always Show"; then it's always there any you won't have to search for it.)
• By the way, the default for Quicken Mac is to show transactions in registers in descending date order, with the newest at the top, and adding new transactions at the top of registers; if you want to work like you did in the past, you can reverse this by clicking on the Date column heading so the newest transactions are on the bottom. Personally, I switched to newest on top, and prefer it.
• There is no longer a blank transaction open in each register. (There are a number of technical and practical reasons for this that I won't go into here.) You need to create a new transaction when you want to add one. If you're a mouse person, click the New button on the bottom toolbar; if you're a keyboard person, learn to press Command-N. After this becomes second nature, you won't miss the blank line.
• Here's a trick to learn if you're entering transactions manually: instead of pressing Return/Enter to save a transaction, and then pressing Command-N to start a new transaction, just press Command-N after entering a transaction -- it will save the transaction and open new one with just that one keystroke, making it no more work than Quicken 2007.

As I said at the top, there is a learning curve to the new Quicken Mac, especially if, like me and many others, you've spent a lot of years with the old Quicken 2007 and its predecessors. Give yourself time to learn how to do things you're used to in the new environment, and hopefully you'll find yourself getting more comfortable and faster after a little bit. There are still some features I miss from Quicken 2007 (many of which I hope will eventually be programmed into Quicken Mac); there are some things I like much better about the modern version; and there are some things that are neither better nor worse, just different.

Best wishes!

daleslad

Hi jacobs I tried to reply directly to the email but the email was returned. Just wanted to thank you for all of the help and the information links. I do better with pictures so I've got enough to keep me busy for awhile.
Cheers

jacobs

@daleslad  Yes, I don't know why some of the email notifications this site sends out say you can reply to the email -- as you discovered, you can't. You always need to come back to the site to reply here to respond to a post.