Making my own categories in Quicken Mac

sfried

Was I wrong to believe that I could make up my own categories in Quicken? I spent time creating 100 of my own categories with numbers associated with them, but when I opened up a new Quicken file to start entering my expenses, the categories were nowhere to be found.

jacobs

Every time you launch Quicken, you open a Quicken data file. You cannot run Quicken without a data file being open.

It sounds like you closed the main window -- but that doesn't close the current data file. (Try it: close the main window, then press Command-1, or look on the Windows menu for the name of your file.)

So you created those categories in whatever file you had open at the time. If you now created a new file, that's why it doesn't have your categories.

If you're confused about which files you had open, usually looking on the File > Open Recent menu will allow you to access the most recently opened files.

jacobs

Yes, you can create your own categories. Where did you enter these categories?

Categories are specific to each Quicken data file (for instance, if you have one for personal finance and one for a non-profit association you manage, or one for yourself and one for a parent of child). If you created the categories in one Quicken file, and then created a new Quicken file, the new file starts with Quicken's default categories.

sfried

Thank you. When I entered the categories, there was no Quicken file open, just the categories window. Is there any way I can retrieve my work?

sfried

Sorry---I should clarify that I entered the categories in the category window, but with no Quicken file opened.

jacobs

Every time you launch Quicken, you open a Quicken data file. You cannot run Quicken without a data file being open.

It sounds like you closed the main window -- but that doesn't close the current data file. (Try it: close the main window, then press Command-1, or look on the Windows menu for the name of your file.)

So you created those categories in whatever file you had open at the time. If you now created a new file, that's why it doesn't have your categories.

If you're confused about which files you had open, usually looking on the File > Open Recent menu will allow you to access the most recently opened files.

sfried

Yes! Thank you so much. I looked in Open Recent and it brought up the file with my own categories. Much appreciated.