All of my work from the past 6 months—attachments + notes—has disappeared (Q Mac)

Question

PLEASE HELP! I went into Quicken last night and it prompted me to download an updated software—Version 6.2.1 (Build 602.38957.100) for MacOS 11.4. My accounts looked unusually sparse. I spend a lot of time putting extensive notes and attachments into each transaction. When I went into my credit card account, none of the attachments or notes were there, going all the way back to November 2020, when they start appearing again. Please help! How do I get all of that work back. There has to be a backup file that Quicken has.

jacobs · Accepted Answer

It sounds like after the update, Quicken opened an older version of your data file.

You need to navigate to your default backup folder. If you haven't changed it from Quicken's default, this is in your Library folder. In the Finder, hold down the Option key while selecting the Go menu, and select Library. Open the Application Support folder, then the Quicken folder, then the Backups folder, and finally, the Automatic Backups folder. Look for the most recent file there prior to your installation last night.

Also, if you don't have a Time Machine or other form of backup software backup up your Mac, I'd strongly encourage you to do so. Hard drives and Macs can and do die unexpectedly, and if you don't have a backup, you can find yourself high and dry. Time Machine works automatically; all you need is an external hard drive. (If you don't have one, you can buy one for $100 or less.) You could also use cloud backup software, such as iDrive or Backblaze. Just make sure you have at least one form of regular backups to protect your valuable data.