Smaller DATA File

Lumberman

How can I make my current DATA file smaller without losing any information in it. I would prefer the file to be two to three years of data and the rest of the data in another file I can access as needed. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Quicken Anja

Hello @Lumberman,

Thank you for reaching out to the Community with your question.

Please follow the instructions below in order to shrink your data file.

1. Navigate to the File menu
2. Select File Operations
3. Copy...
4. Enter the desired date range you wish to move forward with and click OK
   
5. Wait for the copy procedure to complete
   
6. Select New Copy and click OK                                                                              

You will move forward using the copied file, and still, have access to your original file.

I hope this helps!

Greg_the_Geek

Just be aware that once you create 2 Quicken data files, it's not easy to put them back together again.

splasher

Also, you want to take the file with the older stuff in it and disable any reminders in it, otherwise when you open it in the future, they will fire off and add a bunch of transactions if they are auto-enter.

Lumberman

Thank you all for the help. I appreciate it very much.

splasher

The only real issue is what do you do in another 3-4 years, create another "archive" file and then you have to deal with 3 files.  

Lumberman

Thank you Splasher. That is a very good point. Would it be possible to combine the two older files into one so that I would still be dealing with two files?

splasher

As @Greg_the_Geek wrote, it is very difficult.
Here is a write-up on the topic, I bet that you won't even read the whole process before you decide it is too much trouble.  
https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7150406/how-to-merge-two-quicken-files
Why do you want a smaller file? 
Do you believe it will be faster? (Probably won't be)
Do you want smaller registers? (use a filter to show just the current year)