How to backup a QDATA.quicken file to Google Drive? (Q Mac)

Bandit0615
Bandit0615 Quicken Mac 2017 Member ✭✭
edited October 2021 in File Conversion and Backup (Mac)
Right now, I automatically backup my QDATA.quicken file to DropBox cloud when I close Quicken which is fine and shows up as QDATA 2021-10-10.quickenbackup (date is example). When I try to let Google Drive store the original QDATA.quicken file to it's cloud, it shows up a three components - catalog, data and locks which cannot be used to restore QDATA.quicken. Is there anyway to backup this file to Google Drive as well without using a third party app?

Best Answer

  • jacobs
    jacobs Quicken Mac Subscription SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    Answer ✓
    It is fine to have backups stored to Dropbox. Or iCloud, or Google Drive. Backup files are compressed and protected from file corruption. Download them to your hard drive and you can use them.

    You talked about putting your live data file on Google Drive. That's the no-no. (It would be equally problematic to put it on Dropbox.) The data file should always be used from the local hard drive, and if you want to copy or move it somewhere, you must protect the file by compressing it (File > Compress in the Finder) or by saving a backup (File > Save a Backup in Quicken). 
    Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993

Answers

  • jacobs
    jacobs Quicken Mac Subscription SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    You should never try to store a live Quicken Mac data file in a cloud service, such as iCloud, DropBox or Google Drive. If you want to copy to a cloud storage location, you must use File > Compress to create a .zip file to move to the cloud service. Or manually generate a backup, which can be moved to the cloud service. You should never try to run Quicken with a data file on a cloud service; it must be on your local hard drive. 
    Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993
  • Bandit0615
    Bandit0615 Quicken Mac 2017 Member ✭✭
    Quicken Mac offered DropBox for free as a cloud to backup to which is what I'm doing and was under the impression Quicken could be restored from this backup file following the correct procedure which I thought would be downloading it from cloud to my hard drive first. I will try File>compress for Google Drive. How do you "manually generate a backup" that can be stored anywhere?
  • jacobs
    jacobs Quicken Mac Subscription SuperUser, Mac Beta Beta
    Answer ✓
    It is fine to have backups stored to Dropbox. Or iCloud, or Google Drive. Backup files are compressed and protected from file corruption. Download them to your hard drive and you can use them.

    You talked about putting your live data file on Google Drive. That's the no-no. (It would be equally problematic to put it on Dropbox.) The data file should always be used from the local hard drive, and if you want to copy or move it somewhere, you must protect the file by compressing it (File > Compress in the Finder) or by saving a backup (File > Save a Backup in Quicken). 
    Quicken Mac Subscription • Quicken user since 1993
  • Bandit0615
    Bandit0615 Quicken Mac 2017 Member ✭✭
    Thank you, that's very informative and I will follow your advice
  • Glenn Roid
    Glenn Roid Quicken Mac 2017 Member
    Thanks for posting this. I just switched to 2022 and was storing my data file on Google Drive. Moved it and only store backups there now.
  • Quicken September
    Quicken September Quicken Mac Subscription Alumni ✭✭✭✭
    Hello, @Glenn Roid!

    Thank you for reaching out to the Community with your response! I am happy to hear that this thread was helpful for you. Thank you, @jacobs as well for the informative response. 

    If you have any further questions or need any additional support, please feel free to reach out. Thank you and have a wonderful rest of your day!

    -Quicken September

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