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Why Can I no longer backup my quicken file

User650395

I get this message every time I try to backup my quicken file: "Quicken cannot open the data file because it is in use by another application, such as a cloud storage backup. Please close that application or turn off cloud storage sync and try again."
I think this started after update to Windows 11 not sure. Anyone have a fix?

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Chris_QPW

What is the full path to your data file?
Is it in a "cloud folder"?

When Quicken goes to do a backup it first closes the data file, that releases the lock on the data file. It then turns around and opens the data file again to do the actual backup (getting a lock on the file at that time). And once the backup is done it closes it again, releasing the lock and opens it again.

If there is a program like a cloud sync program waiting for the lock to be removed and then it will see when Quicken releases the lock, and jump in and open/lock that data file so that it can sync it to the server. This blocks Quicken from accessing the data file and you get the error you posted.

The fix is to no store the data file you are opening in any kind of folder that is synced to the cloud/server.
You can store the backup data files there, but not the one you open in Quicken.

User650395

Thank you very much for your reply. I don't know why this would occur as I have been saving to the same location for years without a problem. I will try backing up to an external drive and see if that works.

Quicken Paloma

Hello @User650395,

Thank you for reaching out to Quicken Community, although we apologize you are having this issue. This error message generally occurs when the main/active files are being backed up on a cloud. This could include but is not limited to: OneDrive, iCloud, Carbonite, Dropbox, etc. If this is the case, please move your main/active file(s) out of your cloud-based storage and move it into your local hard drive.

To provide the proper guidance please let us know where the file is stored and what cloud base storage service you are using.

To check the file location select File >Show this file on my computer.

-Quicken Paloma

Chris_QPW

User650395 said:

Thank you very much for your reply. I don't know why this would occur as I have been saving to the same location for years without a problem. I will try backing up to an external drive and see if that works.

It isn't where you are backing up to, it is where you are backing up from.

And note that this problem can come up at any time. It is all a matter of timing. Depending on how fast Quicken closes and opens the file, and how fast the other program sees the lock being removed and jumps in to open/lock it.

@Quicken Paloma 's suggestion of showing where your data file is located and what to do is a very good description.

User650395

@Quicken Paloma My data file is on my desktop and I do use Carbonite. Have been for years and this has never happened before. So next I will try moving my data file to an external hard drive that is not cloud enabled and see if that works.

Chris_QPW

BTW there isn't anything special about Quicken's backup. If you already have a system to get the data file backed up you can use that. The *.QDF-Backup file is the same as .QDF file. This only reason for the type change is that if you open a .QDF file it opens it in place. If you open a .QDF-Backup file it will ask you to copy it to a place where you want it opened. It will also replace the "Cloud data set file" while doing the restore. A .QDF-Backup file can be renamed to a .QDF to change this behavior.

You might also see if Quicken's automatic backup has the same timing errors.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6031128/uploads/editor/a7/d8c9zilvqsf2.png

Note you can change where these files are being stored.

User650395

Thanks, It’s the automatic backup as well as the manual one that is failing.