Some categories disappeared after update/migration (Q Mac)

Cory M

I have a weird problem with my Quicken for Mac. I recently realized one of my categories has gone missing, so all of the transactions I had previously labelled are now saying uncategorized. This goes back through my whole file back to 2004 when I started using quicken.

I jockeyed back through the automatic backups, and I found that it went missing after something called Post-migration. It was automatically backed up before and after whatever this migration was. I don't recall it, but I assume it was an update of sorts. This happened in October 2021.

Now, I'm not sure how to correct the issue! If I try to re-download the latest transactions into the older (unaffected) backup, I get an error that it's an older file, and "Only the latest version of a file can use quicken cloud". If I reset quicken cloud, is that going to burn me?

Somewhere there is a record of the transactions that have been downloaded (idk if its stored by the bank or built into quicken), so if I go through this process, will I even be able to re-download the transactions?

The alternative would be to keep the latest quicken file with all the missing categories (I'm not even sure which ones are missing, there is no smooth way to compare). However, keeping the latest quicken file means I would need to manually go through every transaction since 2004 and categorize them again. This is an INSANE approach!

Do any of you have a suggestion on how I can combine the two so I can keep moving forward with the backed up one, and just update the more recent transactions? Can I export transactions from, say, Sept 2021 until now from the latest corrupted file and import them backwards into the older pre-migration backup?

garysmith87

1 I would try the migration again into a brand new Quicken Mac data file.

2 If the missing categories are all the same payee, select All Transactions from the sidebar, make sure ALL DATES is selected and All Accounts and Uncategorized...then enter the payee in the search box in the top right.

Then when the one payee appears in multiple lines of the register, select all the payees using regular Mac standard to select multiple lines.  Right click on the selected area, select EDIT TRANSACTION and enter the correct category.  All the selected transactions will now have that category.

3 If the missing categories are different payees, select All Transactions from the sidebar, make sure ALL DATES is selected and All Accounts and Uncategorized.  You can select common payees using typical Mac convention, right click, select EDIT TRANSACTION and enter the correct category.  You'll have to do this with each unique payee name if they do not use the same category.  If they do use the same category, you can select the entire searched group in the register and assign a category en masse using the same technique.  

jacobs

Before starting, I'd suggest getting a handle on how many transactions are involved. Select the "Banking" group heading in the self sidebar to create a register of your non-investment transactions for all time. In the Search box, type "uncategorized" and see if you have 30 or 300 or 3,000 uncategorized transactions. (Note: this won't search in closed accounts. If you want to check all those transactions, too, click on All Transactions instead of Banking in the left sidebar. The only downside to doing this is you may have some investment transactions which are uncategorized but are not part of this problem.) You can sort this register by account, if that helps assess what the search found. 

If you find the number of problem transactions is manageable, it may be easier just to click on them one at a time, re-apply a category, and save. Gary's post above give some good tips to save time if you can select a bunch of transactions and assign them the same category in one shot instead of doing each one individually. (Note that bulk editing does NOT help if the missing categories are on split lines of transactions; bulk editing only works on non-split transactions.)

If you find the number of problem transactions is large, then reverting to your backup data file might be the best option. The warning about Quicken Cloud is nothing to worry about. You can always reset your Quicken Cloud, and it won't impact your local data. I would make sure you turn off Sync in Preferences first; you can always turn it back on later if you use the mobile app or web interface.