Anyone know how to locate, display a quicken hidden file on a time machine backup? (Q Mac)

JPR17

Quicken for MAC keeps data files as hidden files. I can locate the files on my hard drive but the computer was damaged so I have gone to my external time machine back up but the files are hidden and I have not found a way to display. Why hide a backup that you might need?

jacobs

Skipping over the reasoning behind Quicken's default location for the moment, let's focus on accessing it in Time Machine. The trick is to not open Time Machine to start. First, navigate to the hidden location inside your User Library file. As you likely know, in the Finder, hold down the Option key, pull down the Go menu, and select Library. In the Library folder, open the Application Support folder. Now that you are in this hidden location, full down the Time Machine icon in your menu bar to select Enter Time Machine. Time Machine should launch and open in the same folder. Now you should see the Quicken folder there. You can open the Documents folder to find your actual data file or the Backups folder to find your latest backup. Click the file you want and click Restore. The file will be restored to the same location on your current hard drive.

Some additional notes now...

1) Because any file you restore will go to the same location on your live hard drive, before you enter Time Machine, if you might want the file which is currently on your hard drive, rename it before you restore from Time Machine.

2) It used to be tricky to unhide your user Library folder, but there's now an easy way to make it permanently visible. Open your Macintosh HD, then Users, and then your user folder (the one with the home icon). Pull down the View menu and near the bottom select Show View Options. At the bottom of there View Options window, there's a checkbox for Show Library Folder. Check it and close the window. Now, when you pull down the Go menu in the Finder, Library will be there without holding down Option. Or if you go to your home folder, you'll see the Library folder. So just set that checkbox once, and you won't have to remember how to find the hidden Library in the future. 

3) That all said, you don't need to leave your Quicken data file in the default location Quicken uses. In Quicken, on the File menu, there is a Move To command which makes it easy to move your data file to whatever location you want. One idea is to create a Quicken folder in your Documents folder. But if you have your computer set to store your Desktop and Documents folders on iCloud (this is a setting in System Preferences > iCloud on older versions of macOS or System Preferences > AppleID > iCloud on the most recent versions of macOS), then Documents is not the place for your Quicken data file. Instead, a safe but easily accessible location is to create a Quicken folder inside your User folder (at the same level as Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Movies, Music, etc.); create a folder called Quicken, then in Quicken use the Move To command to move your data file inside that folder. 

garysmith87

You may want to look at this community thread.  It explains where the Quicken Mac file is located.  And it explains how to get the file from Time Machine back to your local hard drive.

BTW, I moved my Quicken Mac data file to a different folder location.  In my case, I moved it to the Documents folder and then I made sure that I do NOT have the entire Documents folder accessed by iCloud.  I only have select folders synced to iCloud...and my Quicken data file is NOT included.  

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/19356249#Comment_19356249

JPR17

Thank you for the prompt suggestions. The terminal procedure from the earlier post worked. Now I have to reread and see where I want to store the data files going forward. Thanks again.