Reducing size of data file

tjb201

I need to reduce the size of my data file. First and foremost, I need to reduce the number of transactions in my investment accounts, of which there are many, and that go back 15 years. Is there an effective way of doing this?

Chris_QPW

Instead of trying to reduce the size of the data file you should really just be looking to reduce the number of investment transactions in the registers that you use.  The size of the data file has little impact on anything.

You can use the relatively new Archive Transactions feature in the investment account(s).  It is on the gear icon menu in the upper right of the investment register.

Frankx

Hi @tjb201,

Are you having current problems that cause you to need to try and reduce the size of your datafile?  If so, please share them and we'll do our best to help. 

Otherwise, as noted above, a datafile's size typically doesn't present a problem and many users have been using Quicken longer for more than twenty years without problems cause by file size. And I would suggest that if you are going to try and archive transactions, I would start with credit card accounts, loans, and other fairly inactive account before I would touch investment accounts and active bank accounts.

Frankx

tjb201

I like Chris's idea of archiving transactions in the investment account (I have over 13,000). When I select the feature, it appears that it wants to archive anything that has a zero balance vs allowing me to choose by date. I still research and run reports for up to 5 years back. I stopped at the initial screen for fear of archiving more than I want. Can I choose a date range? If there a video that shows the process that I can watch or a set of instructions that walk you through it?

Thanks,

Tim

Chris_QPW

The Archive feature moves your closed lots to a new investment account, it doesn't remove them, therefor they will still show up on your reports as long as you include that new account.

This is just a new variation on an old theme that has been suggested for a long time.  Since Quicken doesn't read in accounts until you open them, if you use anything that moves transactions out of your active register to one that you don't open all the time, the performance should improve.