Is there a way to archive past transactions for ALL accounts at once?

Chris Sim

How do I archive all of my accounts (checking, savings, CDs) into one archived file? I do not want to archive each checking, savings or CD separately. Can they all be archived together and if so, can you give me explicit instructions?? I am on Quicken Starter Edition for 2021. Thanks.

UKR

Yes, there is a way, but I don't know if Starter Edition supports it.

Go into the File Menu, select Copy or Backup File and look for the "Create a year-end archive" function.

This will allow you to split your data file into two pieces: old transactions in one file, this year's transactions in another file.

IMHO, you shouldn't split your file if you will need to access and perhaps even make changes to your old transactions, for tax filing, budgeting / categorization or other research purposes. Quicken is very good at handling multiple years of transactions in one combined data file. Once split in two, there's no way that I know of to put the two pieces back together again in a coherent manner.
In the past, I've always kept 4 - 5 years of transactions in the active file, splitting off only older data.

Do read up on the year end archive process before you start (click the blue question mark button in the above screen in Quicken). Not all transactions are eligible for removal to the archive. Only reconciled transactions will be considered eligible, but only if transfer transactions are also reconciled in the other accounts. I'll skip talking about investment transactions because Starter Edition doesn't support those.

rpmind_248

mY YEAR END PROCEDURE DOES NOT WORK PROPERLY. IT APPEARS TO COPY THE FILE THEN GIVES ME AN ERROR "FILE NOT COPIED"

Quicken Jade

Hello @rpmind_248, I'm sorry to hear that you're experiencing this issue. In the case of the "File not coped" message, they are caused by damaged items in the file, such as reminders or attachments. Please follow these steps to resolve it,

1. Go to File > Copy or Backup File.
2. Select Create a copy or template, then hold down the Shift key and click Next.
3. Click Yes on the confirmation prompt.

This process will ignore and exclude the damaged items and complete the file copy. 

I hope this helps!

-Quicken Jade

jdsmurf1

I tried creating a year end archive. I peared down my years of transaction by deleting 2017 and 18. When the new file opened those years were still there. Not sure how to get rid of old years of data that will not be needed.

Chris Sim

UKR: I see where there is a way to create a yearend file for an individual account, such as a checking account. But how can I do all of the accounts at once? I have quite a number of accounts, such as checking and different savings accounts. Do I have to do each one individually or is there a way to put all the accounts into an archive file at once?

UKR

Chris Sim said:

UKR: I see where there is a way to create a yearend file for an individual account, such as a checking account. But how can I do all of the accounts at once? I have quite a number of accounts, such as checking and different savings accounts. Do I have to do each one individually or is there a way to put all the accounts into an archive file at once?

The Year End Archive procedure above applies to all accounts within your Quicken data file.